Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Conclusion 1
5th Report - Get Britain Working: Creating a new jobs and careers service
Published 11 Sep 2025
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Get Britain Working: Reforming Jobcentres All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Careers advice helps people achieve their potential, improving employment outcomes, as well as unlocking huge productivity gains with significant economic benefits. However, careers advice in England is a patchwork of services that lacks cohesion and is confusing and fragmented. Overall responsibility for adult careers guidance has fallen between the Department for Education (DfE), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and local government, with no coherent guiding strategy. (Conclusion, Paragraph 24)
From: Work and Pensions Committee, 5th Report - Get Britain Working: Creating a new jobs and careers service (HC 1286), 11 September 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 November 2025 (deadline 11 November 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts most of the Committee's recommendations on careers advice, but does not accept the call for a separate adult careers guidance strategy.
- On a separate adult careers guidance strategy, the government says it "agree[s]" on the need for a coherent approach but "Do not accept" a separate strategy, as it "could risk our integrated Jobs and Careers Service vision". It says it "may" consider a Jobs and Careers Service strategy.
- It accepts the funding recommendation: current National Careers Service contracts expire on 30 September 2026, after which adult careers advice in England will be brought "in house into DWP", ending the incentivised funding model.
- On performance measures it "partially accept[s]", saying its evaluation strategy is "under development" and will be shared with the Committee "in due course".
- It accepts the call for a transition plan, saying a detailed plan "will be published within the next six months" and that DWP is "committed to working with NCS contractors, employees and unions".