Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
Manage work coach capacity better by modelling demand and developing prioritisation frameworks.
Recommendation
We recommend that DWP looks at how to better manage work coach capacity, including modelling how its planned Jobcentre reforms will change demand for work coach time and capacity. In response to this inquiry, it should set out: • a summary of this modelling; • its plans for meeting the demands of the new service with the available supply of work coaches; • a framework for deciding who it will prioritise for time with work coaches; • its understanding of how work coaches’ caseloads vary across different activities and between different Jobcentres; and • its plans for monitoring the changing demands on work coaches and managing future changes. (Recommendation, Paragraph 66)
Government Response Summary
The government's response focused on its Jobcentre Performance Framework, which measures sustained earnings, and stated it does not intend to introduce measures of job quality due to data limitations, completely sidestepping the recommendation to detail plans for managing work coach capacity.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We recognise the importance of long-term employment outcomes and job quality to our claimants. Our Jobcentre Performance Framework is aligned with departmental priorities and Get Britain Working outcomes, supporting a focus on meaningful and sustainable employment and in work progression. As part of our Jobcentre Performance Framework, to understand how UC claimants are performing in the labour market, DWP already measures whether individuals on UC entering work have sustained earnings over both 3 and 6 months after moving into work, in addition to the into work rate which measures the number of claimants who move into work within a month. The Jobs and Careers Service will enable everyone to access good, meaningful work, and support them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The government is committed to developing robust performance measures for the new Jobs and Careers Service but does not currently intend to introduce measures of the quality of jobs that claimants move into. Views on the quality of a job depend in part on individual views of how suitable that job is to a person’s circumstances and preferences. DWP does not have access to the data required to produce such a measure and does not feel it is appropriate to place additional burdens on business and/or customers to obtain this information. The government is taking action to improve the quality and security of work through the Plan to Make Work Pay.