4
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment suppo…
Accepted in Part
The Department’s focus on getting people into any form of employment risks neglecting its wider ambitions around supporting disabled people to work and supporting people on low pay to progress. The Department’s current focus is on minimising the impact of the downturn on unemployment, particularly on young people and the …
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The Department’s focus on getting people into any form of employment risks neglecting its wider ambitions around supporting disabled people to work and supporting people on low pay to progress. The Department’s current focus is on minimising the impact of the downturn on unemployment, particularly on young people and the long-term unemployed, to reduce the ‘scarring’ effect of unemployment. Over the longer term, the Department has said it wants to address issues such as social and economic inequalities, health and disability issues, and in-work progression. The Department, along with the Department for Health and Social Care, ran a consultation from July to October 2019 seeking views on the different ways in which government and employers can reduce ill health-related job losses. The Department committed to producing a Green Paper on the topic and this, and the consultation response, were eventually published on 20 July 2021 after we had asked the Department about timings in our evidence session. The Green Paper notes that the long-awaited National Disability Strategy will be published shortly. The Department also established a Commission to review the evidence base and make recommendations around support for people in low-paid employment to progress. This consultation ended in December 2020 and published on 1 July 2021. Recommendation: The Department must now use the consultation and the Health and Disability Green Paper to clarify how it will support disabled people and people with health conditions, and publish the National Disability Strategy. The Department must also respond to the recommendations made by the in-work progression Commission to support people in low-pay employment to progress. In DWP Employment support 7 doing this, the Department needs to set out how it will tackle the long-term effects of the pandemic on the jobs market, disabled people, and in particular those who suffer from long Covid.
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating the National Disability Strategy was published in July 2021. It is carefully considering the In-Work Progression Commission's recommendations and will respond shortly, while also bolstering work coach support for low-paid Universal Credit claimants from April 2022.
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HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment suppo…
Accepted in Part
The quality of claimants’ experience with the Department and whether they receive the right support will depend on the Department’s ability to integrate the additional 13,500 new work coaches into its organisation and manage their performance effectively. The Department’s employment support is mainly accessible to people on benefits via their …
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The quality of claimants’ experience with the Department and whether they receive the right support will depend on the Department’s ability to integrate the additional 13,500 new work coaches into its organisation and manage their performance effectively. The Department’s employment support is mainly accessible to people on benefits via their jobcentre work coaches. Work coaches have considerable discretion to tailor their support to individual claimants, and they need a range of skills and a lot of knowledge to match claimants to the right employment support package. This can even include checking a claimant’s business idea and referring them to a mentor for the New Enterprise Allowance scheme, which can provide money and support to help people start their own business. The National Audit Office has previously found that the Department cannot know if it is providing a consistent service over time, or between jobcentres, and that the Department does not systematically gather feedback from claimants on the quality of service they receive. Embedding a very large number of new work coaches and ensuring they offer consistently high-quality services to claimants will be extremely challenging in such a system. Recommendations: The Department should commit to undertaking and publishing a full evaluation by the end of 2022 of how well its work coaches provide employment support and how consistently they apply their judgement. The Department should gather and use systematic feedback on claimant’s satisfaction with their work coaches, the service at the jobcentre, and how the jobcentre could be improved. DWP Employment support 9 1 The Department’s response to the pandemic
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Government response AI summary
The government states it systematically gathers feedback on claimant satisfaction through annual surveys. It also agrees with the recommendation to evaluate work coach effectiveness, noting work is underway with findings expected to start becoming available throughout 2022.
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HM Treasury