1
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment suppo…
Acknowledged
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Work and Pensions (the Department) about the employment support it provides to people who need help.1
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the introductory paragraph of the committee's report, confirming the basis and timing of evidence gathering and report publication.
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HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment suppo…
Acknowledged
The Department explained that it is planning to evaluate the impact of its new schemes, beginning with the Kickstart programme, building on the evaluation work it completed for its previous schemes, which informed its current programme.34 We heard that the Department expects to use methodologies that allow it to separate …
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The Department explained that it is planning to evaluate the impact of its new schemes, beginning with the Kickstart programme, building on the evaluation work it completed for its previous schemes, which informed its current programme.34 We heard that the Department expects to use methodologies that allow it to separate the effect of its support from the other factors that might have impacted a person’s employment outcome. The Department told us, however, that producing the final results of evaluations of this nature would take several years.35 The Department’s evaluations of its existing employment support programmes for disabled people are already behind schedule.36 The Department told us that that some of its randomised control trials, where it tries to assess the impact of its employment support, could not be carried out during the pandemic, so have been paused. The Department told us that this was the case for both the Work and Health Programme, which offers support to disabled people and the long term unemployed, and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support scheme, which offers 27 Q 17; C&AG’s Report, pg 14 28 Q 17 29 C&AG’s Report, Appendix 2 30 Q 18; C&AG’s Report, pg 44 31 Q 18 32 Q 21 33 Letter from the Permanent Secretary to the Chair, 5 July 2021 34 Qq 51–52 35 Q 36 36 Q 52; C&AG’s Report, Supporting disabled people to work, Session 2017–19, HC 1991, 28 Month 2019, Fig 12 DWP Employment support 13 personalised employment support for people with disabilities and complex needs.37 The Department said that it was “trying to work out another way of doing the same evaluation”.38 Following the session, the Department wrote to us saying that findings from an externally commissioned evaluation on the Work and Health Programme are expected in Summer 2022, and a synthesis report on an evaluation of the Intensive Personalised Employment Support scheme is expected in 2023.39
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Government response AI summary
The government's response acknowledged the importance of evaluation and outlined ongoing work to assess work coach effectiveness and individual policies, with findings expected throughout 2022. However, it did not directly address the committee's observation about delays in existing evaluations or the long timelines for future …
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HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Fifteenth Report - DWP Employment suppo…
Acknowledged
The Department’s employment support is mainly accessible to people on benefits, and they will usually be referred to that support via their jobcentre work coaches. Work coaches have considerable discretion to tailor their support to claimants, including discretion around: the frequency and form of their meetings with claimants; the support …
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The Department’s employment support is mainly accessible to people on benefits, and they will usually be referred to that support via their jobcentre work coaches. Work coaches have considerable discretion to tailor their support to claimants, including discretion around: the frequency and form of their meetings with claimants; the support to which they refer or signpost claimants; and the expectations that are set in the claimant’s commitments. To fulfil their role effectively, work coaches need a range of skills and knowledge to match claimants to the right employment support package.42 The Department told us that personal engagement between the work coach and the claimant is very important to ensuring that work coaches understand what a person needs and can direct them to the right provision.43 The expectations of a work coach can even include checking a claimants 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.44
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observations about work coach discretion and skills, noting ongoing customer satisfaction surveys and existing work to evaluate work coach effectiveness and explore wider support offers.
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HM Treasury