Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

The Restart Scheme for long-term unemployed people

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2022 Closed: 27 Jun 2023 8 recommendations 18 conclusions 1 report

Restart is one of a range of measures introduced by the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to support people to get and keep a job in the wake of the impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s labour market. Restart went live in July 2021 and operates across England and Wales. It focuses on helping …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Second Report - The Restart Scheme for long-term unem… HC 733 22 Mar 2023 26 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
4 Recommendation Forty-Second Report - The Restart Schem… Acknowledged

The Department did not know enough about its claimants to understand what support they needed...

The Department did not know enough about its claimants to understand what support they needed and how many eligible claimants would go on to participate in Restart. The Department’s work coaches know a lot about their claimants, but much of this information is recorded as freeform text on a person’s …

Government response. The government acknowledges the value of testing assumptions prior to procurement but notes that trials can take up to two years to complete. The department will need to assess and balance the risks and opportunities when determining the right approach.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
12 Dec 2022 Angus Gray · Department for Work & Pensions, Mark Leigh · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Peter Schofield · Department for Work and Pensions, Preeta Ramachandran · Department for Work & Pensions View ↗

Correspondence

1 letter
DateDirectionTitle
23 Jan 2023 Correspondence from Peter Schofield CB, Permanent Secretary, Department for Wor…