Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
The Department does not understand how well each of the individual 77 providers are delivering...
Recommendation
The Department does not understand how well each of the individual 77 providers are delivering Restart compared to their peers. The Restart scheme is delivered by a complex network of prime contractors and their subcontractors across 12 different contract areas in England and Wales, with the aim to help participants into work against the backdrop of the labour market in their area. Half of the prime contractors, while being responsible for their own contract area, are also subcontractors in at least one other area. The largest providers have their own systems which they use to assess participants barriers to work, as a directory of available support, and as a system to manage meetings and interactions with participants. Despite this, the regular management information the Department collects about Restart is all based on the performance in the 12 contract areas and does not cover how well individual providers are contributing to this complex network of support. The Department can collect information about how well individual providers are performing but it does not do this routinely or collate such information. As a result, it does not know how well individual providers are adhering to the customer service standards it introduced to stop providers focusing efforts on participants who are easiest to help, or how well individual providers are performing in getting people into work. Recommendation 5: While Restart is running, the Department should do more to collate and assess how individual providers are performing to increase transparency and competition between providers, and to identify pockets of best practice that might otherwise be lost when performance is compiled into a package area level. The Department should then seek to use this information as part of its evaluation.
Government Response Summary
Prime providers will report on a simple return, the subcontractor each participant is assigned to. The department will produce relevant MI centrally and circulate subcontractor MI for each CPA to all prime providers monthly for complete transparency. Subcontractor MI will be shared with the evaluation team to be used as part of their process.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. providers are performing at Contract Package Area (CPA) level, noting that the department’s commercial model holds prime providers accountable for their own supply chains. The department’s commitment to continuous improvement, sharing best practice and building on its current processes will be enhanced by the following actions: • Prime providers will report on a simple return, the subcontractor each participant is assigned to. • The department will produce the relevant MI centrally, ensuring the methodology is aligned with their current suite of CPA MI. • Metrics will be: Starts on scheme, First Earnings and Job Outcomes. • The subcontractor MI for each CPA will be circulated to all prime providers monthly for complete transparency, and to facilitate the sharing of best practice. • Subcontractor MI will be shared with the evaluation team to be used as part of their process. The department’s evaluation team already capture qualitative data on prime providers and subcontractors as part of their geographical case studies and use MI to select sites to ensure coverage across urban, rural and coastal areas. Standardising data collection at sub- CPA level will allow more precise focus where trends suggest further exploration is needed to understand delivery issues or good practice. This will be included in the department’s evaluation of Restart.