Recommendation 15

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