Recommendation 17

The Department told us that its “top priority” now is getting people into work through the pandemic, and that it wants to avoid the risk of ‘scarring’ that unemployment can have on a person’s chances of getting a job – particularly young people who may be 42 C&AG’s Report, pg 32 43 Q 48 44 Qq 32–33; Government webpage, Help with moving from benefits to work, available at: Help with moving from benefits to work: Starting or running your own business - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 45 Q 10; C&AG’s Report ,pg 32 46 Social Security Advisory Committee, Occasional Paper No.24, A review of the COVID-19 temporary measures, pg 15, available at: A review of the COVID-19 temporary measures - Occasional paper 24 (publishing.service.gov.uk) 47 C&AG’s Report, Supporting disabled people to work, Session 2017–19, HC 1991, 28 Month 2019, para 2.6 48 C&AG’s Report , pg 34 DWP Employment support 15 looking for work without already having work experience.49 Over the longer term, the Department wants to prioritise a wider set of issues, many of which were challenges even before the COVID-19 pandemic. These include addressing health and disability issues, and helping people already in work to earn more (which the Department refers to as in- work progression).50