Recommendation 8

The Department said that it was in the process of setting up the new jobs and careers service, which would need to be done by October 2026 when the current National Careers Service contracts came to an end. It had taken over the contracts but Ministers had decided to insource careers advice services from 1 October 2026. We asked the Department if it would make sure it retained in the new organisation the skills contained within the National Careers Service providers. We believe this is very important. The Department told us that insourcing was important so that it could try different things rather than having to negotiate them through a commercial contract. It said it had time to get the new arrangements right, including bringing over talented staff from the existing providers.15 Reduction in work coach support for claimants