Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
More than half of jobcentres reduced claimant support due to work coach shortages.
Conclusion
To help deal with the shortfall in work coaches, the Department allows jobcentres that are under the most pressure in terms of work coaches’ caseload to reduce the support they provide for claimants. In September 2023, the Department introduced a local flexibility framework which sets out five measures that jobcentres can implement in order. For example, the first measure involves shortening the initial meeting with claimants from 50 to 30 minutes and the second measure is to reduce the frequency with which some claimants meet a work coach from weekly or fortnightly to monthly. The Department allows jobcentres to implement measures in the framework if their work coaches have a caseload of more than 110 cases and this position is forecast to continue for at least three months. From September 2023 to November 2024, more than half (57%) of jobcentres used the framework at some point to reduce the support they provide to claimants to help manage their workload.24