The Efficiency Savings Programme in Jobcentre Plus


Book Description

During the past two years Jobcentre Plus has faced considerable upheaval in trying to accommodate both organisational change and meet the DWP target for efficiency savings (which requires the loss of 15,000 staff by March 20008). This report looks at how these changes have affected the ability of the Agency to meet its objectives in relation to: employment and training programmes; the capacity and role of Personal Advisors; the performance of the Customer Management System; the principles behind and the performance of Contact Centres. It concludes that too much was attempted too quickly, the planning and IT processes were not up to the job and service levels suffered. As a result Jobcentre Plus failed one of the tests of the Gershon programme that service quality should not deteriorate as a result of the efficiency process.




Child support reform


Book Description

The Committee's report examines the Government's proposals to reform the child support system, as set out in the White Paper "A new system of child maintenance" (Cm. 6979, ISBN 9780101697927) published in December 2006, and following on from the report by Sir David Henshaw (Cm. 6894, ISBN 9780101689427) published in July 2006. The Committee welcomes the Government's reform proposals, including the eventual replacement of the Child Support Agency by a new body (Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC)) in 2008 and the fundamental shift proposed towards maintenance agreements privately agreed between parents. However, concerns are raised over the lack of detail for proper scrutiny of how the new system will work, particularly in relation to the provision of advice and guidance services. The report also highlights a number of inherent contradictions between the principles and practicalities of the proposals, for example how the reforms will impact on child poverty targets in relation to parents on welfare benefits, as well as regarding the transition arrangements for the transfer of existing cases onto the new scheme run by C-MEC. Concerns are also raised that whatever the merit of joint birth registration, tagging this highly sensitive matter onto child maintenance legislation will have wider ramifications for the family law system.




Personal accounts


Book Description

Personal Accounts : Fifth report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence




Pension Reform


Book Description

The Government proposed a significant reform of the pensions system in the White Paper 'Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system' (ISBN 0101684126). This report sets out the Committee's response to the proposals. It looks at: personal accounts; existing occupational and private pensions; state pension reform; the state second pension; whether the state pension should remain two-tier; means-testing; how much it will cost; increasing the state pension age; working longer; and public engagement with pensions. Their conclusion is that on the whole the Government's measures are the right way forward.




DWP's Commissioning Strategy and the Flexible New Deal


Book Description

The design and delivery of employment programmes are critical to the success of welfare reform and fundamental to the Government's aspiration of an 80 per cent employment rate. The new Flexible New Deal (FND) programme will be part of the revised JSA regime and will be delivered by large prime contractors who will work with subcontractors at a subregional level. Prime contractors will be given longer contracts and have greater autonomy to design individualised support for customers who have been unemployed for more than 12 months. The Committee welcomes the move towards longer contracts and endorses the principles of the FND programme, and was impressed by the work that Jobcentre Plus staff are undertaking to prepare for the introduction of the new regime. Yet there are significant concerns that fundamental flaws exist in the design of FND and the assumptions on which it is based. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accepts that on-flows onto FND could be 300 per cent higher than first indicated, with implications for resources at the providers, and possible delays in implementing FND in some areas. The Committee urges DWP to confirm that changes will be made to the budget to reflect the massive increase in predicted onflows to FND. It might not be possible for providers to meet the targets on which contractor payments are principally based, and the Committee received evidence to suggest that the financial model for FND is flawed and its targets unrealistic. It is crucial that DWP and other departments ensure that collaborative working with City Strategies, local authorities and other local Partners is facilitated at all levels if joint commissioning is to become a reality.




Connecting People with Jobs Activation Policies in the United Kingdom


Book Description

This report examines recent activation policies in the United Kingdom aimed at moving people back into work. It offers insight into how countries can improve the effectiveness of their employment services and also control spending on benefits.




Report on Incapacity Benefits and Pathways to Work


Book Description

This document sets out the Government's response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee's report (HCP 616, session 2005-06; ISBN 0215028694) published in May 2006. The Committee's report examined the Government's proposals for welfare reform as detailed in its Green Paper 'A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work' (Cm 6730, ISBN 0101673027) published in January 2006. Issues discussed include: the aim to reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits by one million within a decade; the introduction of a new benefit called Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to replace incapacity benefit from 2008; and the future rollout of the 'Pathways to Work' scheme. An analysis of consultation responses to the Green Paper is available separately (Cm 6859, ISBN 0101685920).




Management and administration of contracted employment programmes


Book Description

This report examines contracted employment programmes and focuses in particular on the prevention of fraud, the treatment of subcontractors, and ensuring fair treatment of customers. The Committee found that levels of detected fraud in contracted employment programmes are low, but feels that there is no room for complacency; the frauds uncovered to date have highlighted the existence of weaknesses in the system which could be exploited. Processes for the detection of fraud must be rigorous and robust. In addition, the financial penalties for providers who have fraud in their organisation are not severe enough. The report calls for customer rights to be given a much higher priority, and for a universal, monitored, and enforceable customer charter to be introduced. It also calls on the Department to carry out a "Customer Survey" of customers of contracted employment programmes to enable standards of customer service to be compared between providers and with Jobcentre Plus. The quality of provision to vulnerable groups, particularly those with disabilities, is another area of concern as providers are having to work with customers with more severe barriers than they had anticipated. The Report examines several examples of potential mistreatment of sub-contractors including allegations of the operation of a cartel, and notes that while it does not know how widespread unfair treatment of subcontractors is, neither does the Department.




Full employment and world class skills


Book Description

In light of the recommendations of the Leitch Review "Prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills" (TSO, ISBN 9780118404792) published in December 2006, the Government produced two policy papers setting out its plans to improve the co-ordination of employment and skills training so that people who are low-skilled and out of work have a better chance of finding and keeping employment. These documents are the Green Paper "In work, better off" (Cm. 7130, ISBN 9780101713023) and a related document "World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England' (Cm. 7181, ISBN 9780101718127), both published in July 2007. The Committee's report examines these key policy statements, assessing the Department for Work and Pension's plans for future reform and how the Department will fulfil its role in improving the skills levels of people entering work, drawing on the findings of previous Committee inquiries into welfare reform issues.




Britain's Modernised Civil Service


Book Description

Britain's Modernised Civil Service provides detailed analysis of the structure and operation of the modern civil service along with an historically grounded account of its development. Key events, personalities and scandals help bring the account to life and illuminate and challenge the various theories of what the civil service is or should be. The authors take the evolutionary change of the civil service as a central theme and examine the impact of the major reforms of recent years on the historic Whitehall unitary model. They assess the impact of the New Public Management agenda of the Thatcher and Major years and the role of the Civil Service in the multi-governmental context of devolution and membership of the European Union. Further changes associated with New Labour such the increased role of think tanks, special advisers and the impact of the freedom of information act further sharpen the picture of today's civil service and lead to a rethinking of theories of its role. This readable book by two leading authorities provides an up-to-date account of Britain's Civil Service that will be essential reading for students of British politics, public policy and management. June Burnham is a researcher and consultant in the area of public services and public policy and formerly Senior Lecturer in European Government at Middlesex University. Robert Pyper is Professor of Government and Public Management, and Head of the Division of Public Policy at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is author of The British Civil Service for which this is a fully-revised replacement volume.