Work Programme Personalisation, innovation and Economic Growth - the essentials

1. Work ProgrammePersonalisation, innovation and Economic Growth -the essentials Sarah Phillips ERSA 28 November 2011

2. Opportunities and Risks of the Work Programme • Targeted at long term unemployed • Personalised focus on outcomes • Flexible response to complexity of worklessness • Range of sub-contractors • All other programmes ended • In practice a limited pool of few large contractors • PBR restricted by inflexible focus on only one outcome • External constraints on the likelihood of results • Government should keep under review

3. Government must manage Work Programme risks a. Will all clients receive support? b. Is long-term support sufficiently incentivised and rewarded? c. Can third sector sub-contractors thrive under the funding model? d. Will support reduce through start-up and disrupt local partnerships? e. Unknown factors in supporting individuals reassessed and leaving incapacity benefits f. Impact of operation of conditionality and sanctions and loss of voluntary referral g. The slow and delayed economic recovery may not provide enough jobs Report June 2011 for Tomorrow's People

4. Irony of inflexibility and mistrust • Work Programme cannot succeed as the only mechanism for all interventions. • One measure of results - but takes many stages to build skills, confidence to enable people to be "job ready“ through work experience or volunteering . • Still driven from centre – difficult to flex with local links. • Shortage of long term and full time jobs • Still difficult to move on and off benefits

5. Time and effort – to build up skills, job-readiness and confidence • “People come in who have worked for up to 20 years for the same employer, but can barely read or write, have never used computers, and never had contact with the public.” • Building basic literacy and vocational skills • Experience of working • Being an employee

6. Local government co-ordination role totackle disadvantage places and individuals • Design system of local co-ordinated responses, avoid fragmentation and duplication. • Concerns about their children, health, housing and transport are key reasons people fail to obtain or sustain work. • Integrate with core local public services. • Recognise other players – health, education, skills, advice, justice, community. • Long term added-value of partnerships across sectors.

7. Youth unemployment • Youth unemployment has risen steadily since 2004 • Lack of skills and or experience of working compounds vulnerability, alienation, mistrust. • Youth unemployment up 77% after Future Jobs Fund • Key will be a sense there really is a Youth Contract – between government, public, employers, training. Intervention • Wage incentives and job subsidies to employers, • Encouraging training, apprenticeships and work experience. • Still need structural reforms

8. Solutions ? • Open evaluation and validation of the costs and benefits of different interventions. • Build on what worked in local partnerships and the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. • Tailored local community engagement. • Support for enterprise and self-employment. • PBR without discriminating against small under-capitalised organisations.

9. Sarah Phillips sarah.phillips@lgiu.org.uk http://www.tomorrows-people.org.uk/downloads/personalisation_innovation_growth_essentials_for_tackling_worklessness_june_2011.pdf