Inactivity seminar – April 11, 2003

1. Inactivity seminar – April 11, 2003 Mike Daly Lone Parents, Older Workers and Disability Analysis Division Disabled people - what works??

2. From earlier discussion of trends, short answer is ‘obviously nothing we have tried so far’ • (Looking at GB evidence – but nobody else has the answer) • Focus on moving from inactivity to employment – also need to reduce flows from employment to inactivity • But what do we mean by ‘works’? • Leads to employment outcomes which are not all dead-weight • Attracts sufficient volumes to make impact on aggregate figures

3. What have we tried? • Support from specialist Disability Employment Advisers • Mandatory Work Focused Interviews • Rehabilitation/retraining (Work Preparation) • Supported Employment (Workstep) • Individualised support from external Job Broker (New Deal for Disabled People) • Training (through WBLA)

4. What have we tried (2) • Support in work through Access to Work: • Travel to work; support workers; special aids & equipment; adaptations to premises; communicator support at interview • Temporary wage subsidy - Job Introduction Scheme • Making work pay – Disabled Persons Tax Credit • Encourage part-time work as a stepping stone - Permitted work rules

5. Generally low numbers • Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) • 670 DEAs conduct 100,000 interviews per year – but most on JSA rather than incapacity benefits • 18, 000 job entries a year – most of these JSA clients • Jobcentre Plus planning for 7,500 job entries for people on incapacity benefits this year (excluding NDDP jobs)

6. Low numbers (2) • Work Preparation: • 11,000 starts 2000/2001 • 1,700 job entries recorded (Understates performance significantly) • Workstep • Superseded Supported Employment Programme April 2001 • 24,500 currently on Supported Employment & Workstep • 2,600 starts in the first year of Workstep

7. Low numbers (3) • NDDP • Since July 2001, over 40,000 starts • Around a third achieve job entries, nearly half sustained • Well below targets – but some brokers at or close to target levels • Originally hoped for 100,000 sustained job entries over 3 years • WBLA take-up by IB clients is low - <5% of total

8. Low numbers (4) • Access to Work • 20,000 existing beneficiaries • 13,000 new beneficiaries • Two thirds of cases already in work • Job Introduction Scheme • Around 2,000 a year • Disabled Persons Tax Credit • 36,000 currently in receipt • Take-up levels thought to be relatively low • Permitted Work Rules • Too early for findings • But higher take-up than previous ‘therapeutic earnings’ rules

9. Evidence of effectiveness (1) • Disability Employment Advisers • A quarter in work 6 months after assessment • A third of those said would not have got job otherwise • half of customers were satisfied with their DEA contacts. • Mandatory WFIs • ONE pilots found no evidence of impact • But experience with Lone Parents suggests can have an impact, if we get it right • Early evaluation results suggest we haven’t got it right yet in Jobcentre Plus

10. Evidence of effectiveness (2) • Work Preparation • Recent work to establish best practice • Mixed messages on effectiveness of provision • 20% in work 13 weeks after – but no estimates of net impact • Workstep • Too early to know how many progress to unsupported employment • This was not a principal aim of previous SEP – nor the only objective of Workstep

11. Evidence of effectiveness (3) • NDDP • Much too early for overall impact assessments. • Access to Work • Case study approach to estimation of deadweight • Significant deadweight present – but low enough for overall programme to be cost-effective • Job Introduction Scheme • Research suggests some net impact – no hard evidence

12. Evidence of effectiveness (4) • DPTC • No evidence yet on net impact • Research on Disability Working Allowance suggested not many job entries as a result • But know that financial concerns a significant barrier to return to work • Permitted Work Rules • No evidence that therapeutic work was a stepping stone • Research in progress on PWR

13. What is the problem? • Most of this has been aimed at those who are closer to the labour market – not at the inactive • Only recently (Jobcentre Plus, NDDP) have we seriously tried to convert ‘want to work’ into ‘looking for work’ • And these measures have been seriously flawed • Piecemeal approach – good reason for thinking measures succeed through interactions

14. So what would work? • Being tested in IB pilots: • Mandatory WFIs • Some re-design of process – but particularly better training • Additional mandatory WFIs for most new claimants • Access to further caseloading – either Jobcentre Plus or external through NDDP • More consistent/coherent access to other help, such as rehabilitation • Improved financial incentives