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Government employment programmes

Issue date
information note

Introduction

Since the general election in 2010, the range of public labour market programmes has changed completely. The New Deal programmes and Employment Zones have been cancelled and one of the first things the new government did was to abolish the Future Jobs Fund. During the election, the Conservatives campaigned for a single programme to take the place of the confusing range of different schemes then in existence. In the event, it is just as difficult to keep track of the range of programmes now operating in England (there are different measures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

This note sets out the main publicly-funded employment programmes for people out of work (including those on Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance) and looks at their characteristics. In the early months of 2012, there have been controversies about unpaid work experience and contracting-out employment programmes, so this note pays special attention to these issues but it is important to note that some programmes do not include work experience and some are run by Jobcentre Plus, not contractors.

The programmes can be grouped under seven headings:

  • The Work Programme
  • The Get Britain Working Programmes
  • Mandatory Work Activity
  • The Youth Contract
  • Specialist disability schemes
  • The Community Action Programme
  • Work Trials and Employment on Trial

The Work Programme

The Work Programme is the main scheme for unemployed people and it replaced the Flexible New Deal (the final version of the New Deal programmes). The most important point about the Work Programme is that it is entirely run by the private sector on a 'black box' model. This means that a participant will be handed over to one of 18 'prime contractors' and the prime contractor may at various points bring in a sub-contractor, usually to provide specialist support.

The black box model means that the government does not tell contractors how to help participants, though the government points out that there is a 'minimum service offer' and a 'customer complaints process'. Instead, the government aims to move unemployed people into jobs by using an outcome-related funding mechanism to give providers an incentive to get jobs. The fees are structured as follows:

  • A 'start fee' (the government intends that this will eventually be phased out);
  • A 'job outcome payment' after a participant has been in a job for 6 months (3 months for the hardest to help);
  • A 'sustainment payment' every four weeks if the participant stays in work for up to a year (up to two years for more disadvantaged participants).

Each area has at least two providers and participants are allocated to them randomly. Providers that fall well short of minimum standards could have their contracts cancelled and eventually the government plans to make extra payments to providers substantially above this level. The government will monitor job outcomes as a percentage of programme starts and 'shift market share to the best-performing providers over the lifetime of the contracts.'

There are different rules about different groups of participants:

information note

The maximum duration of the Work Programme for someone who does not get a job is two years.

The black box model allows providers a great deal of discretion about the exact nature of their provision, which can include work experience. The DWP advises providers that work experience will be subject to the national minimum wage legislation unless it is compulsory.

Get Britain Working

These are a variety of different schemes offered at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus District Managers - not all of them will are available in all areas.

Work Clubs

Work Clubs are private organisations, supported by Jobcentre Plus, that provide unemployed people with a place to meet and make contacts. They are usually set up by local authorities, community or employer groups and offer a range of services, including jobs fairs, interview skills support, help with CVs, IT skills training, careers talks and information about volunteering opportunities. They are entirely voluntary.

Work Together

Work Together is a scheme that encourages unemployed people to volunteer, offering information about volunteering generally, links to local support organisations (like Councils of Voluntary Service) and specific volunteering opportunities. Work Together is voluntary.

Work Experience

Work Experience is a placement with an employer for young people aged 18 - 21 for 25 - 30 hours a week, for 2 to 8 weeks. Where the employer offers to take the young person on to an apprenticeship the placement can be extended a further 4 weeks.

The Department for Work and Pensions has powers under the Welfare Reform Act to require people receiving Employment and Support Allowance who are in the work-related activity group to take part in work experience indefinitely - it is not entirely clear whether this will be counted as part of the Get Britain Working Work Experience scheme or as a separate scheme.

Participants receive their benefits plus help with travel and childcare costs but must continue to be available for and actively seek work. Originally, participation in Work Experience was voluntary, but once someone had begun, they faced benefit sanctions if they withdrew. After employers objected to this, the government made participation voluntary and some government information materials now refer to Work Experience as 'Voluntary Work Experience.'

New Enterprise Allowance

The New Enterprise Allowance offers financial support and a volunteer mentor to help people who have received JSA for at least 6 months to set up a business. The financial support includes a loan of up to £1,000 and an allowance for up to 6 months (£65 a week for 3 months and £33 a week for 6 months.) The mentor must approve the participant's business plan and any loan application; interest on the loan is charged at an annual rate of 10 per cent.

Enterprise Clubs

In a similar manner to Work Clubs, Enterprise Clubs are voluntary, community-based clubs offering support for unemployed people who want to be become self-employed. The advice available at an Enterprise Club may include financial, legal and market advice, internet access and benefits advice.

Sector-based Work Academies

Sector-based Work Academies provide pre-employment training, work experience placements and a guaranteed interview in sectors with high volumes of local vacancies for people who get JSA or ESA (work-related activity group). Participants receive their benefit and those on JSA must continue to attend their jobsearch reviews.

Taking part in the work experience provided by a sector-based work academy is voluntary; the official policy remains that people who have started a work experience placement face benefit sanctions if they withdraw, but this may not happen in practice.

MandatoryWork Activity

Mandatory Work Activity is sometimes listed as a Get Britain Working programme, sometimes not. MWA is targeted on claimants whom JCP advisers think would 'benefit from experiencing the habits and routines of working life'.

The scheme consists of a 30 hours a week placement for 4 weeks, during which the participant must continue to look for work. The penalty for refusing a place is the suspension of benefits for a minimum of 3 months.

The Youth Contract

The Youth Contract, to be launched in April 2012, will cost £939 million over 3 years. It includes:

  • 160,000 subsidised jobs - businesses taking on young people from the Work Programme will receive a subsidy of up to £2,275.
  • A dramatic expansion of the Work Experience scheme and sector-based work academies, from 50,000 to 100,000 a year.
  • 20,000 extra incentive payments of £1,500 to employers who take on young apprentices - doubling the size of this scheme.
  • Weekly instead of fortnightly signing on.

The programme applies to young people aged 18 - 24; those who do not take part may be referred to Mandatory Work Activity and those who drop out will face benefit sanctions.

Special employment programmes for disabled people

Most disabled people dealt with by Jobcentre Plus will take part in the general employment schemes, but there are also specialist programmes. These include:

  • Work Choice, a modular programme that covers work entry support, in-work support (for up to two years) and longer-term in-work support.
  • Access to Work, support with the extra costs of a support worker, aids, adaptations or special equipment to help a disabled person to get or remain in employment.
  • Remploy, a nationalised industry, specialising in employing disabled people. In March 2012, the government announced that 2/3 of all Remploy factories were to be closed.

The Community Action Programme

The Community Action Programme is currently a pilot programme, due to be rolled-out nationally in 2013. The pilot is a mandatory programme for people who have been unemployed over 2 years, requiring them to do 30 hours a week of unpaid community work for up to 6 months. The national programme will apply to people who are still unemployed after 2 years on the Work Programme.

Work Trials and Employment on Trial

Work Trials are offered where an employer is not finally convinced about whether to recruit an unemployed person to a vacancy (which must be permanent, for over 16 hours a week and expected to last at least 13 weeks). The Trial is voluntary and the participant is able to turn down the job without losing their benefits; during the Trial, they will be paid their benefits, not a wage.

Employment on Trial allows an unemployed person to try out a job and return to JSA without losing their benefit entitlement. They must work in the job for between 4 and 12 weeks.

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