News Tag: Work Programme

ERSA has today released the latest round of job start figures for the Work Programme for the period of June to December 2017. These show that 856,991 people have now gained some work through the scheme, while the number of young people gaining work has reached 206,522.

The full report can be accessed here.

Welcoming the figures Kirsty McHugh, ERSA Chief Executive, said:

‘The Work Programme has now been closed for referrals for nearly a year, yet there are still a significant number of jobseekers gaining support from the scheme. Today’s figures demonstrate the continued success of the programme in supporting people to find employment.

‘The majority of the 856,911 people supported into jobs by the Work Programme are long-term unemployed. With the recent launch of the Work and Health Programme – which is significantly smaller in scope and scale – it is critical jobseekers continue to receive specialist support to find work and build stronger and more inclusive communities’.

ERSA welcomes the latest labour market statistics which show a record 31.4 million people in work, up 521,000 compared with this time last year.

This boost in employment is supported by the work of the employment support sector through a range of government programmes, including the Work Programme which has helped over three quarters of a million people move into work since the programme started in June 2011.

One of the individuals who has been helped by the Work Programme is Alan Hydon, winner of ERSA’s Significant Achievement Award 2015.

After 12 years in the army, injury during service left Alan paralysed for two months and he was given a medical discharge in 1985. Back in civilian life, Alan returned to work, pursuing a career in engineering. Alan then suffered an industrial accident and was told he would never work again. He was subsequently out of work for 14 years. However he refused to sit back and do nothing and volunteered at Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre. Volunteering built his confidence and his commitment to unpaid work boosted his employability. At the age of 57 Alan was supported back into employment by Intraining as an assembly operative at Caterpillar, where he has passed numerous training courses.

Alan said: ‘I’ve got a life now, a very different one. I have a new car, I can pay my bills, buy a lottery ticket and I have money in the bank. And I can buy my partner a bunch of flowers on the way home – that feels really good’.

ERSA’s 2016 Employability Awards are now open for entries from those helping jobseekers to move towards, into and progress in work across the UK – from employment providers, to employers and jobseekers themselves. The stories in the awards can help us understand the individual impact behind the employment figures. More information on the awards is available here.

ERSA has today welcomed many of the recommendations in a new report by leading think tanks Social Market Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Employment support for a high wage economy, on the future of employment support.

In particular, it welcomes the focus on increasing wages to help people move out of poverty and the call to combine radical reform of Jobcentre Plus with an extension of Work Programme type provision.

As recognised recently by the Work and Pensions Select Committee, the current Work Programme is meeting all targets and is delivering at least as well as previous employment programmes, but at a much reduced cost.  However, ERSA agrees with the report’s recommendation that government’s twin aims of full employment and halving the disability employment gap demand a new approach to commissioning, including access to earlier specialised support for jobseekers and better funded support for those with complex needs.

As such, ERSA also welcomes the call for a new approach to the assessment and segmentation of jobseekers.  At present, jobseekers are, in effect, streamed by Jobcentre Plus based on benefit type, which has proved an insufficient mechanism to recognise need or base the targeting of interventions and resources. 

ERSA Chief Executive, Kirsty McHugh, said:

‘With the financial statement almost upon us, we are looking to Government to invest in the areas necessary to deliver its dual aims of full employment and halving the disability employment gap.

‘Current employment provision has delivered well for many jobseekers, with the Work and Pensions Select Committee recognising that it had performed as least as well as predecessor programmes, but at a greatly reduced cost to the public purse.  However, the Work Programme was never designed or funded to get the majority of long term unemployed into long term jobs.  We now need the government to take steps to reform the Jobcentre Plus regime which is focused on getting people off benefit rather than into work and to invest more heavily in supporting those with complex barriers to employment.’

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Press enquiries should be directed to Anna Robin 07912 569 449 /anna.robin@ersa.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

1. The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) is the sector body for those delivering or with an interest in employment support services.  ERSA’s membership spans the private, voluntary and public sectors and ranges from large multi-nationals through to small specialist charities.  It has over 200 members, including all prime contractors of the Work Programme. The majority of its members are not for profit.
2. ERSA is able to set up interviews with jobseekers who have found work and providers of employment support services. Case studies are available on ERSA’s website. Interviews with ERSA’s Chief Executive Kirsty McHugh are available on request.
3. The Work and Pensions Select Committee report  on back to work programmes, mentioned in this press release, can be found here.

The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the representative body for the employment support sector, has today (22 October 2015) welcomed the statement from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on benefit sanctions, but warned that further changes are needed to system. 

In particular, ERSA has welcomed the piloting of a 14 day delay for claimants and extending the definition of ‘at risk’ groups for hardship purposes to include those with mental health conditions and who are homeless. However, ERSA has also warned that, although the ability for Jobcentre Plus to sanction jobseekers should not be abandoned entirely, the changes being proposed by the Secretary of State were unlikely to go far enough.

In addition to today’s changes, ERSA is calling for:
1. An ‘early warning’ system which could be used at first offence rather than imposing a sanction.
2. The development of a far more robust evidence base about the effectiveness of sanctions and benefits conditionality generally on jobseekers.
3. Frontline employment providers of the Work Programme and other programmes to be given more discretion about when they should report jobseekers to Jobcentre Plus for potential sanctioning.
4. Greater clarity across the system about which jobseekers classed as ‘vulnerable’ and should be exempt from sanctions altogether.
5. The better sharing of information about jobseeker circumstances, including the results of Work Capability Assessments, as lack of information can lead to inappropriate sanctioning.
6. An automatic review of jobseeker circumstances when repeat sanctions fail to have an effect.  

At present, Jobcentre Plus can issue benefit sanctions, thus removing benefit entitlement for a specified period from jobseekers who fail to comply with agreed activities, such as meetings with advisers or skills programmes.  Providers of the Work Programme and other programmes are obliged to refer some jobseekers to Jobcentre Plus when there has not been compliance with agreed activities. 

Kirsty McHugh, ERSA Chief Executive, said:

“We welcome the recognition by the Secretary of State that the sanctions system is in need of reform, but are concerned that the changes today don’t go far enough.  For some jobseekers, receiving a sanction can act as a ‘wake up’ call.  However, for the majority, the sanction system is more likely to hinder the journey to employment.  Jobseekers move into work quickest when they feel positive about work and thus sanctions should only be used as a last resort.”

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Press enquiries should be directed to Anna Robin 07912 569 449 /anna.robin@ersa.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

1. The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) is the sector body for those delivering or with an interest in employment support services.  ERSA’s membership spans the private, voluntary and public sectors and ranges from large multi-nationals through to small specialist charities.  It has over 200 members, including all prime contractors of the Work Programme. The majority of its members are not for profit.
2. ERSA’s submission to the Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry into sanctions can be found here. 
3. The statement from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on benefit sanctions can be found here.
4. ERSA is able to set up interviews with jobseekers who have found work and providers of employment support services. Case studies are available on ERSA’s website. Interviews with ERSA’s Chief Executive Kirsty McHugh are available on request.

ERSA welcomes the latest Government statistics on the Work Programme which show that over 450,000 people have now entered sustained work since the programme began in June 2011 until June 2015.

These figures follow ERSA’s new Job Start statistics released yesterday, which found that overall the Work Programme has supported over 731,000 previously long term unemployed jobseekers into the workplace.

Key findings from the Job Outcome statistics include:

• 459,370 jobseekers have reached the Job Outcome point on the Work Programme.  In total, 1,757,540 jobseekers have been referred to the scheme. 
• Of these, 107,320 jobseekers in the 18-24 payment groups have reached the Job Outcome point.
• The Job Outcome figure for jobseekers on all ESA groups is now 30,700.

Welcoming today’s Job Outcome figures, Kirsty McHugh, ERSA Chief Executive, said:

‘The Work Programme is motoring.  Approaching three quarters of a million long term unemployed jobseekers have now found work on the scheme, with over 450,000 now in sustained work. These figures are set to grow, showing that good quality employment support changes lives.’

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Press enquiries should be directed to Sam Windett 07720677477 /sam.windett@ersa.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

1. The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) is the representative body for those delivering or with an interest in employment support services.  ERSA’s membership spans the private, voluntary and public sectors and ranges from large multi-nationals through to small specialist charities.  It has over 200 members, including all prime contractors of the Work Programme. The majority of its members are not for profit.
2.  The Work Programme is the government’s largest back to work scheme and caters for the most disadvantaged jobseekers in the labour market. Further information about how the programme operates, including the financial model, is available in this Policy Briefing on ERSA’s website.
3.  The Government’s full Work Programmes statistical summary data to 30 June 2015 is available here.
4.   Europe Economics report, The Economic Impact of the Work Programme can be downloaded here.
6.   Case studies of former jobseekers, frontline providers and employers are available on ERSA’s website. Interviews with ERSA’s Chief Executive Kirsty McHugh are available on request.

Ahead of this week’s Budget, the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the representative body for the employment support sector, is calling on government to ensure its new package of funds to support people with mental health conditions extends to employment support services. 

The call accompanies the release today (17 March) of new figures showing that 680,000 long term unemployed jobseekers have started a job on the Work Programme since its inception to end December 2014.  This is an increase of over 40,000 on the previous three months and shows the programme has been instrumental in raising Britain’s employment levels to 73% – the joint highest since records began. 

Of those starting a job whilst on the programme, around 170,000 are under 25, reinforcing the picture of young people being the best performing group on the programme.

The figures also show that performance for those on Employment Support Allowance (ESA), though improving, remains behind that for those on Jobseekers’ Allowance.  ERSA believes the Work Programme’s success could be extended to greater number of jobseekers on ESA, including those with mental health conditions, with the right resourcing in place.

The ERSA figures are released ahead of the announcement of official government performance statistics on the Work Programme due on 19 March.  These figures will show the number of people on the programme who have obtained a long term job – normally six months in sustained employment.

Kirsty McHugh, ERSA Chief Executive, said:

“Today’s figures show that the Work Programme is contributing significantly to the record high levels of employment. However, we know more people with mental health conditions could gain work if more funding was available.’

The expected announcement in the budget of new funding for mental health is great news for both those suffering from mental health conditions and their families.  However, given that official figures show that at least 10% of Work Programme customers suffer from a mental health condition, we need to make sure this funding extends to employment support services.’

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Press enquiries should be directed to Anna Robin 07912 569 449 /anna.robin@ersa.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

1. The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) is the sector body for those delivering or with an interest in employment support services.  ERSA’s membership spans the private, voluntary and public sectors and ranges from large multi-nationals through to small specialist charities.  It has nearly 190 members, including all prime contractors of the Work Programme. The majority of its members are not for profit.
2. ERSA’s Latest Work Programme performance report can be found here. Topline figures from the release include:
• 680,000 individual jobseekers have now entered employment via the Work Programme from its inception in June 2011 to end December 2014
• Over 169,000 young people have now found at least one job on the Work Programme.
• Overall, 36,367 jobseekers on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have now gained work
3. ERSA is able to set up interviews with jobseekers who have found work and providers of employment support services. Case studies are available on ERSA’s website. Interviews with ERSA’s Chief Executive Kirsty McHugh are available on request.
4. Latest DWP Work Programme statistics can be found here. The next tranche will be released on Thursday March 18.