Welfare Reform Bill

I shall try again. Bids for Pathways to Work contracts for potential providers should include details of the skills and experience which would enable them to address the specific needs and barriers of all customers. Bids will be assessed against that information. In any funding regime on outcomes, there is a risk that providers will concentrate on the easiest to help. However, we intend to mitigate that risk as much as possible by reviewing providers’ performance to ensure that this is not the case. The noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, asked about what happens if a customer moves into work but subsequently reapplies for ESA, and whether providers get a second outcome payment if he finds work again. If a customer returns to Pathways to Work after a spell off benefit contractors can only claim another outcome-based payment for him if they have claimed a sustained payment in between. Providers cannot simply get people into short-term jobs and continue getting outcome payments for them. The noble Lord asked about the instalments of a 30 per cent service fee. The service fee is 30 per cent of the contract value. It will be spread over the lifetime of the total contract and paid monthly. The general issue of the nature and structure of payment arrangements was raised and whether there could be payments based on distance travelled. Obviously, a small movement in one customer’s employment prospects would represent a far greater distance travelled than a larger movement in another customer. Setting interim targets can make the distance appear further to some customers. We need also to bear in mind that the ultimate goal here is to enable customers to enter employment with all the financial, social and health benefits that it can bring, and it is, therefore, right that, however far away it may be, employment is the visible goal. I hope I have addressed each point that noble Lords raised, but I am happy to have a second go if I have not.