Welfare Reform Bill

It is not only at two years, but the two-year timescale was proposed because that fits in with the Flexible New Deal, the first phase of which starts this year. The first 12 months are through the Jobcentre Plus three-stage process, then there are 12 months of Flexible New Deal. This is aimed at those individuals who, having been through that process—two years of support through those various mechanisms—are still without a connection with the labour market. That is why we chose two years: it fits in with and runs on from the Flexible New Deal.