Welfare Reform Bill

I am grateful for the opportunity to try to allay fears and explain on the record what Clause 1 and "work for your benefit" schemes are all about. As the Committee will be aware, we recently began to reform the jobseeker’s allowance system, including the introduction of the Flexible New Deal. This is designed to ensure that, as a JSA claim progresses, the support that a jobseeker receives increases. The quid pro quo is that jobseekers have an increasing duty to engage with that support. "Work for your benefit" is designed to fit after the Flexible New Deal and continue that progression in terms of support and responsibility. The programme is completely separate from the progression-to-work group and will therefore not apply to lone parents with children younger than seven or to those who are on the employment and support allowance. If we want to look at this in terms of the Gregg proposals, this would apply only to the work-ready group—those claimants who are actively seeking work and are available for it. The programme should be seen in that context. Clause 1 creates a framework for "work for your benefit", which is, as I have said, a new employment programme that we intend to pilot from 2010. The noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, asked if we technically have to pilot; the answer is no, but we have a clear and stated intent to do so. We intend to pilot from October 2010, which is at the end of the first year of the Flexible New Deal; it logically follows on from that, given what I have just said. We expect it to run over two years. We have not yet determined where the pilots will be, but obviously one understands the thrust of the issues about urban areas, particularly those that have concentrations of disadvantaged people from minority ethnic communities, raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Afshar —Luton springs to mind as a good place to focus on. We are still looking at the pilot areas. Can it be available more quickly? The reason for the two-year period between now and the pilots going live is because there needs to be the usual fair and open contracting process, as well as abutting the end of the first year of the Flexible New Deal. Results from the evaluation will be published in stages but with a final evaluation report in late 2012. The noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, asked about help with recycling. "Work for your benefit" is designed to help to tackle work recycling, but we will certainly want to look at the characteristics of those who reach the end of "work for your benefit" and adjust the design accordingly. If people who have been through the two-year programme and "work for your benefit" have still not accessed the labour market, that should raise real questions about the need to adjust the programme. In response to the question abut whether there will be room for complaining, I have here a clear "yes". However, I think that we need to be clear about the processes and ensure that they are readily available. Just to clarify matters, the programme will be contracted out and we will ask providers from the private and voluntary sectors to source work experience placements. In order to maximise people’s chances of finding work, we want "work for your benefit" to be personalised and tailored to individuals’ needs. As such, we anticipate that placements will be sourced on an individual basis with a variety of organisations. Some of these will be community-based, but we would not want to rule out participants being placed with private companies if that provides the best chance of moving them back into work. Our primary driver must always be to get people back into the labour market and out of poverty. We will of course include safeguards within contracts to ensure that placements in host organisations are in addition to any existing or planned vacancies. That will ensure that participants do not displace other workers, and we will work closely with our partners to monitor the effects of the pilot programme on the wider labour market. "Work for your benefit" is aimed primarily at those who have been unemployed for long periods. We know that many of these people will be divorced from the labour market and will have complex barriers to work. To ensure that these barriers are addressed, focus will be maintained on job-search activity. We will ask providers to include relevant employment support alongside work experience. We want to encourage people to build on the work skills that they learn, but we also intend to allow personal advisers the flexibility to refer claimants earlier than the two-year point.