Additional information from the Department
for Education and Employment and the Department for Social Security
TARGETS AND
EVALUATION
The Employment Service has traditionally
used the number of job placements achieved as a measure of its
success, yet under ONE a significant proportion of people flowing
through may not in fact be willing or able to look for work. What
outcomes do you intend to use to judge the success of ONE for
non-JSA claimants who are not willing or able to work?
In addition to measuring movements into employment,
the evaluation will examine how providing the support of a Personal
Adviser encourages clients to improve their job readiness, and
to take steps to reduce barriers to work (in both the short and
medium-term). The evaluation will complement the evaluations of
the New Deals for Lone Parents and Disabled People. The evaluation
will consider changes in longer-term job readiness measures such
as: access to improved information on vacancies; changes in willingness
to consider a wider range of jobs; changes in job-search skill;
and entry into training and education. These all aim to improve
individuals' longer-term attachment to the labour market.
For clients who are unable to work, the evaluation
will seek to measure whether they receive a more effective and
efficient service eg whether there is a reduction in unnecessary
contacts.
A number of organisations (for example, the
Mental After Care Association) have expressed concern at compulsory
interview for people with mental illness, and the possible loss
of benefit if they fail to attend. What steps will be taken to
track people who fail to attend compulsory ONE interviews to ascertain
why they failed to attend, and the effect of the imposition of
sanctions?
The evaluation database will allow us to monitor
the number of people who do not attend the Personal Adviser interview
before and after the introduction compulsion to the pilots. Prior
to interviews becoming compulsory we are monitoring the proportion
of people who decline to have a Personal Adviser interview. If
the proportion is high overall, or is high for certain sub-groups
of the population or within a particular variant, we intend to
conduct interviews to ascertain why people do not wish to take
part in the ONE process. This information will inform the operation
of ONE after participation in a Personal Adviser interview becomes
compulsory. The delivery evaluation will interview a sample of
people who have had a Registration and Orientation interview.
Some of these people will not have gone on to attend the Personal
Adviser interview. Their reasons for not doing so will be explored.
One of the aims of ONE is to increase the
level of sustainable employment by helping more people into work.
In evaluating the success of ONE in increasing the level of sustainable
employment, will the evaluation process measure not just immediate
job placements but claimants' subsequent labour market experience
over a longer period?
Yes, the evaluation will measure the impact
of ONE in increasing levels of employment in both the short and
medium term, using definitions of sustainable employment consistent
with other evaluations eg evaluations of New Deals. Labour market
outcomes will be measured at frequent intervals after a client
enters ONE. In the longer term, the Evaluation Database will allow
us to track whether those who have moved into employment return
to benefit.
Other evidence of changes in labour market status
encouraged by the scheme will be measured, such as: changes in
the rate of withdrawal into economic inactivity and into other
benefits, and changes in the numbers entering education and training.
For some claimants, improving their education
and training would be a better route to achieving sustainable
employment than taking an immediate poor quality job. Will the
ONE evaluation measure the success of the pilots in assisting
people into education and training?
Yes—the evaluation will look at movements
into education and training, and other steps taken by clients
to increase their labour market attachment.
Another aim of the pilots is "to improve
the assessment and delivery of benefits to ensure clients receive
an individual service that is efficient and tailored to their
needs." Has consideration been given, as part of the evaluation
process, to carrying out benefits checks on claimants who have
been through ONE to assess the quality of benefits advice given
by ONE advisers?
The impact of ONE on the accuracy of benefit
decisions will be assessed as part of the ONE evaluation. This
will be done by comparing pilot and control areas. To a large
extent, the evaluation will utilise well-established systems for
measuring benefit accuracy.
As part of the evaluation, information on the
quality of benefit advice will be gathered by monitoring the proportion
of claims that are disallowed. If this increases, or is significantly
higher in the action areas than in the control areas, it may indicate
that the Personal Advisers are misadvising clients on the benefits
they are entitled to claim. In addition, interviews with Registration
and Orientation and Personal Advisers will explore their confidence
in giving advice on a range of benefits and whether they consider
they have the knowledge to do this properly. Interviews with clients
will consider whether they thought staff could answer all of their
questions and whether they were confident in the information and
advice they received.
Figures showing where the pilot area local authorities
come in the local authority league table of unemployment.
|
| Pilot Areas of ONE | Local Authority (LA)
| Unemployment Rate |
Position in LA league table
|
|
| BASIC MODEL | |
| |
| Essex South East | Chelmsford
| 2.6 | 118
|
| Maldon | 3.3
| 172 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 6.4
| 340 |
| Rochford | 3.4
| 179 |
| Castle Point | 4.9
| 273 |
| Warwickshire | Rugby | 2.2
| 91 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 1.6
| 44 |
| Warwick | 2.3
| 102 |
| North Warwickshire | 2.9
| 143 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth |
4.6 | 253
|
| Clyde Coast and Renfrew | Argyll and Bute
| 4.7 | 263
|
| Renfrewshire | 5.8
| 321 |
| Inverclyde | 7.2
| 360 |
| North Ayrshire | 9.7
| 395 |
| East Renfrewshire | 6.4
| 340 |
| Lea Roding | Redbridge |
6.0 | 331
|
| Waltham Forest | 9.9
| 396 |
| Dagenham and Barking |
6.1 | 333
|
| Epping Forest | 3.1
| 160 |
|
| PRIVATE/VOL SECTOR | |
| |
| Suffolk | Ipswich | 4.1
| 231 |
| St Edmundsbury | 2.1
| 83 |
| Mid Suffolk | 2.0
| 75 |
| Babergh | 2.7
| 127 |
| Forest Heath | 1.9
| 68 |
| East Cambridgeshire |
3.8 | 209
|
| Suffolk Coastal | 2.8
| 136 |
| Waveney | 7.3
| 362 |
| South Cambridgeshire |
1.4 | 29
|
| North Nottinghamshire | Ashfield
| 5.6 | 310
|
| Mansfield | 6.0
| 331 |
| Amber Valley | 3.8
| 209 |
| North East Derbyshire |
6.2 | 335
|
| Newark and Sherwood |
4.4 | 244
|
| Bolsover | 8.1
| 376 |
| Leeds | Leeds | 4.3
| 241 |
| North Cheshire | Warrington
| 3.0 | 151
|
| Halton | 6.9
| 353 |
| St Helens | 7.3
| 362 |
| Vale Royal | 3.8
| 209 |
|
| CALL CENTRE | |
| |
| Somerset | North Somerset |
2.6 | 118
|
| Sedgemoor | 3.6
| 194 |
| Mendip | 3.0
| 151 |
| South Somerset | 2.2
| 91 |
| Taunton Deane | 2.6
| 118 |
| West Somerset | 4.4
| 244 |
| West Dorset | 1.8
| 61 |
| Buckinghamshire | Aylesbury Vale
| 1.7 | 49
|
| Chiltern | 1.4
| 29 |
| Wycombe | 1.7
| 49 |
| South Buckinghamshire |
1.4 | 29
|
| Milton Keynes | 2.1
| 83 |
| Gwent Borders | Torfaen |
3.6 | 194
|
| Newport | 5.6
| 310 |
| Monmouthshire | 3.4
| 179 |
| Calderdale and Kirklees | Kirklees
| 4.8 | 268
|
| Calderdale | 5.3
| 294 |
|
There are 408 LAs and their position in the league table is recorded
in ascending order.
Source: May 1999 unemployment figures, NOMIS.
30 June 1999
| 
