GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE SIXTH REPORT
OF THE EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE AND THE SEVENTH REPORT
OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY COMMITTEE, 1998-99
THE ONE SERVICE PILOTS
INTRODUCTION
The Government welcomes this sixth report of the
Education and Employment Committee and the seventh report of the
Social Security Committee on their joint inquiry into the ONE
service. The Government welcomes the Committees' endorsement of
the policy to introduce the ONE service and the helpful and detailed
recommendations that were made in the report. We appreciate the
breadth of analysis in the report and the constructive suggestions
made. The following pages respond to the specific recommendations
made by the Committees.
1. We would recommend the government give
serious thought to future delivery opportunities such as one stop
shops.
2. We believe there are great potential benefits
to both the community and the government to be obtained from such
an approach.
Response:
The Government agrees with these recommendations
about the potential value of more integrated service delivery.
The 'Modernising Government' White Paper sets out our views on
the mechanisms, including one stop shops, which we could and should
use more effectively when delivering our agenda. The Government
believes that, with the ONE service, we have gone some way to
developing a customer-focused service which meets both our needs
and those of all our clients. We are continuing to work towards
delivering the ONE pilots from unified sites that give a positive
impression to clients. In addition we intend to watch the progress
of the pilots closely to ensure that we continue to provide a
high quality service.
THE NATURE OF THE PILOTS
3. While not appropriate for everybody, we
recommend that Ministers should consult with organisations such
as the Prince's Trust to ensure that self-employment is offered
as a real option for clients under ONE.
Response:
The Government acknowledges the value of self-employment
and is keen for it to be a real option for clients both within
the ONE pilots and elsewhere. Last year Andrew Smith pledged that
the option of self-employment should be made available for every
unemployed person in the country, and these opportunities are
being made available to all ONE clients. As part of our
review of ONE guidance for advisers, we will be ensuring that
advisers are kept aware of the need to promote self-employment
as an option for clients for whom this is suitable.
We agree with the Committees on the value of consulting
with organisations such as the Prince's Trust. We are already
involved in partnerships with such organisations and will build
this in to the ongoing dialogue and consultation to ensure that
we maximise the opportunities for self-employment.
4. We commend the Government on the ONE initiative,
which we welcome as a big step towards a more integrated, efficient
and customer-focused service
Response:
The Government welcomes the Committees' endorsement
of the ONE service. We believe that the Employment Service, Benefits
Agency and local authorities working in partnership will provide
an excellent service. Our personal advisers should provide the
right mix of labour market and benefit advice and additional support
in a combination tailored to the individual.
THE CHOICE OF PILOT AREAS
5. We understand the reasons why the present
pilot areas were chosen, but the Government will need to bear
in mind during the evaluation the fact that the pilot areas are
not fully representative of the country as a whole.
6. We recommend that, even at this late stage,
the Government should give consideration to adding a pilot area
which covers a predominantly London Area or Northern City geographical
type.
Response:
The Government notes the Committees' concerns. We
are confident that the pilot areas are sufficiently representative
of the country as a whole for us to make sound estimates of the
national impact of ONE. The selection of the pilot areas was determined
primarily by the need to ensure that the pilots covered a range
of labour markets and demographic characteristics, and the areas
selected (such as Lea Roding and Leeds) include characteristics
of concern to the Committees such as deprivation and representation
of ethnic minorities.
We are confident that the pilot areas will enable
us to assess the impact of ONE nationally. The evaluation is designed
to assess the effectiveness of ONE at the model rather than district
level. Adding another pilot area at this stage would increase
substantially the cost of the pilots, and would be impractical
at this stage, without significantly increasing the depth or robustness
of the evaluation.
IMPACT ON CORE SERVICES
7. We recommend that the Government should
publish its strategy for developing relationships with employers
and improving the range and quality of vacancies, particularly
in the context of the new client groups being targeted by ONE.
Response:
The Government agrees with the Committees' recommendation.
The Employment Service has already embarked on a major programme
to improve its service to employers, which is one of it's five
national priorities. It has also been set out and made publicly
available: the ES's Operational Plan for 1999/2000 makes clear
this commitment to building more effective relationships with
employers at local, regional and national levels. Over the last
year ES has already:
- established a Head Office Division specifically
charged with improving services to employers;
- developed an account management service for major
national and regional employers;
- undertaken a number of initiatives with industry
organisations to improve its service to businesses in those areas;
- set in hand a programme to raise ES staff understanding
of occupational and business requirements; and
- developed a set of explicit service standards
for employers - a critical step forward in achieving a minimum
standard of service across the piece.
The ONE service will build on the lessons learned
from the joint BA and ES, New Deal for Lone Parents and the New
Deal for Disabled People, in developing links with employers and
encouraging them to consider a wider range of job candidates.
The ES Operational Plan and the document "The Way Ahead —
towards 2000", which sets out a vision of the long term direction
of the ES, both recognise and identify the new and expanding client
groups using ES's services, including those targeted by ONE. Offering
a better service to employers will help to ensure that ES and
BA deliver the governments welfare to work objectives.
COMPULSION
8. We conclude that ONE interviews offer positive
advantages to all those claiming benefits. We take the view that
the requirement to attend an interview is not onerous in itself;
but the element of compulsion may well be necessary to bring along
those people who are demoralised, isolated, or lacking in confidence,
in order to connect them to the help and encouragement which is
available.
9. We welcome Government assurances that compulsion
will not extend beyond a work-focused interview for people claiming
benefits other than Jobseeker's Allowance.
10. We recommend that the invitation to attend
a ONE interview should be positive in tone rather than threatening,
and should make clear that, in the case of people claiming benefits
other than Jobseeker's Allowance, the choice of whether to act
on the advice and information given in the ONE interview is theirs.
Response:
We welcome the Committees' view that a requirement
to participate in interviews (both at the point of claim and at
trigger points throughout a claim) through the ONE service may
be necessary to encourage clients to explore how they may be able
to overcome their barriers to work and to help them become more
in touch with the labour market. We are happy to restate that,
for non-JSA clients in the ONE service, no further action is required.
We believe that clients will find the interviews
beneficial and that it will not place an unreasonable burden upon
them. We will continue to monitor this issue and its impact on
individuals to ensure that we strike the right balance between
rights and responsibilities.
In addition, we are clear that no-one should feel
intimidated by the ONE interviews. It has been made clear in the
guidance issued to pilot offices that the tone of verbal and written
invitations to participate should be encouraging rather than threatening.
All publicity materials will similarly reflect this approach.
We are currently developing guidance and notifications which are
to be used after the introduction of the new obligation. We will
be giving interested organisations an opportunity to comment on
these drafts. As the Committees recommend, these letters will
be phrased positively, explain the benefits of the personal adviser
service and make the rights and responsibilities of the client
clear.
11. We recommend that, in addition to repeat
invitations to attend an interview, an attempt should be made
by ONE staff to establish personal contact with a person facing
loss of benefit, either by telephone or a home visit, before the
claim is ended or benefit is reduced.
Response:
The Government accepts the Committees' view that
there is a risk that not all ONE clients, especially those in
particularly vulnerable groups, may immediately understand the
significance of an initial invitation to an ONE interview nor
the consequences to their benefit if they fail to attend. Therefore,
following the introduction of the new interview requirement from
April 2000, non-JSA claimants will be given three opportunities
to attend. A home visit will be considered where no personal contact
has been established with the client. Considerable effort will
be made to make contact by letter, telephone, or in person, before
a client's benefit may be affected.
EXEMPTION AND DEFERRALS
12. We recommend that during the period of
the pilots there should be continuous monitoring of decisions
on exemptions and deferrals both to inform on-going training of
staff and to develop a model of best practice which can be used
by all the pilot areas and which can form the basis for national
guidelines on exemptions and deferrals in any national roll-out.
13. The quality of the ONE service should be judged,
among other things, on the quality of the decisions taken on exemptions
and deferrals, and on the follow-up action taken when a person
fails to attend an interview. We recommend that research should
be carried out on the quality and consistency of decisions in
these areas, including an analysis of the impact of the decisions
made on the clients affected.
Response:
We welcome the Committees' helpful recommendation
and propose to implement it through training, and in day to day
operations through local management checks.
The ONE training team will continue to keep abreast
of the results obtained from monitoring the pilots and the implications
of these results. This will ensure that lessons learned and good
practice are reflected in appropriate training products. The ONE
training team will use this to assist in the continuous development
of introductory training and ongoing learning for ONE staff. In
addition if, during monitoring, further learning needs are identified,
action will be taken either to enhance the current product range,
or to design, develop and deliver new products.
The Government intends to conduct research into the
quality of decisions on exemptions and deferrals in the pilots.
We are grateful to the Committees for their helpful suggestion
that we include an analysis of the impact of these decisions on
the clients affected. Work on this will be taken forward as part
of the plan to continuously improve the ONE service.
THE PROVISION OF BENEFITS ADVICE
14. In order to make the most use of the advice
and information they are given, we recommend that clients should
be given a written summary of the work-related and benefits advice
offered during an interview.
Response:
The Government recognises the importance of providing
appropriate support and advice to clients regarding benefits.
One key area of advice will be the in-work benefit calculations
and the adviser will give the client details of any such calculations
carried out. In addition to this, the client receives a copy of
the client contact report form which includes details of any leaflets
and forms they were issued with.
Jobseekers will continue to make a Jobseeker's Agreement
with their personal adviser, which will record their efforts to
find work. For non-JSA clients, the ONE action plan will give
an opportunity for the adviser and the client to record their
discussion and the actions they have planned to help the client
move towards independence.
RECRUITMENT
15. We recommend that the Government should
move as soon as possible to common terms and conditions of service
for all ONE advisers. Ministers should also consider the implications
of the different structure of rewards and incentives for staff
in the voluntary and private sector organisations that may be
engaged in the ONE Service under the second variant.
Response:
We acknowledge the Committees' concern about staff
terms and conditions of service and accept the potential for difficulties
to be caused because these are joint agency/ local authority pilots
and there is no single employer. Staff filling posts in the ONE
service will remain employees of their "home" agency
or authority and retain existing terms and conditions of service,
including pay.
Having said that, we are exploring ways in which
these terms and conditions can be moved towards closer alignment.
For example, terms have now been agreed with ES Trade Unions which
result in a close match between the ES and BA pay range minima
for their staff in Executive Officer grades or pay bands (this
includes ONE start-up and personal advisers). The
agencies will continue to take into account considerations
arising from closer joint agency/authority working, as personnel
and pay policies develop, across all ONE variants.
16. We agree with
the "generic" role being given to ONE advisers, but
we draw attention to the onus this puts on the Departments and
Agencies to offer in-depth training and continuing support to
advisers to meet the special needs of their clients.
Response:
The 'generic' role of personal advisers is key to
the ONE service. ONE personal advisers will not be expected to
know everything, but to be able to identify needs and develop
strong links with a network of specialists. The ONE service will
enhance the role of specialists, who will be an invaluable resource
for ONE advisers in addressing particular needs.
It will, of course, be vital that advisers get the
training and support they need. The ONE Learning Assessment Framework
(LAF) was specifically designed to deal with this requirement.
The purpose of the LAF is not only to identify initial basic learning
needs, but also to serve as a tool for identifying an individual's
continuous development needs. ONE staff will continue to use the
LAF to review their learning plans and to assess their competence
development. Individuals will work closely together with their
line managers throughout the lifetime of the pilots to ensure
these development needs are met. All ONE staff will continue to
have access to a range of training and development opportunities,
which will provide them with the knowledge and skills needed to
deal professionally with all ONE clients.
17. We recommend that, during the life of
the pilots, special effort should be made to encourage the recruitment
of personal advisers with knowledge of disabilities. All advisers
should receive adequate disability awareness training. We also
recommend that the Government should monitor the impact of ONE
on the work of Disability Employment Advisers to ensure that an
adequate number of staff is in place.
Response:
We expect ONE personal advisers to work together
as teams, making the most of their individual areas of expertise.
The Government welcomes the Committees' recommendation that 'special
effort be made to encourage the recruitment of personal advisers
with knowledge of disabilities' and this will be included
in future guidance for ONE managers engaged in recruitment to
ONE adviser vacancies. However, we would expect all ONE advisers
to have the skills and awareness to work with clients with disabilities
and refer them to specialists where necessary.
To improve general disability awareness amongst all
ONE staff, the ONE training team have worked with voluntary organisations
to produce an Open Learning Workbook and a two-day workshop on
general disability issues. In addition if, after using the Learning
Assessment Framework, ONE advisers identify a learning need around
disability issues, they will continue to have access to the range
of disability training products already used by the agencies which
will help develop their competence in this area. ONE training
will continue to monitor and develop these products to ensure
they continue to meet ONE business needs. If further gaps are
identified, appropriate action will be taken by the ONE training
team to fill them as soon as possible, working closely where appropriate
with external organisations.
The ONE pilots will indeed be monitored and evaluated
to determine impact on non-ONE functions. This must include the
important relationship between ONE and the DEA service, in order
to ensure robust and properly resourced arrangements.
PARTNERSHIP WORKING AND THE ROLE OF LOCAL
AUTHORITIES
18. We are disappointed that organisations
dependent on public funds (including local authorities) have been
excluded from tendering for the private and voluntary sector pilots.
19. We recommend that a local authority led
pilot should be introduced, where local authorities are given
the opportunity to bid for the pilot being located in their area
Response:
The Government is committed to harnessing the skills
and expertise of all sectors in delivering its plans for Welfare
Reform. Therefore, when seeking innovative service delivery solutions
for ONE, the Government felt it important to assess what the private
and voluntary sectors had to offer. We therefore decided that
organisations which have been set up using public funds, or which
are underwritten by the public sector would not be invited to
lead the delivery of these ONE pilots.
Through the private/voluntary sector pilots we wanted
to encourage proposals which involved private and/or voluntary
sector organisations working in partnership with each other and
public agencies in developing innovative and flexible ways of
delivering ONE. This is a key area which was evaluated at strategic,
advisory and delivery levels when proposals were assessed. Therefore,
although private and/or voluntary sector organisations are in
the lead, we expect to see public sector organisations actively
involved in the local development and delivery of ONE.
The Government did not feel it would be appropriate
for local authorities in the private/voluntary sector localities
either to lead bids or be part of bidding consortia for the private/voluntary
sector pilots. As the ONE service involves local authority functions,
local authorities have been closely involved on the client side
in advising on and evaluating bids, and we want to involve them
in delivery whoever leads the bid. To allow these authorities
to be involved on the bidding side, could create a conflict of
interest and therefore jeopardise the competition process.
Local authorities are, of course, working as vital
and equal partners with the Employment Service and Benefits Agency
across all the pilots. We are very much encouraged by the increasing
levels of involvement we are seeing as the pilots progress.
20. We consider that the full participation
of local authorities in the pilots is essential for their success.
The ONE pilots are a central Government initiative, designed to
test out new ways of delivering Government services with a view
to national implementation. The Government should therefore ensure
that the core costs of local authorities involved in the ONE pilots
are fully met. Full participation by local authorities in the
pilots should not be constrained by a lack of adequate resources,
and the extra costs should not fall on local council tax payers
in the pilot areas.
Response:
We agree entirely that the involvement of local authorities
is key to the success as ONE. In order to encourage this, local
authorities will be resourced for their contribution to ONE on
exactly the same basis as the other partners in ONE, ES and BA.
This means that local authorities will get additional resources
for:
- their staff who take up posts in the local implementation
teams or in the project;
- premises and IT adaptations to a local authority
site if it is selected to deliver ONE; and
- any local authority staff who take up any of
the start-up or personal adviser roles in the ONE service.
There is also scope to increase local authority involvement
as part of the continuous improvement of the pilots and within
existing resources. For example, better IT links between local
authorities and ONE sites, which are also being resourced centrally
by the ONE project; or through closer integration of existing
services into ONE sites. That is happening in some of the pilots
and we want to encourage and develop this kind of involvement.
THE IMPORTANCE OF IT IMPROVEMENTS
21. The Government
is right to move cautiously in developing new (and expensive)
IT systems. Nevertheless, if ONE is to work well on a national
basis, a commitment to substantial investment in IT will be needed
to make the vision of a more integrated service for the public
a reality. We recommend that the Government should also give attention
to future methods of client access, including the potential that
media such as digital television
offer for interactive, electronic access to a
range of Government services, including the ONE Service.
Response:
The Government recognises the importance of IT in
delivering the ONE vision of a more integrated public service.
We are clear that if ONE is to develop beyond its current pilot
phase, then significant investment will need to be made in a number
of key areas, including IT, to make an integrated, high quality
and client-focused national service a reality. In such a scenario,
the Government would explore the potential of the electronic media
suggested by the Select Committees and more, including the Internet,
to provide ways of enhancing client access to information and
services. This would also take into account the opportunities
offered by such media to provide the breadth of access to wider
range of national and local government as envisaged in the 'Modernising
Government' White Paper.
THE SCOPE OF THE START-UP MEETING
22. If the start-up meeting is to be seen
as anything more than a reception service, we are concerned that
insufficient time may have been allocated for the interviews and
that problems with daily scheduling may occur.
The Government welcomes the Committees' recognition
of the importance of the start-up meeting for ONE clients. It
will be vital to set the correct atmosphere and tone for the way
in which the client experiences the ONE service. In broad terms
we would expect the start-up adviser to have sufficient time to
establish the client's basic needs and, where appropriate, submit
them to suitable jobs; allocate a personal adviser and issue appropriate
forms. As it stands we believe that this is achievable within
the resource allocated to the pilot areas. We do, however, recognise
that this new way of working will put particular demands on local
pilots to manage, particularly in dealing with fluctuations in
demand. The pilots are testing the ONE model and interview content
and time will be one of the many areas we will be closely monitoring
to ensure we have struck the right balance.
THE ROLE OF PERSONAL ADVISERS
23. We would welcome a wide remit for ONE
personal advisers—the extent to which they are able to assess
their clients' needs and offer a wide range of advice and support
to help clients meet those needs will be central to the success
of ONE. In our view, they will only be able to do so if their
caseloads are not overloaded.
Response:
The Government is as concerned as the Committees
to ensure that ONE personal advisers are not overextended as this
is productive neither for the client nor for the ONE service as
a whole. We believe one of the key advantages of ONE is that advisers
can tailor the timing and frequency of their meetings with clients
to match their individual needs. We have already learned much
from the New Deal about how personal advisers can best work with
their clients. The ONE pilots will provide us, and the advisers
themselves, with valuable knowledge of what is required when dealing
with a range of different client needs. Advisers will be able
to use their discretion to control the size of their caseloads
and use their time effectively. This will be closely monitored.
We estimate accurate figures on the sizes and composition of caseloads
and the frequency of meetings with clients to be available once
the pilots have been running for 6-9 months.
24. It will be important to ensure that the
teams are composed in such a way that the full range of relevant
expert knowledge, whether benefit or labour market related, is
displayed.
Response:
The Government is clear that all ONE advisers must
receive any necessary training to bring them up to a recognised
standard in all relevant ONE specialisms Having said that, we
also agree with the Committees' view that ONE sites should consist
of cross agency teams. All local managers are instructed to ensure
that all teams should contain the relevant mix of expertise so
that appropriate 'in-team' support can be given.
25. We recommend that the Government should
ensure that local user groups are actively involved in developing
specialised training for personal advisers and, where appropriate,
delivering that training.
Response:
The Government is committed to drawing on the specialist
knowledge of all groups connected with the ONE service. To this
end, both the ONE Training Team and Agency mainstream training
organisations are continuing to work closely with external organisations,
to ensure that their input and support is secured for the training
effort. Agencies already use the support of some of the leading
Disability organisations to support training (such as RNIB, RNID
& others from mental health & learning disability organisations),
but they are currently developing further links with MIND, SCOPE,
RADAR and NSF, to enhance their current partnership links. Where
appropriate, external organisations will continue to be engaged
to support the design, development and delivery of training. More
importantly, pilot staff will be encouraged to develop more local
contacts and partnerships, with a view to using these to develop
advisers' knowledge and skills.
26. We recommend that, in the light of these
concerns, personal advisers from each team should receive specialist
training on how to provide a sensitive and effective service for
clients with mental health problems.
Response:
The Government believes that ONE personal advisers
should provide a high level of service for every client. That
is why the interview training which personal advisers will receive
is designed to equip them with the knowledge and skills required
for dealing sensitively and professionally with all clients.
Having said that we recognise the Committees' concerns that those
clients with mental health problems may have additional needs
not comprehensively dealt with through this training. The ONE
training team are currently assessing the range of products available
(which include a specific one day workshop on people with mental
health problems and/or learning difficulties), with a view to
ensuring that they contain the level and depth required for ONE
business needs. If it is found that there are deficiencies in
the current product range, proposals will be made for addressing
these as soon as possible. This process will include consultation
and involvement of external organisations who have experience
in this area and who are willing to assist in developing and enhancing
training products.
27. We welcome
the development of a diagnostic tool for use in the New Deal Gateway
and recommend that, once established, it should be made available
for use by ONE advisers.
Response:
We are currently working on the introduction of a
diagnostic tool for use in ONE. This will be based around the
New Deal prototype and will aim to help advisers to focus on identifying
a client's main barriers to employment. Using this, advisers should
be better equipped to focus their support effectively on any highlighted
barriers.
28. We welcome the fact that personal advisers
will be able to provide ongoing support for clients moving into
work, and we recommend that eventually this should go beyond the
initial stages of settling into a job and focus on improving the
job retention and job progression of clients who remain on in-work
benefits.
Response:
The Government is committed to sustainable employment
opportunities for all, and as part of many of our Welfare Reform
Programmes, including New Deal for Young People, we are looking
closely at how best to take this forward. Training is currently
available to ONE personal advisers to help them to assist people
once they enter employment. Advisers are also able to provide
in-work benefit calculations to demonstrate the advantages of
employment. We will consider further what additional help and
support we could give ONE clients in work as part of our plan
to improve the pilots over time.
29. It will be important to ensure that, while
ONE remains a client-focused service, it does not become too client-led.
We welcome the fact that clients will be able to ask for additional
meetings with their personal advisers, but advisers must have
the autonomy to balance the demands placed on their time and resources
by all their clients
Response:
ONE personal advisers will have the autonomy to balance
the demands made on their time. They should and will have the
right to balance the needs and demands of the client against their
time and resource allocation. Again, we will be monitoring how
that autonomy is used.
30. We recommend that the pilots should be
used to consider the possibility of developing a suite of Gateway-style
options for non-JSA clients, based on the needs identified through
the adviser meetings, for use in any national roll-out.
Response:
At a minimum the Government is committed to ensuring
that ONE clients in the pilot areas will have access to any of
the provision which would have been available to them outside
the ONE service. In addition we are working closely with local
organisations and specialist groups to consider what further provision
may be needed. Any future development of the ONE service should
take on board the lessons from all of the extensive evaluations
of our Welfare to Work programmes in order to focus on providing
the best possible service for all ONE clients.
CALL CENTRES
31. The Government has told us that a residual
start-up service will be offered face-to-face for those clients
who cannot or will not use the telephone, and we believe that
it is important that this service be maintained. Clients who would
benefit from a face-to-face start-up meeting must not be coerced
or cajoled into using the telephone in the call centre pilots
when, for whatever reason, they would prefer not to.
Response:
The Government is committed to testing the effectiveness
of technology in delivering the ONE service. However, we are also
aware that this may not always be the best method of delivery
for some of our clients. Therefore, a face to face start-up service
will be retained in the call centre variant pilots. Clients will
be encouraged to use the call centre and the benefits of using
this service will be pointed out, but no one will be coerced into
using the telephone when they would prefer not to. Guidance will
be produced for staff to identify particular sensitivities of
clients who are unable to conduct their business by telephone
for whatever reason. We would, however, expect most clients who
were able to do so to make use of the telephone.
32. We welcome the intention to recruit start-up
advisers who are fluent in languages other than English and we
believe that these staff should be properly rewarded for this
work and receive appropriate training on how to operate as intermediaries,
if they are to work as interpreters as well as advisers.
33. We recommend that ONE should follow Benefits
Agency best practice guidance in the use of interpreters.
34. It will be important for ONE staff to
reflect the ethnic makeup of the communities with which they are
working, and also that all staff should receive training to reflect
the language and cultural needs of an ethnically diverse community.
Response:
The Government is clear that the ONE service should
have the capacity to cater to the needs of all our clients including
those with language barriers. Therefore, all ONE advisers will
receive training to reflect the language and cultural needs of
the communities in which they work, and this is included both
in induction training and in specific training for start-up and
personal advisers.
Best practice within ES and BA is for staff who are
able to speak languages other than English to be used to speak
to clients with particular language needs. This allows the client
to conduct their business in their own language. We would like
to make clear that these staff do not act as translators but as
advisers. Additional training is available to staff to support
them in managing special client needs. However, where clients
need a translation service, this is not provided in-house but
is available through third parties (either from the client or
the ES/BA).
We are also clear that our recruitment policy should
comply with our commitment to equal opportunities. The joint post-filling
guidance (for the call centre variant and the basic model pilots)
specifies that the joint sifting and selection process must be
operated in line with the core partners' Equal Opportunities policies,
and by managers who have received the requisite training. The
ethnic balance of ONE teams will be included in the core partners'
monitoring of the effectiveness of their Equal Opportunities policies.
35. We believe that the need for start-up
interviews to be conducted by advisers from outside the client's
area should be avoided wherever possible.
Response:
The call centre Variant is specifically designed
to ensure that as far as possible clients have their start-up
interview with advisers from their own area. In the call centre
variant pilots, the technology will recognise the incoming number
of clients telephoning in and direct their call to the nearest
call centre (e.g. a call from Frome will be directed to the Somerset
call centre). Where there is insufficient capacity to answer an
incoming call in reasonable time, the calls will overflow within
the virtual call centre network. This may result in some of the
short incoming calls being handled by a remote call centre in
another part of the country. However, the advisers answering these
calls will normally book the scheduled call-backs (which form
the bulk of the start-up meeting with advisers) to come from the
client's own call centre pilot. Conducting start up interviews
from call centres other than that nearest to the client will only
occur as a contingency for extreme circumstances (e.g. the loss
of one call centre).
We would also expect similar principles to apply
to the private/voluntary sector model pilots if call centre technology
were used as an enhancement to support delivery of the service.
However, if this were not possible, we would wish to ensure that
robust mechanisms were in place to ensure that advisers have and
maintain updated local information relevant to the ONE service
to meet clients' needs.
THE PRIVATE AND VOLUNTARY SECTOR VARIANT
36. We are concerned
that the number of bidders invited to submit bids in the pilot
areas has diminished and that the choice of bids may therefore
become limited. We do not believe that contracts should be awarded
unless bidders can satisfactorily demonstrate that they can add
value to the basic ONE model.
Response:
Ministers want to test different approaches to making
ONE work and therefore asked the private/voluntary sector bidders
to develop innovative service delivery solutions. Selection of
successful bids was based on those proposals which demonstrated
the optimum combination of quality, cost and risk. We were clear
that if we did not receive satisfactory bids in one or more of
the pilot areas, we would not proceed. This situation did not
however arise.
37. We welcome the opportunity to evaluate
the contribution that the private and voluntary sector could make
to ONE, but we believe that, in the absence of any initial expectations
about the level of service they will be able to provide, or indeed
the nature of that service, proper evaluation of the private and
voluntary sector will be all the more important.
38. We believe that a proper evaluation of
private and voluntary sector involvement in ONE should take into
account the level of public sector resources invested in bringing
the private sector up to speed on the delivery of services in
which it has hitherto had only limited involvement.
Response:
The evaluation will employ common methods across
all ONE models, including the private and voluntary sector (PVS)
variant, so that fair comparisons can be made between these models.
However, in order fully to understand the impact of the PVS variant,
it will be necessary to make a careful study of the arrangements
for delivering the service in these pilot areas. This will be
done during the period leading up to the start of the pilots in
November.
The cost-benefit analysis will be able to take into
account any input by the public sector into the private/voluntary
sector variant. The costs of Employment Service, Benefits Agency
and Local Authority resources used to support implementation and
delivery of the private and voluntary sector pilots will be recorded
and monitored.
39. We recommend that decisions on bids by
private and voluntary sector organisations should be taken as
close to the local level as is practical and consistent with financial
accountability.
Response:
Local representatives were fully involved in the
evaluation of bidders' proposals and the detailed discussions
in this area, in full recognition that key delivery and financial
accountabilities will rest at local level.
40. We recommend that, once the private and
voluntary sector contracts have been awarded, the Government should
publish full details of all the bids that were shortlisted.
Response:
The intellectual property rights to the bidders'
ONE delivery proposals do not belong to the Government, but remain
with the bidder. Therefore the Government has no legal right to
publish the details of shortlisted bidders' proposals. We will
discuss with successful bidders arrangements to make public the
details of ONE delivery, once they are finalised.
41. Given the level of concern that has been
expressed, we would urge the Government to proceed with caution
on the issue of output-related funding. Any incentive scheme for
private and voluntary sector providers must take into account
the full range of clients and the full range of useful outcomes.
We also recommend that the Government should evaluate the impact
of output-related funding on the experiences of all sub-sectors
of the client group.
Response:
The Government is committed to the principles of
output-related funding as a valid means of testing and rewarding
creative or innovative schemes operated by the private and voluntary
sectors. We have already agreed the basic principles of the funding
mechanism for the ONE private/voluntary sector pilots and the
areas where we would look to apply output related/incentivised
funding. We would like to reassure the Committees that we will
ensure that the right incentives are in place to encourage bidders
to give effective help to all client groups including the hardest
to help, not just those who are felt to be the most job-ready.
The details of the payment methodology will be finalised
and agreed with each successful bidder shortly. Once agreed, targets
will be re-negotiated every year in order to ensure that the pilots
are meeting the needs of the whole client group.
THE EVALUATION PROCESS
42. We recommend that the evaluation process
should make every effort to assess the impact of ONE on the most
deprived areas within the pilots.
Response:
In line with the objectives of the pilots, the evaluation
is designed to assess the impact of each of the ONE models. The
primary unit of analysis for the evaluation is, therefore, the
model - that is four pilot areas - not below this level.
Within the current strategy for the evaluation, every
effort will be made to assess the effect of ONE on the most deprived
areas within the pilots. The evaluation will be able to determine
the numbers going through ONE at the local level but it will not
be able to assess the labour market effect of ONE on small geographical
areas.
43. If ONE is to be a valuable initiative
for all of the targeted client groups, it will be important to
develop criteria for measuring the progress an individual makes
in getting in touch with the labour market which are more relevant
than simple job placements.
Response:
The evaluation will measure the performance of ONE
against its objectives. These objectives include helping more
people into work, and putting more benefit recipients in touch
with the labour market. Clients can move closer to the labour
market by taking up part-time work or voluntary work, or a course
of study or training. Getting in touch with the labour market
can include taking more active steps to seek work, or being willing
to consider a wider range of jobs. Many clients, especially disabled
people and those with a long-standing illness, may initially believe
that they will never work again, and for these clients a change
in attitude to one that sees work as being part of their future,
will be a significant step towards labour market participation.
Social research with clients and staff, undertaken as part of
the ONE evaluation, will cover all these issues and will assess
the extent to which ONE has succeeded in moving clients closer
to the labour market.
44. We recommend that the Government should
publish the clear measures which it intends to use in assessing
the reduction in people's detachment from the labour market.
46. We recommend that the Government publish
the measures by which it intends to evaluate the success of ONE
advisers in assisting people who are not able to work towards
greater independence.
Response:
In order to assess the extent to which ONE has affected
clients' attachment to the labour market our research will be
looking at measures including participation in part-time work,
voluntary work, education and training; changes in jobsearch behaviour;
attitudes towards work; and movements off benefit into work. In
order to assess the extent to which personal advisers succeed
in assisting people who are not able to work we will be asking
clients whether the service was tailored to their individual needs
and whether it was helpful in moving them towards greater independence.
It should also be possible to track the volume of clients by the
type of intervention they receive, and whether they were referred
to specialist services. All research commissioned as part of the
evaluation of ONE will be published as soon as the reports are
ready.
45. We recommend that as part of the evaluation
process independent benefit checks should be carried out on a
selection of ONE participants to identify the quality of the benefits
information and advice which they have been given and to identify
the effect of ONE on the take-up of benefits.
Response:
The Government understands the importance of a full
evaluation of the ONE pilots and monitoring the quality of the
service received by clients. As part of this process there will
be research assessing the experience and views of both clients
and staff through in-depth interviews. Although this cannot prove
a causal link between quality of information and take-up, it will
give an indication of whether clients perceive they are receiving
good advice and information on benefits.
We continue to develop and improve the information
technology that supports the ONE service, this includes looking
at ways in which we can assess the impact of ONE on the take-up
of benefits.
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