Memorandum submitted by One Parent Families
One Parent Families has significant concerns
about the proposed scale of staff reductions in the Department
for Work and Pensions.
We believe that the staff cuts may potentially
impact on two of the Government's PSA targets:
— To increase the proportion of parents
with care on Income Support and income based Jobseeker's Allowance
who receive child maintenance to 65% by March 2008.
— To reduce the number of children
living in workless households by 5% between spring 2005 and spring
2008.
STAFF CUTS
IN THE
CHILD SUPPORT
AGENCY
1. One Parent Families have already expressed
our concerns about the potential impact of staff cuts in the Child
Support Agency to the Committee in the context of their report
on the Agency.
2. To summarise, staffing levels at the
Child Support Agency, which stood at over 12,000 at the start
of 2003-04 are set to reduce to 8,000 by 2006. This is at a time
when the new IT system, introduced in March 2003, is demonstrably
not working and when no date has yet been set for the migration
and conversion of nearly a million "old" cases on to
the new system.
3. It is frankly unbelievable that the Child
Support Agency can maintain, let alone improve, its performance
in getting maintenance to children in poor families whilst losing
a third of its staff.
4. When the new scheme was introduced, One
Parent Families was promised by Government that staff savings
arising from the new, simpler formula would result in significantly
more staff resources being devoted to ensuring compliance and
taking prompt enforcement action. We would regard it as an unacceptable
breach of faith if the gradual "freeing up" of CSA staff
time as a result of the new, simpler system were used, not to
create a concerted and energetic focus on ensuring maintenance
is paid and debts recovered, but instead to make staff cuts.
STAFF CUTS
IN JOBCENTRE
PLUS
5. Protection of jobs within the Child Support
Agency must not be at the expense of jobs within Jobcentre Plus.
6. Successful delivery by Jobcentre Plus
of the Government's employment programmes will be essential if
the Government are to meet its target to reduce the number of
children living in workless households, and the associated target
to have 70% of lone parents in employment by 2010.
7. The New Deal for Lone Parents, delivered
by Jobcentre Plus has so far been successful in its aim of getting
lone parents into work, and the lone parent employment rate now
stands at 54.3%. However, the rate of lone parent employment is
not at present increasing rapidly enough for the 70% target to
be met by 2010. [1]Meeting
this target will require not only that the current front line
service provided by Personal Advisers in Jobcentre Plus is maintained,
but that the capacity of this service is increased. At present
the New Deal for Lone Parents reaches only around one in ten of
its target group. [2]
8. We have significant concerns that the
proposed reductions in staff at the Department for Work and Pensions
will mean that it is not possible to provide the increased volume
of service needed for the lone parent employment target to be
met. The increased personal adviser activity that will be needed
to deliver the expanded Pathways to Work programme announced today
may also put pressure on other parts of the service offered by
Jobcentre Plus.
9. We are therefore seeking assurances that
the staff cuts will not impact on current frontline services within
Jobcentre Plus, and that in light of these reductions the Government
remains committed to its own ambitious employment targets.
10. Specific points which we believe require
answers from the Minister include:
— If the Government are to meet its
70% employment target many more lone parents will have to join
the New Deal for Lone Parents. Will Jobcentre Plus be able to
maintain and increase current levels of provision in the light
of the proposed staff cuts?
— Jobcentre Plus currently has contracts
with over 2,000 providers of employment programmes, but outcomes
are generally poor. Given the scale of expenditure on these programmes,
do better procurement processes offer a good opportunity for savings
that are less likely to impact on delivery?
1 Berthoud R-Lone parents and jobs-Can the 70% target
be met? in Thurley D ed (2003) Working to Target: Can Policies
deliver paid work for seven in ten lone parents? OPF. Back
2
Evans M, Eyre J, Millar J and Sarre S (2003) New Deal for
Lone Parents: Second Synthesis Report of the National Evaluation.
Sheffield: Department for Work and Pensions. Back
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