Memorandum to the Work and Pensions Select
Committee from One Parent Families
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Jobcentre Plus is the key delivery agency
for the Government's target to have 70% of lone parents in work
by 2010. There has been substantial progress towards this target,
with 56.6% of lone parents now in work, compared to 46.6% in 1998,
when the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) was introduced. However,
for the target to be met, in the next five years, the lone parent
employment rate needs to rise three times as fast as it did in
the previous five.
1.2 We are currently seriously concerned about
the ability of Jobcentre Plus to deliver this sustained increase,
given the impact of the reduced financial settlement for the Department
for Work and Pensions in the 2004 Spending Review, and the targets
for job reduction within the agency. Giving evidence to this committee
in February, the then Secretary of State Alan Johnson outlined
these as follows: "By the end of this financial year we
plan to have 122,444 staff, by the end of the next financial year
2005-06 to be down to 111,296 staff, by 2006-07 106,592 and by
2007-08 to 100,000 . . . "[4]
1.3 We are already starting to see the impact
of these reduced resources; this submission outlines particular
areas of concern, including resources for training, the role of
personal advisers, the future of the Building on New Deal programme,
and planned IT work within the agency.
2. RESOURCES
FOR TRAINING
AND CHILDCARE
2.1 The New Deal for Lone Parents offers lone
parents on Income Support the option to train towards a level
2 qualification as part of the process of preparing for work,
and will support their childcare costs will they do so. As 51%
of lone parents on Income Support have no qualifications,[5]
this is an important part of the return to work service.
2.2 However, at present we are hearing many reports
on our helpline that, due to reduced training budgets, Jobcentre
Plus will not refer any lone parents to training—and where
lone parents find training themselves, will not fund childcare.
This has come at the same time as the LSC has cut its budget for
adult learning, meaning that many Further Education colleges have
also cut their childcare support funds.[6]
This means that in certain areas, the option for lone parents
on NDLP to train has effectively been abolished.
2.3 One Parent Families has long believed in
the importance of high quality work focused training as a route
for lone parents into better quality, more sustainable work. We
are therefore extremely concerned that this is currently being
denied to many lone parents—despite no stated change in
policy.
3. ADVISER TRAINING
AND ADVISER
MORALE3.1 One Parent Families
has been concerned for some time that, since the decentralisation
of Jobcentre Plus, Personal Advisers working on the New Deal for
Lone Parents have been receiving insufficient training. One Parent
Families has the contract to deliver lone parent awareness training
to many Personal Advisers and have seen a decline in their motivation;
many of those who attend our training now have been working for
some time before. We are also seeing a general decline in adviser
morale. Lone parent advisers who attended One Parent Families'
annual conference on the 13 October told us that they feel increasingly
pressurised, and unable to devote sufficient time to their clients.
They are also frustrated that the current lack of resources within
Jobcentre Plus means that they cannot deliver what they see as
the full service necessary for lone parents.
3.2 We believe that specialist advisers
have been key to the success of the New Deal programmes. Advisers
working on the New Deal for Lone Parents increasingly tell us
that they are being asked to deal with "mandatory" and
other client groups, in addition to their lone parent caseload,
and are worried that their specialism will be lost.
3.3 We know that within the Building on
New Deal areas, discussed further below, the Department intended
to pilot the use of generalist advisers. We would be very interested
to hear whether these plans are going ahead.
4. THE FUTURE
OF BUILDING
ON NEW
DEAL
4.1 In June 2004, the Department for Work
and Pensions published Building on New Deal: Local solutions
meeting individual needs (usually referred to as BOND). This
set out the Government's intention to pilot a new more flexible
approach to employment programmes, which would enable a more tailored
service and a greater focus on those further from the labour market.
4.2 One Parent Families welcomed the intention
to pilot BOND, and to provide more support for more disadvantaged
clients. We think that, as more lone parents move into work, those
needing help from Jobcentre Plus will increasingly be a group
with more barriers to work. We also know that this is a group
that NDLP has to date served least well.[7]
4.3 However, the future of BOND is at present
extremely unclear. A year has now passed and we are unsure whether
BOND will be implemented in the prototype districts, if at all.
5. IT PROGRAMMES
WITHIN JOBCENTRE
PLUS
5.1 The introduction of a call centre model into
Jobcentre Plus has not been smooth—with well-reported problems
with the Customer Management System in its second roll out.[8]
We know that Jobcentre Plus is planning further IT rollouts in
the future, including a further upgrade to the Contact Management
System in 2006, and the replacement of the Income Support computer.
5.2 Our experience both with the roll out of
IT within Jobcentre Plus, and with tax credits, makes us extremely
nervous about large scale IT programmes of this kind. It is essential
that Jobcentre Plus both make contingency arrangements for problems
with these systems, and ensure that an adequate face-to-face service
is maintained. While some customers may prefer to make claims
for benefit by phone or via the Internet, there will always be
vulnerable customers who need to be helped in person.
6. CONCLUSION
6.1 Jobcentre Plus faces a considerable challenge
to achieve the Government's target of a 70% lone parent employment
rate by 2010, and the wider aspiration of an 80% employment rate.
At present, there are considerable resource pressures, which are
impacting on their ability to deliver existing programmes, let
alone any further reforms that may be announced in the expected
Green Paper on Welfare Reform.
6.2 Moreover, key elements of current policies
remain in flux. Increased flexibility within the New Deal programmes
has been announced but not implemented, and we are worried that
IT reforms, with a high potential for error, may increase rather
than reduce the pressures on Jobcentre Plus.
4 HC 298-i Uncorrected transcript of oral evidence
to the Work and Pensions Select Coommittee: Departmental Efficiencies
2 February 2005. Back
5
Lessof C et al (2001) New Deal for Lone Parents Evaluation:
A Quantitative Survey of Lone Parents on Income Support Employment
Service: Sheffield. Back
6
See, for example, the article in Education Guardian of this week,
"I want to work, to take care of my family" available
here: http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,5500,1605425,00.html Back
7
Evans M et al (2003) New Deal for Lone Parents: Second
Synthesis of the National Evaluation DWP Research Report No 163,
DWP. Back
8
See, for example, "Benefits staff revert to paper"
Computing UK 29 September 2005 http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2142945/benefits-staff-revert-paper. Back
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