Outsource jobcentre services, says Policy Exchange

21 Jul 14
Jobcentres are not very effective at helping people find work and their services should be opened up to private and third-sector suppliers, the Policy Exchange think-tank said today.

By Vivienne Russell | 21 July 2014

Jobcentres are not very effective at helping people find work and their services should be opened up to private and third-sector suppliers, the Policy Exchange think-tank said today.

In its Joined up welfare report, Policy Exchange claimed that just over a third (36%) of jobcentres succeeded in getting people into long-term employment.

It highlighted the ‘confusing and expensive’ number of agencies that might be involved in helping someone who has been long-term unemployed.

‘The way public services are currently structured means that often a jobseeker ends up being passed from pillar to post,’ said report author Guy Miscampbell.

‘This is confusing for the individual, creates barriers to help them into work and is expensive. Services have improved enormously, but there is still a lot more to do.’

The report suggests that jobcentres be radically overhauled, with the employment services part mutualised and allowed to compete with voluntary and private providers, while the remainder should be rebadged as ‘Citizen Support’. These Citizen Support centres would act as a central hub for accessing government services, enabling advisers to identify specific barriers to work and suggest providers who could help meet that person’s needs.

Miscampbell said the needs of jobseekers needed to come first.
‘The very word – Jobcentre – comes with a stigma,’ he said.

‘Instead of attaching labels to people who are not in work, we should reform the system to make it as easy as possible for individuals, who often have multiple problems, to work with an organisation that is best suited to helping them into work.’
Policy Exchange’s proposals attracted some support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Chris Goulden, head of poverty research, said: ‘Jobseekers often have a diverse, and complex, range of needs and circumstances. It’s important for employment support to be attuned to these needs to give people their best chance of getting into sustainable, well-paid jobs that help them and their families out of poverty.’

 

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