Lift Gershon threat from jobcentre staff

6 Oct 05
Jobcentres are not 'punching their weight' and the staff cuts planned under the Gershon efficiency agenda could stymie efforts to get people off benefits and into work, an influential think-tank has warned.

07 October 2005

Jobcentres are not 'punching their weight' and the staff cuts planned under the Gershon efficiency agenda could stymie efforts to get people off benefits and into work, an influential think-tank has warned.

The Institute for Public Policy Research North says the government's plans to for tackling economic inactivity, 'while ambitious and broadly correct', are already being hampered by a lack of resources and specialist staff, known as personal advisers.

It says ministers need to find ways of providing extra capacity among frontline staff in Jobcentre Plus offices to allow them to function more effectively.

Towards full employment, the IPPRN study published on October 5, says personal advisers in particular are the key to getting long-term sick and unemployed people into work.

It is also calling on the government to set a basic target to achieve an 80% employment rate by 2020, accompanied by a 'floor target' of at least 75% employment in every local labour market.

These would force the public agencies to tackle the structural issues that have led to wide variations in employment rates across the UK, the think-tank says.

John Adams, its northern research director and author of the report, told Public Finance there also needed to be a reassessment of existing programmes.

There is little evidence that the new deal for the over-50s is directly responsible for the modest increase in employment rates among that group, he said. Nor is there any demonstrable economic benefit to people who achieve NVQ level two qualifications.

'These programmes have received substantial funding but there are real concerns about whether they are delivering value for money,' Adams said.

PFoct2005

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top