By Richard Johnstone | 28 January 2014
A committee of MPs has urged the government to change how the performance of the Jobcentre Plus network is monitored to ensure there is the greatest possible incentive to get people into work.
The work and pensions select committee said jobcentres are currently measured based on their ability to get people off benefits. This means they are viewed as effective when people stop claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, even if the person has not found work.
But the MPs said they should carry out more thorough initial assessments of claimants’ barriers to employment, in order to better identify the level of support required.
Committee chair Dame Anne Begg said this would enable a better assessment of jobcentres’ effectiveness.
‘People can leave benefit for a range of reasons, not all of them positive,’ she said.
‘Jobcentre Plus’s performance is currently measured primarily by the proportion of claimants leaving benefit [at] specific points in their claims. This takes no account of whether they are leaving benefit to start a job or for less positive reasons, including being sanctioned or simply transferring to another benefit.
‘We believe this risks Jobcentre Plus hitting its targets but missing the point. Jobcentre Plus must be very clearly incentivised to get people into work, not just off benefits.’
In the longer term, as the Department for Work and Pensions implements its controversial Universal Credit welfare reforms, the committee said further tweaks would be needed to promote sustained job outcomes.
The role of Jobcentre Plus in the reformed welfare system report also called on the government to commission an independent review of the use of sanctions used against jobseekers, as there was evidence some benefits were being stopped inappropriately.
A review of benefit conditionality and sanctioning would ensure the rules were being applied fairly, MPs said. It should also investigate whether sanctioning was having the desired effect of encouraging claimants to engage more actively in job seeking.
Begg said there was a need to increase confidence that sanctions were being applied proportionately.
‘Increasingly strict conditionality must be accompanied by more in-depth and effective advice and support for people struggling to find work, particularly those facing real barriers to employment, including health conditions and disabilities.’
Responding to the report, a Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: ‘There has been a faster than forecasted fall in unemployment, which suggests that people are being encouraged to look for work more intensely than in the past, and the changes introduced to sanctions are working as intended.’
