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LGA: Learn lessons from the work programme and devolve power to councils

Thousands of disadvantaged jobseekers and people with disabilities and health conditions would be supported into work if funding and responsibility for the new Work and Health Programme (WHP) was devolved to all areas, councils say today.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is urging the Government to learn the lessons from the predecessor – the Work Programme - and make the necessary changes to the WHP, due to start in 2018, so that it can better fulfil the Government's commitment to reduce the disability employment gap.

Under the Whitehall-run £600 million a year Work Programme, only one in five of the most disadvantaged Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants secured a job after two years, which meant they were back to square one at the job centre.

Council leaders fear that with only a fifth of the funding (£130 million) of its predecessor, either too few jobseekers will be supported by the WHP or they will receive insufficient support. This warning follows concerns by the Employment Related Services Association that investment reductions in the WHP will severely reduce the number of disabled people who will receive support.

The LGA, which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, said nationally run programmes like the WHP cannot hope to provide the full range of support which must include health services, skills training and jobs advice to deal with the needs of claimants who have been out of work for years.

The Government has granted flexibility to run WHP to only a handful of local areas. However the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) needs to go further and faster, and have full confidence in local government expertise and devolve WHP to all parts of the country.

The would allow all local areas to join up employment support with local services, alongside skills and health interventions so jobseekers get the right support at the right time. This can only be done locally.

The LGA's submission to the Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement calls for a loosening of DWP control so groups of councils can manage the WHP in their patch. This should come with an increased budget to at least maintain the present level of support to disabled people.

Current DWP plans mean that just six large contractors will deliver the programme across England and Wales. The LGA believes such large contracts will fail to distinguish between the economic and social characteristics of local areas, leaving councils and employment providers frustrated because they know every person and every area has unique challenges and need tailored support.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the LGA's People and Places Board, said:

"The Government should recognise that employment support alone is not the answer to help those furthest from the jobs market.

"The LGA put forward its own proposal to the Government for a devolved, integrated employment support to replace the Work Programme, which we believed would deliver better outcomes for residents than the traditional Whitehall centrally controlled approach.

"Together with the Government, we consulted councils on how the WHP should work. The clear message was that to be successful it will need to integrate local services, job centres must be required to work with councils and local partners so the right people are supported, and the right locally based contractors are used.

"Councils are committed to ensure no-one is left behind, but they simply cannot afford to pick up the local costs of long-term unemployment.

"The Government will spend £10.5 billion this year on 20 national employment and skills schemes. It can also no longer afford to spend billions on separate national programmes when there are better more local solutions that can coordinate all local partners in a way which can most appropriately help those most in need of support."

Notes to editors

There are 11 contract package areas in total – one in Greater Manchester, four in London and then the other six are for the rest of England and Wales. In addition DWP has agreed to co-designing / co-commissioning the WHP with a number of local areas.

Read the case study: Realising Talent - supporting people with multiple needs into work (PDF)

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