Maintaining the new Work Programme momentum

At last, we’re off! The Work Programme is out of the traps. The tenders are won, contracts signed, programme launched and it has all started “for real” from this week. Real people with real lives with real challenges will be presenting themselves at provider premises with the expectation of substantial support to assist them in to sustained employment.

The Work Programme cannot fail. Minister for Employment Chris Grayling and his officials have stated on several occasions there is no “Plan B”. However, there is a possibility that some provision may fall at the hurdles. The Ministerial team has said as much (IDS as recently as last Friday in the FT) and the discounts that have been offered to secure business are eye-watering and so it’s a distinct possibility. DWP will have to act swiftly to ensure that, if that happens, there is provision available to swiftly “parachute” in and ensure seamless coverage.
More fundamentally, in order to succeed, providers will have to achieve performance the like of which has not been seen consistently in any previous programme, and never experienced in a time of economically slow growth such as we are in now.

An enormous amount of responsibility will lie upon the shoulders of the front line workers who will be the first line contact with job seekers – the Personal Advisers (PAs). This generic description covers a variety of functions including job brokerage, coaching and training. In all its guises the PA holds the key to the success of the job seeker, and by extension the performance of the contract on which they work. Contract success will only be possible if the PA has the ability, devolved authority, flexibility and tools they need to work effectively with longer term unemployed people.

Rumours are circulating of some extremely basic recruitment interviews for PAs which we hope are ill-founded. Filling a PA role successfully necessitates in depth analysis of the skills set the individual has and even more importantly, their aptitude for the job. This is not a profession for the feint-hearted. With an estimated attrition rate of 50% each year (we think – no-one has ever undertaken a comprehensive survey) it’s clearly a demanding role. If we are to attract the best and retain them we need to create a sector that the right people want to become a part of and to grow within.

The industry has been working hard together over the last couple of years to create a framework of qualifications which will be launched at the Welfare to Work Convention at the end of the month. This will enable front line workers to achieve L3 qualifications in Employment Related Services at Award, Certificate and Diploma level and there will be management qualifications at L4/5 as well as an apprenticeship. Read more here.

All well and good to have really relevant qualifications for PAs, it’s long overdue but we need to provide a support structure too and our next step will be to create an umbrella organisation to protect the integrity of the sector and be the “guardian” of the qualifications. Thinking is at an early stage but the Institute of Employability Professionals is more than a pipe dream and funding is being actively sought.

Giving PAs the opportunity to study remotely at their own desks in short, immediately applicable, enjoyable tranches of activity will be a pre-requisite to ensuring they have the level of understanding they need to perform to their best, and hit the ground running. Inclusion has joined up with Duality Training to create AdvanceW2W an e-learning platform which will deliver exactly that, directly to PAs’ desks. Advance W2W will launch at W2W 2011.

PAs need their tools to work efficiently and effectively. This means ensuring that the data they are working with is as accurate as possible. The onus is on DWP and Jobcentre Plus to ensure that information that is passed from Jobcentre Plus to providers is relevant, correct and timely.

Inclusion’s recent report ‘Opening up employment for all: the role of assessment in the Work Programme’, focuses on the vital role that assessment of new entrants on to the Work Programme will play in ensuring employment is really opened up for all. While the Work Capability Assessment can identify those who are ‘fit for work’, in many cases it will not give personal advisers the information they need to support everyone into employment. The report puts forward practical ideas on how the assessment of jobseekers needs to evolve to ensure this happens.

The report highlights that many people entering onto the Work Programme will have health conditions and distinctive needs that will need to be understood and addressed if they are to be supported into work.

We recommend that assessment needs to be performed early, thoroughly and by skilled professional staff. The report argues doing this will provide a framework for evaluating the success of different support interventions, as provided by different suppliers. Moreover, integrating assessment into the Work Programme will mean public and private providers can learn more about what works for different people. You can read the full report here.

So the race is on. To ensure the Work Programme performs the best it can in prevailing conditions we have to concentrate our attention on providing the support necessary to ensure that PAs are enabled to perform consistently at their highest. The foundations are in place and now we must maintain the momentum and ensure buy-in across the sector and at every level within it.

Fran Parry is director of employment and skills at Inclusion, the not-for-profit company dedicated to tackling disadvantage and promoting social justice