The Coalition:
our programme for government

Jobs and welfare

The Government believes that we need to encourage responsibility and fairness in the welfare system. That means providing help for those who cannot work, training and targeted support for those looking for work, but sanctions for those who turn down reasonable offers of work or training.

* We will end all existing welfare to work programmes and create a single welfare to work programme to help all unemployed people get back into work.
* We will ensure that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants facing the most significant barriers to work are referred to the new welfare to work programme immediately, not after 12 months as is currently the case. We will ensure that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants aged under 25 are referred to the programme after a maximum of six months.
* We will realign contracts with welfare to work service providers to reflect more closely the results they achieve in getting people back into work.
* We will reform the funding mechanism used by government to finance welfare to work programmes to reflect the fact that initial investment delivers later savings through lower benefit expenditure, including creating an integrated work programme with outcome funding based upon the DEL/AME switch.
* We will ensure that receipt of benefits for those able to work is conditional on their willingness to work.
* We support the National Minimum Wage because of the protection it gives low-income workers and the incentives to work it provides.
* We will re-assess all current claimants of Incapacity Benefit for their readiness to work. Those assessed as fully capable for work will be moved onto Jobseeker’s Allowance.
* We will support would-be entrepreneurs through a new programme – Work for Yourself – which will give the unemployed access to business mentors and start-up loans.
* We will draw on a range of Service Academies to offer pre-employment training and work placements for unemployed people.
* We will develop local Work Clubs – places where unemployed people can gather to exchange skills, find opportunities, make contacts and provide mutual support.
* We will investigate how to simplify the benefit system in order to improve incentives to work.

The official website for this is here.

This has some good things in it but also some ideas which sound 'well meaning' but will probably have little effect.

1. Increased sanctions for those who are not willing to work - good.

2. Simplification of benefits - good. This will help remove some perverse incentives.

3. Earlier referral of people to welfare to work programmes - good.

4. Something nearer to 'payment by results' for those companies who try to find work for the unemployed - good. This is far more likely to get results.

5. Reforming funding mechanism to recognise that upfront cost of getting people into work brings long term benefits - good. So often government does not do sensible things because it thinks only of payback in one year instead of five.

6. Support for minimum wage - bad. This causes unemployment for those who cannot command the minimum wage.

7. Re-assess those on Incapacity Benefit - it is not clear how this will differ from what the Labour government already had under way. In principle it is the right thing to do. Still there are hundreds of thousands on incapacity benefit who should not be.

8. 'Work for yourself' mentoring plan - I am dubious about this. How many people who are not able to get a job are going to be people who take on the far more demanding task of starting a business?

9. Work clubs - I am pretty sceptical about this one, too. Gathering together those who can't get work could potentially make them feel even more demoralised than before. Any such place needs to have a positive, go-getting atmosphere. That may not be easy. Will attendance be compulsory? That could at least combat the common problem of 'working and claiming'.

10. Simplification to ensure incentives to work - this is vital. But we all say we are in favour of this. No government has so far really pushed it through. It is extremely difficult - politically - to make this happen.

What is not there: a promise to tackle the difficult housing benefit problem.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Reform

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