By Peter Hoskin
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Has the Government’s Work Programme failed? Well, today’s numbers
from the DWP certainly don’t look good. They show that of the 743,870
people who were processed through the scheme in its first twelve months, only
18,270 managed to clock up six months of work. That’s a paltry 2.5 per cent.
And it gets worse: for the main group of jobseekers*, the
equivalent figure was 2.2 per cent. That compares to the Government’s
“minimum performance level” of 5.5 per cent. All this is rather a blow for Iain
Duncan Smith and his team.
But before everyone rushes to condemn the Work Programme to
death, it’s worth pointing out some quiet truths:
All of which suggests that it’s too early to judge the Work Programme:
its performance should improve as the economy recovers, and it might improve
before then if the Government can tweak some of the contracts it has signed.
Indeed, it’s striking that poorly-performing providers have been given until April to
improve, otherwise they might be jettisoned. When Chris Grayling founded the
Work Programme, he always intended the contracts to be continually reviewed and
renewed.
But, that said, it isn’t too early to worry about the course
of the Government’s welfare policies. Today’s figures are pretty dreadful, and
they come on top of doubt about the deliverability of the Universal Credit.
This remains some of the most important work that the Coalition is doing, but
they may now have to wait
until after the election to boast about it.
*Those on Jobseeker’s Allowance who are aged 25 or over.