Work Programme drop outs mean 'best will rise to top' - Chris Grayling

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

Employment minister Chris Grayling says he is "relaxed" that some organisations have left the Work Programme and that it is a sign the Government is "breaking through to a new level of performance" in getting the long-term back to work.

Mr Grayling was delivering a speech at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London today where he gave his assessment of the £5bn back-to-work scheme one year on from its implementation.

Announced in a blaze of glory last summer - it was hailed as one of the coalition's flagship policies designed to reduce benefit dependency – but the programme has been dogged by bad headlines.

Charities have quit the programme unable to make the scheme stack up financially and one of its prime contractors has been caught up in a fraud probe.

What seems to be the stumbling block is the relationship between prime contractors - the private firms involved in the programme - and sub contractors, charities and housing associations.

Mr Grayling said today, however, that he was "completely relaxed" about the fact that some organisations will drop out of the Work Programme.

He said: "I have no doubt that over the coming months, as organisations in the Work Programme find themselves falling behind their competitors, and sometimes drop out altogether, that some people will seize upon this as a sign of failure in the programme.

"They will be absolutely wrong. It is a sign that we are breaking through to a new level of performance, of success in getting the long term unemployed back to work. The black box is specifically designed to chase out best practice, to make sure that the best rise to the top.

"So I’m completely relaxed about the fact that some organisations will drop out of the Work Programme, while those that perform will get the rewards."

He said that as the programme beds in, the Government will take swift action to ensure jobseekers are "best served" and if a provider is not living up to expectations "we will increase the number of referrals to those who are".

He said: "I make no apology for setting a tough challenge to providers and demanding the very best, so my message today is simple: it’s time to deliver or we’ll find someone else to do it for us.

"We always expected there to be movement in the supply chain. But we also want fair treatment. That’s why we have launched the Merlin Standard. A set of behaviours prime providers are expected to adhere to in their relationships with their subcontractors. It is designed to encourage excellence in supply chain management by prime providers, to ensure fair treatment of sub-contractors and development of healthy high performing supply chains."

One of the charities that left the scheme, London-based Single Homeless Project (SHP), said the programme was not "adequately resourced or structured" to help homeless people find work.

Mr Grayling said: "The other criticism is that we are somehow parking the hardest to help. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"We have a payment system designed in a way that incentivises providers to help harder to reach claimants."

Grayling said the programme had a good start last summer and autumn, a difficult winter when the labour market was tough, and is enjoying a pretty good spring.

He said: "We now have emerging information from providers about what has happened to the first group of people who joined the programme in the first three and a half months last summer. If you include everyone, including those in the hardest to help groups, the job entry rate is approximately 22%. That adds up to around 60,000 jobs. When you take into account the people who have joined the Work Programme since the end of last September, the total number of unemployed people placed in jobs will now be well on the way to 100,000."