MPs have urged the Department for Work and Pensions to review its work coach model and find ways to empower job centre staff.<\/p>\n
A new report by the Work and Pensions Committee, Get Britain Working: Reforming Jobcentres, warns that work coaches \u201care an incredible resource but they are currently being ineffectively deployed\u201d.<\/p>\n
It says work coaches often do not have enough time with claimants to have an impact, with many appointments no more than 10 minutes long \u2013 \u201cnot nearly enough to address the needs of many claimants who are further from employment\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat time they do have is frequently poorly directed, with too little time spent building relationships and coaching people into work, and too much spent checking compliance with benefit conditions,\u201d the report adds.<\/p>\n
The committee has asked DWP to undertake \u2013 and publish \u2013 a detailed review of its work coach model over the next year, and said this should evaluate the difference work coach support makes to employment outcomes for different groups, identifying those who would most benefit from more support and those who do not require work coaching because, for example, they are likely to only temporarily be out of the workforce.<\/p>\n
As part of this review, the MPs said DWP should look at \u201cevidence-based options for empowering work coaches\u201d, including \u201chow to give them greater autonomy over how best to support individual claimants while maintaining a consistent service\u201d.<\/p>\n
They said the DWP should also look at best practice among other providers of employment support, including voluntary and community sector organisations, \u201cwhich we have heard can provide a more tailored service\u201d.<\/p>\n
The MPs said they were\u00a0encouraged to hear from DWP during its evidence-gathering that the department wants work coaches to have more time with claimants, and that it wants to deliver more personalised support.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoaching that is tailored to the aspirations of the service user and that seeks to identify the unique barriers people face will be far more effective than the current support provided,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
However, they warned that work coaches \u201care already stretched, with too few employed to deliver this service currently\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report said DWP \u201cwill need to develop a clear plan for how it prioritises work coach time to deliver this higher-quality service and its other planned reforms\u201d and asked the department to share these plans once they are finalised.<\/p>\n
The MPs noted that DWP has already made some decisions about how best to use work coach time, including reducing work coach time with some claimants, but said they were \u201cconcerned that these changes are occurring in an ad hoc manner, with limited evidence and no clear strategy\u201d.<\/p>\n