Job centres ‘should focus on skills’

The call comes after a Commons select committee recommended a ‘more thorough and systematic face-to-face assessment’ of claimants’ potential barriers to employment at an early stage of unemployment benefit claims.

Providers have found that around 30% of jobseekers on the Work Programme have basic skills needs and they regard the issue as a significant obstacle to making the programme even more successful.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers( AELP) said more people will secure sustainable employment as a result of using employment support services.

“The Work and Pensions Committee has now advocated some reforms for Jobcentre Plus which could make a tangible difference to improving a jobseeker’s prospects, but AELPbelieves that the government should go further in terms of making local JCP offices’ partnership with providers work better for claimants,” said Stewart Segal, AELPchief executive.

“A change on how initial assessments are conducted would be a good place to start.”

AELPalso supports the MPs’ other key recommendation that performance incentives for local JCP offices should be about getting people into work as opposed to just off benefits.

Providers are reporting that claimants lacking basic skills form a significant barrier to them finding work and yet too often this barrier is either not being picked by the JCP initial assessment process or its existence is not being communicated to the Work Programme provider.

Furthermore, providers often have to repeat the process because the JCP results are not found to be robust enough for prescribing the right type of support for the individual, much to the frustration of the jobseeker.