Welfare Reform on the Web (October 2010): Social security - UK - New Deal

Localisation and the City Strategy

E. Crawford

Working Brief, June 2010, p.8-10

Localisation has been a dominant agenda in the debate over public service delivery in recent years. The City Strategy represented a significant experiment undertaken by the Labour government to shift authority for planning and delivery of employment services and skills training to local partnerships. However, while gains were made at the local level, confused accountability structures limited the extent to which true localisation was able to happen.

Making the most of opportunities for older workers

N. Wilson

Working with Older People, vol.14, Sept. 2010, p. 29-35

Older workers who have been made redundant form a large and growing client group for providers of employment and skills services. This article introduces the South East's groundbreaking 40-70 Tomorrow's Workforce Programme which has assisted 3,500 older workers and over 500 employers in the region, and which influenced a Department for Work and Pensions decision to commission national good practice guidance for their employment services providers, including a section on employer engagement based on the South East 'business first' model.

Will the new government mean radical change?

D. Simmonds

Working Brief, June 2010, p.3-5

This article analyses the coalition government's welfare to work policies. It is argued that, while many of its proposals represent continuity with the former Labour government, it will sharpen and speed up reform.