Welfare Reform on the Web (November 2010): Social security - UK - welfare to work

From New Deal to Work Programme: ensuring a smooth transition

F. Parry

Working Brief, July 2010, p. 24-25

This article explores how employment services can manage constructively the transition from the New Deals to the Work Programme. The industry needs to pull together to create a network of efficient consortia and supply chains that delivers against targets, provides value for money, and evidences social return on investment. For its part, the coalition government must be prepared to finance services.

How did programmes respond to recession?

P. Bivand

Working Brief, July 2010, p. 18-19

This article looks at how the New Deal programmes fared in the recession and whether any discernable difference was made by the introduction of the Flexible New Deal.

The Work Programme challenge

D. Simmonds and P. Bivand

Working Brief, July 2010, p. 4-11

The coalition government's Work Programme for the unemployed could have 2.6 million people on it by 2014, making it the largest programme ever in the UK. There will be a new, diverse market of employment service providers and a slimmed down JobCentre Plus. Work Programme providers will have to make a massive adjustment in their skills and capacity to cope with the numbers and type of people joining.