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Jobseeker’s Allowance (Skills Training Conditionality Pilot) Regulations 2010

I thank the three noble Lords who contributed. I can summarise the mood of the debate as being in general supportive of the direction of travel with some concerns about some of the detail—in some cases, quite a lot of the detail. Questions were asked and points were made and I shall deal with as many of them as I can. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, spoke about concerns about conditionality, although that is now well embedded in the system of our welfare reform programmes. The vast majority of JSA customers comply with the conditions imposed. Just one in 10 has their benefits sanctioned. Research has shown that sanctions influence the behaviour of claimants. A survey of around 3,000 JSA customers found that almost half said that they were more likely to look for work as a result of sanctions. We expect fewer than 400 sanctions to be applied during the pilot. Jobcentre Plus already has a robust sanctioning regime that ensures that customers are given an opportunity to claim good cause and thereby avoid a sanction. Vulnerable customers can claim hardship allowance and all customers have full rights of appeal against any sanction decision. Guidance being developed for advisers will ensure that the risk of sanction is minimised by ensuring that customers’ views and concerns are addressed and incorporated in the action plan, referring customers with motivational barriers to appropriate support before moving them on to the necessary skills training, and agreeing the type and duration of training suitable to address the individual customer’s skills needs and to move that customer closer to the labour market. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, that having willing people who want to undertake this is a key barrier. Customers will be given choice, wherever possible, over full-time or part-time training, the venue and the start date. However, where there is a skills need, doing nothing will not be an option. Explaining clearly to all customers what the pilot is about, the importance of attending training and the impact of sanctions will be key. Advisers will be fully trained to identify skills needs, to respond to them and to handle the randomisation of customers. An early evaluation of the IES shows that customers value adviser discussions. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, referred to adviser training and suggested that it was poor in the Flexible New Deal regime and the young person’s guarantee. The early findings outlined will be taken into account as the JSA regime and the recession measures bed in. However, it is essential that we get recession-based support in place quickly. Referrals for sanctions decisions are identified by Jobcentre Plus front-line staff and are referred to a Jobcentre Plus decision-maker to look at the facts, including the customer’s side of the story. The decision-maker is impartial and will consider evidence from the adviser and the customer set against the regulations and case law. If the doubt is upheld, the claim is suspended and no payment is made for the time that the individual failed to meet the conditions. So far as someone being mandated to training and the training provider not taking him is concerned, if that is not a good cause, I do not know what would be one. It would be difficult to see that situation, if it came to pass, leading to sanctions. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, said that there is a contradiction between mandation and flexibility. We do not accept that. The range of support on offer in the new JSA regime is flexible and tailored and offers a wide range of choice. It is only if a jobseeker refuses to take up any of this support that sanctions come into play. This in no way limits choice or flexibility. The principal objectives of the evaluation of the JSA skills conditionality pilot are to determine: whether the new measures impact on short-term or long-term job outcomes; whether the new measures impact on sustainable employment; whether they impact on starting and completing training and the acquisition of qualifications; the impact that the threat of sanctions has on customers’ social and psychological well-being; attitudes to training; attitudes to work; what is required to implement the new measures well; and how any economic benefits that are generated compare to the costs. The evaluation of the pilot will begin soon after the pilot starts. There will be different interim reports during the life of the pilot, covering quantitative and qualitative elements, which will continue for up to two years after the end of the pilot. From previous experiences, we know that the effects of employment programmes are not immediate and that we need to observe them over a longer term to capture their effects. For that reason, the evaluation intends to cover short-term, medium-term and long-term effects. This requires more than one stage of the evaluation, some of which will happen even after the pilot has ended in October 2011. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas of Winchester, referred to concerns around randomisation. A randomised controlled trial is one of the most robust evaluation tools to effectively assess the policy being piloted. It allows us to isolate the impact of other factors that might also have an effect on employment outcomes. The aim of the random assignment is to split the customers eligible for skills training conditionality into two groups, as she identified. The randomisation will occur once a skills need has been identified and relevant training has been agreed and recorded on the customer action plans. The randomisation will be done locally by the personal adviser using the final digit of the customer’s national insurance number. We have committed to a clear customer strategy in response to the concerns raised by SSAC. We will inform all customers about the pilot and ask for their consent for their data to be used for research and analytical purposes when training is agreed on the action plan. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, referred to people with health conditions, particularly mental health conditions. It is not our intention, and never would be, to bully people into training, as the Merits Committee might have suggested. Those with health conditions will be able to seek specialised support from the Jobcentre Plus disability employment adviser and will be able to place reasonable restrictions on their availability for work and for any training, due to their condition. We have discussed this on a number of occasions, so the noble Baroness will be aware of what happens in relation to sanctions for customers with mental health issues. We recognise that the customer’s mental or physical condition may impact on their requirements while on JSA. If a customer has failed to attend an appointment or has committed another act or omission that warrants a sanction, the Jobcentre Plus decision-maker will consider all the available evidence before applying a sanction. This can include, but is not limited to, whether the failure was caused by a fluctuation in their health condition. Every effort will be made to contact vulnerable customers before applying sanctions, to make sure that they understand what is required of them. We would not sanction someone with mental health problems without contacting them or their carer or healthcare professional first. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, asked about the training courses, in particular ESOL, and mandation. We are confident that there will be a sufficient number of courses available and we are working closely with providers to ensure that good-quality courses will be available to these customers. ESOL and basic literacy courses will be separate and mandated customers will have a training allowance. The noble Baroness also referred to the WCA. The WCA is a more accurate assessment of limited capability for work, looking at what a person can do as well as what they cannot. On 19 January, there was an official publication of WCA national statistics. Figures showed that, for all ESA claims in the quarter from March 2009 to the end of May 2009, 38 per cent were assessed as fit for work, 5 per cent as suitable for the support group and 12 per cent as suitable for the work-related activity group. The remaining 45 per cent either left ESA before the completion of the assessment or their assessment is still in progress.