UK Inquiry Tracker

Jobcentres

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 26 Mar 2025 Closed: 22 Sep 2025 Parliament page

The Government plans to reform the system of employment support, including by merging Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service. There are over 600 Jobcentres across Great Britain, forming a network which is the Department for Work and Pension’s main mechanism for supporting Universal Credit (UC) claimants into work and … Read more The Government plans to reform the system of employment support, including by merging Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service. There are over 600 Jobcentres across Great Britain, forming a network which is the Department for Work and Pension’s main mechanism for supporting Universal Credit (UC) claimants into work and increase their income. In October 2024, there were 7.2m people claiming UC. Of these people, 2.5m were earning less than the threshold whereby their UC claim would be subject to conditions, which could include a specified number of hours of looking for work, or regular meetings with a work coach. In a 2021 report , the PAC found that the quality of claimants’ experience and whether they received the right support would depend on the DWP’s ability to integrate an additional 13,500 new work coaches into its organisation and manage their performance effectively. The Work and Pensions Committee launched its own inquiry into Jobcentre reform in 2025 , examining the Jobcentre’s role and customers’ experience of it, as well as how they can work better with external organisations and careers advisers to get people into work. The National Audit Office’s 2025 report on supporting people to work through Jobcentres aimed to establish a baseline for the current system. Based on the NAO report, the PAC will hear from senior DWP officials on subjects including: Supply and demand of support, including for work coaches; Performance of Jobcentres against DWP’s current objectives; and Variations in outcome for different demographic groups or parts of the country. If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 1 May 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

6 Recommendations

25 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

8 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 10 events

20 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee relating to Jobce…

15 Sep
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the 36th Report of Session 2024-25, Jobcentres, 09 …

10 Jul
2025

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to Jobcentre work coaches, 10 July 2025

2 Jul
2025

Report published

36th Report - Jobcentres

2 Jul
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the oral evidence session held on 15 May 2025 on Jo…

9 Jun
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Director General, Labour Market and Poverty at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the oral evidence session o…

9 Jun
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the follow up on the oral evidence session on 15 Ma…

9 Jun
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the follow up on the oral evidence session on 15 Ma…

19 May
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the Fraud and Error Estimates and the Unfulfilled E…

15 May
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

15 May 2025

View on parliament.uk

Barbara Bennett · Department of Work and Pensions Katherine Green · Department for Work and Pensions Sir Peter Schofield KCB · Department for Work and Pensions

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
36th Report - Jobcentres	HC 823	2 Jul 2025	31	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

8 Conclusion Deferred

36th Report - Jobcentres

Recruitment and retention challenges contribute to work coach shortfalls in jobcentres.

The Department has also had fewer work coaches than it has had funding for, which it attributed to factors such as challenges with recruiting and retaining staff. The turnover rate for the Department’s executive officers working in jobcentres, including work … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation and states it will develop a strategic workforce plan within 12 months, with a target implementation date of Summer 2026, to support a new Jobs and Careers Service.

HM Treasury

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10 Conclusion Deferred

36th Report - Jobcentres

DWP's universal jobs service relies on digital tools, with uncertain impact on overall processing times.

We asked the Department how realistic its plan is for a universal jobs and careers service given the current shortage of work coaches. The Department said it envisages a ‘pyramid’ with, at the top, a larger number of people who … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the observation and will develop a strategic workforce plan within the next 12 months, with a target implementation date of Summer 2026, to ensure appropriate work coach resourcing for the evolving Jobs and Careers Service.

HM Treasury

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17 Conclusion Deferred

36th Report - Jobcentres

DWP's new jobcentre performance framework lacks historical data for most key indicators.

The Department requires its jobcentres to provide a nationally consistent, centrally defined service that it judges will maximise employment and earnings for Universal Credit claimants.36 In November 2023, the Department introduced a new performance framework to monitor the operation of … Read more

Government Response

The government states its jobcentre performance management framework, including KPIs and support mechanisms, is currently under review. This review will reflect changes related to the development of the new Jobs and Careers Service, with changes expected by Autumn 2025.

HM Treasury

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21 Conclusion Deferred

36th Report - Jobcentres

Significant variation in work coach headcount observed across different jobcentres and districts.

We followed this up by asking whether within districts there are areas that are performing better. The Department confirmed that within districts there is variation in headcount numbers at jobcentre level.47 The Department emphasised that it manages performance and attrition … Read more

Government Response

The government states its jobcentre performance management framework is currently under review, with changes to reflect the new Jobs and Careers Service expected by Autumn 2025.

HM Treasury

View details

Government Response AI assessment · 31 of 6 classified

Accepted 17

Accepted in Part 3

Acknowledged 5

Deferred 4

Not Addressed 2

Total 6 recs + 25 conclusions

Correspondence 8 letters

20 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee relating to Jobcentres, 30 March

Parliament page

15 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the 36th Report of Session 2024-25, Jobcentres, 09 September 2025

Parliament page

10 Jul 2025 From committee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to Jobcentre work coaches, 10 July 2025

Parliament page

2 Jul 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the oral evidence session held on 15 May 2025 on Jobcentres, 30 June 2025

Parliament page

9 Jun 2025 To committee Letter from the Director General, Labour Market and Poverty at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the oral evidence session on 15 May on Jobcentres, 29 May 2025

Parliament page

9 Jun 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the follow up on the oral evidence session on 15 May on Jobcentres: Personal Independence Payments (PIP) claims, 29 May 2025

Parliament page

9 Jun 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the follow up on the oral evidence session on 15 May on Jobcentres: Jobcentres performance, 29 May 2025

Parliament page

19 May 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the Fraud and Error Estimates and the Unfulfilled Eligibility in the Benefit System release, 15 May 2025

Parliament page