24
Accepted
Although the Department signed contracts with eight prime providers to deliver Restart across 12 contract...
Conclusion
Although the Department signed contracts with eight prime providers to deliver Restart across 12 contract areas in England and Wales the prime providers can, and do, subcontract much of the scheme delivery to other providers.48 In total, there are 77 providers involved in the delivery of Restart. Providers have their own systems which they use to assess participants barriers to work, as a directory of available support, and as a system to manage meetings and interactions with participants.49
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the observation and commits to implementing enhanced monitoring of subcontractor performance by Autumn 2024. This will involve prime providers reporting subcontractor assignments, central production of MI on key metrics, circulation of this MI to providers, and sharing it with the evaluation team.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2024 5.2 The department does collate robust Management Information (MI) to assess how providers are performing at Contract Package Area (CPA) level, noting that the department’s commercial model holds prime providers accountable for their own supply chains. The department’s commitment to continuous improvement, sharing best practice and building on its current processes will be enhanced by the following actions: • Prime providers will report on a simple return, the subcontractor each participant is assigned to. • The department will produce the relevant MI centrally, ensuring the methodology is aligned with their current suite of CPA MI. • Metrics will be: Starts on scheme, First Earnings and Job Outcomes. • The subcontractor MI for each CPA will be circulated to all prime providers monthly for complete transparency, and to facilitate the sharing of best practice. • Subcontractor MI will be shared with the evaluation team to be used as part of their process. 5.3 The department’s evaluation team already capture qualitative data on prime providers and subcontractors as part of their geographical case studies and use MI to select sites to ensure coverage across urban, rural and coastal areas. Standardising data collection at sub-CPA level will allow more precise focus where trends suggest further exploration is needed to understand delivery issues or good practice. This will be included in the department’s evaluation of Restart.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Report
Forty-Second Report - The Restart Scheme for long-term unemployed people
22 Mar 2023
HC 733
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
3.4 yrs
Report published
22 Mar 2023