36th Report - Jobcentres

Select Committee

Public Accounts Committee HC 823 2 July 2025

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 31 items (6 recs)

Source View on Parliament website

Government Response (AI assessment · 31 of 31 classified)

Accepted 17

Accepted in Part 3

Deferred 4

Not Addressed 2

Government response

Treasury Minutes: Government response - 36th Report

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Recommendations & Conclusions

17 results

2 Recommendation Accepted

Develop a workforce plan to ensure sufficient work coaches for the new jobs and careers service.

Recommendation

We are concerned that the Department will continue to not have enough work coaches to meet the growing demand for support. The shortage of work coaches has been caused by the Department securing inadequate funding from HM Treasury and by … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and commits to developing a strategic workforce plan within 12 months as part of the Jobs and Careers Service Programme, which will anticipate workforce needs and ensure appropriate work coach resourcing.

HM Treasury

4 Recommendation Accepted

Publish a strategy for evaluating employment support reforms and regularly refreshing the evidence base.

Recommendation

The Department has not evaluated the effectiveness of its approach to supporting claimants to work for a decade. The Department does not have an up-to-date evidence base from which to assess the suitability of its current approach to supporting claimants … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, pointing to its recently published Evidence and Evaluation Strategy 2025. It details ongoing Universal Credit trials with findings due by the end of 2026, and an evaluation strategy for the Jobs and Careers Service is under development.

HM Treasury

5 Recommendation Accepted

Write to the Committee outlining committed and planned spending of £55 million for jobs service.

Recommendation

It is not fully clear how the Department is spending the £55 million allocated for 2025–26 to test elements of the new jobs and careers service. In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the government allocated £55 million for the Department to … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and confirms the recommendation is implemented, providing a detailed breakdown of how the £55 million for 2025-26 has been allocated across tests and trials (£15m), alternative delivery solutions (£5m), digital activity (£20m), and resources/staffing (£13m, including a £2m contingency).

HM Treasury

9 Conclusion Accepted

Government plans to establish new universal jobs and careers service by 2028-29.

Conclusion

In November 2024, the government published its Get Britain Working white paper that set out plans for reforming employment support including a new jobs and careers service, bringing together jobcentres with the National Careers Service in England. The Department aims … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing specific funding allocations for 2025-26, including £15 million for tests and trials and £20 million for digital activity, to design and test the new Jobs and Careers Service.

HM Treasury

11 Conclusion Accepted

Redeployment of work coaches for health conditions reduces support for other Universal Credit claimants.

Conclusion

In March 2025, the government published a green paper, Pathways to Work, which set out proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support, with the aim of providing tailored employment, health and skills support for claimants with a … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that its Pathways to Work green paper and Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by significant funding, will support employment for people with health conditions and disabilities. It will publish annual progress updates against intermediate metrics, with the first update in Autumn 2025.

HM Treasury

12 Conclusion Accepted

More than half of jobcentres reduced claimant support due to work coach shortages.

Conclusion

To help deal with the shortfall in work coaches, the Department allows jobcentres that are under the most pressure in terms of work coaches’ caseload to reduce the support they provide for claimants. In September 2023, the Department introduced a … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government has made certain elements of the local flexibility framework permanent as part of a revised approach to resourcing, providing detailed evidence to the Committee for these changes and considering the recommendation implemented.

HM Treasury

13 Conclusion Accepted

DWP claims reduced jobcentre support does not impact outcomes despite outdated evidence.

Conclusion

We asked the Department how concerned we should be that over half of jobcentres have had to reduce their support for Universal Credit claimants due to the shortage of work coaches. The Department told us that we should not be … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government has made certain elements of the local flexibility framework permanent, stating this new approach ensures claimants have the right support and providing evidence to the Committee for these changes, thereby considering the recommendation implemented.

HM Treasury

14 Conclusion Accepted

DWP attributes declining into-work rates to external factors and increasingly complex claimant caseloads.

Conclusion

However, the Department also told us that it was concerned about the into-work rate, which has been declining since 2021–22.28 The rate increased to 9.7% in 2021–22, but declined in the following two years, to 8.2% in 2023–24. The Department … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, outlining its existing "Get Britain Working White Paper" roadmap, "Pathways to Work" funding, and wider cross-government initiatives to achieve an 80% employment rate and improve into-work rates.

HM Treasury

15 Recommendation Accepted

Concerns raised about quality and consistency of jobcentre support despite DWP assurances.

Recommendation

The Department said that, even when implementing all the measures up to level five of its flexibility framework, including to meet all Intensive Work Search claimants fortnightly after 13 weeks rather than some of them weekly, its work coaches can … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, referencing prior letters that detailed a revised approach to work coach resourcing and priorities, including making elements of the local flexibility framework permanent.

HM Treasury

16 Conclusion Accepted

DWP considering making temporary flexibility framework measures permanent, pending impact assessment.

Conclusion

The Department is examining whether some of the measures in the local flexibility framework could be made permanent to help manage demand pressures without adversely affecting outcomes for claimants.34 We asked the Department what measures could be made permanent and … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states it has made certain elements of the local flexibility framework permanent as part of a revised approach to resourcing levels and priorities. It has provided the Committee with detailed evidence for these changes and considers the recommendation implemented.

HM Treasury

18 Conclusion Accepted

National into-work rate declined significantly with substantial regional and district variations.

Conclusion

In terms of the performance of jobcentres over time, the average monthly into-work rate reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic from 8.8% in 2018–19 to 7.2% in 2020–21. The rate then increased to 9.7% in 2021–22, but declined in the following … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and commits to developing a labour market publication strategy before the end of 2025, which will include publishing into-work rates and some labour market data at a Jobcentre Plus District level to enhance transparency.

HM Treasury

19 Conclusion Accepted

DWP attributes declining into-work rate to external factors, but its scope is limited.

Conclusion

We asked the Department how concerned it was about the drop in the into-work rate nationally in the last two years and what the reasons are for the decrease. The Department told us it was concerned but that there are … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government highlights its existing Get Britain Working White Paper and Pathways to Work initiatives, backed by significant funding, to support employment for people with health conditions and disabilities. The department will publish annual progress updates against intermediate employment metrics from Autumn 2025.

HM Treasury

22 Conclusion Accepted

Jobcentre support model based on outdated Jobseeker's Allowance evaluations, not Universal Credit.

Conclusion

The Department designed its central support model at jobcentres based on evaluations it carried out from 2005 to 2015. These evaluations were randomised control trials that assessed the impact of adjusting aspects of the meetings between claimants and work coaches.49 … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the conclusion, states the recommendation is implemented, and confirms it is already refreshing its evidence base through two ongoing Universal Credit trials, with findings expected by the end of 2026.

HM Treasury

23 Conclusion Accepted

Developing new evidence for claimant support via randomised control trials proves challenging and lengthy.

Conclusion

We asked the Department why its evidence base for its current model for supporting claimants is so old. The Department told us it is challenging to develop a new evidence base using randomised control trials, which it describes as the … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, confirming its commitment to refreshing its evidence base through ongoing Universal Credit trials, with findings to be published by the end of 2026.

HM Treasury

24 Conclusion Accepted

New trials for claimant support model currently underway, with results expected 2025-2026.

Conclusion

The Department is working to enhance its evidence base and explore the impact of potential changes to its support model. It has carried out research to identify which aspects of work search review meetings between work coaches and claimants make … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, affirming its commitment to refreshing its evidence base through ongoing Universal Credit trials, with findings to be published by the end of 2026.

HM Treasury

29 Conclusion Accepted

Employment rate consistently falls short of government's long-term 80% target since 2018.

Conclusion

In its November 2024 white paper Get Britain Working, the government described its plans to reform employment support as the first steps to achieving its long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. From May 2018 to October 2024, the … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that it has already set out a roadmap in the Get Britain Working White Paper and highlights the Pathways to Work programme and other cross-government initiatives that contribute to the 80% employment rate ambition.

HM Treasury

30 Conclusion Accepted

Achieving an 80% national employment rate remains a significantly stretching aspiration for the Department.

Conclusion

We asked the Department how big a challenge it will be to get to 80%. The Department told us that it clearly is a stretching aspiration. The Department explained that, to achieve an 80% employment rate, its focus is on … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that it has already set out a roadmap in the Get Britain Working White Paper and highlights the Pathways to Work programme and other cross-government initiatives that contribute to the 80% employment rate ambition.

HM Treasury