Unrealistic performance targets could put welfare-to-work scheme the Work Programme at risk of financial collapse, according to an analysis carried out by think-tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF).
Under the scheme, the work and pensions department (DWP) will pay employment support providers based on their success at helping unemployed people find jobs. The research uses data on the performance of providers under Labour’s Flexible New Deal to forecast the likely performance of Work Programme providers.
It suggests that providers will fail to meet the DWP’s minimum performance standards by around 30,000 jobs over three years, and could lose their contracts. This would also reduce funding per jobseeker, threatening providers’ financial viability.
Writing in CSW, SMF director Ian Mulheirn says today that “off-loading all the financial risk for achieving good policy outcomes onto contractors isn’t the same thing as good risk management”.
Employment minister Chris Grayling said providers wouldn’t have invested “unless they were confident of making a real difference”.

Read Ian Mulheirn's opinion on the Work Programme online here.

Click here to see all news and features from Civil Service World

Written by CSW