DWP minister warns of huge shake-up coming this autumn | Personal Finance | Finance

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Jobcentres will spend less time policing the benefits system and more time helping people – particularly young adults – to find work and rescue them from the “scrapheap”.

The plans have been revealed by the Employment minister ahead of a “big change” shake-up in the welfare and jobs regime that is due to be outlined in a government white paper in the autumn.

Alison McGovern said the “lockdown generation” who’ve been consigned to the “scrapheap” will get life-changing support through major reforms to get Britain working again.

Nearly 900,000 young people are not in education, employment, or training – up 74,000 on the year – while latest figures from the ONS show around 600,000 16-24-year-olds are unemployed, 63,000 more than pre pandemic.

The sickness crisis amongst 16-24-year-olds has also worsened with a 29 percent increase in the number who are inactive and long-term sick – up from 184,000 before the pandemic to 237,000 in the most recent data, a record high.

Ms McGovern was speaking ahead of the launch of an independent report setting out proposals to turn the Jobcentre Plus network, the job search and benefits service, into a universal employment support resource open to all, including people out of work with health conditions — not only to benefits claimants.

The report from the Commission on the Future of Employment Support says that much of the problem is due to the “draconian” requirements imposed on jobless benefits claimants, who are expected to spend 35 hours a week looking for work, and face sanctions if they fail to measure up.

The report will inform Labour’s ambition to raise the UK’s employment rate to 80 percent, higher than it has been in more than 160 years, and surpassed by only a handful of leading economies.

The minister said: “The lockdown generation has been failed – consigned to the scrapheap because they have been denied the support and opportunities to find work, get into work, and get on at work.

“It’s truly shocking that we have businesses crying out for staff at the same time there are queues round the block for foodbanks – a dire situation that we’re determined to put right.”

She added: “The obsession with benefits management must end if we’re to bring about the change the country is crying out for, and that’s why we have a plan to get Britain working again.

“We’re going to set-up a Youth Guarantee to transform the lives of young people by providing work, apprenticeships and skills training to everyone who needs it.

“That is how we will deliver on our mission for growth across the country and ensure future generations are never abandoned by their government again.”

The minister told the FT there needs to be a return to the founding principles behind the creation of the welfare state, adding: “for social security to work you need a well-functioning health system and an approach for full employment. We’ve lost that wider view of the economy.”

The commission looking at welfare reform was led by the Institute for Employment Studies and its membership includes recruitment and union voices, as well as think-tanks and charities.

Tony Wilson, director of the IES, said there was “no evidence” to support the “damaging” 35-hour rule, which forced people to constantly justify their actions, tied up advisers and pushed people to claim health-related benefits with fewer requirements.

Currently, jobseekers in the UK are less likely than any others in Europe to use public support services to find work, partly because jobcentres are not open to the public but only to benefit claimants.

Mr Wilson said that changing their focus away from policing benefits will free up thousands of advisers to spend their time helping people find work or a new and better job.



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