Transcript Jane Kennedy, Manchester 2nd February

Active Labour Market Policies in
the UK - What Lessons Can Be
Learned from the British Experience?
Michelle De Cort
Economy and Labour Market Policy
This presentation will cover...
The UK labour market today
How have we got there?
What next?
2
The UK has one of the highest employment
rates in the world
Percentage of the working age population in work
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Canada
3
UK
US
Japan
Germany
France
Italy
19
92
19 Ap
92 r
19 Sep
93
19 Feb
9
19 3 Ju
93 l
19 De
94 c
19 Ma
94 y
19 Oc
95 t
19 Ma
95
r
19 Aug
96
19 Jan
96
19 Ju
96 n
19 No
97 v
19 Ap
97 r
19 Sep
98
19 Feb
9
19 8 Ju
98 l
19 De
99 c
19 Ma
99 y
20 Oc
00 t
20 Ma
00
r
20 Aug
01
20 Jan
01
20 Ju
01 n
20 No
02 v
20 Ap
02 r
20 Sep
03
20 Feb
0
20 3 Ju
03 l
20 De
04 c
20 Ma
04 y
20 Oc
05 t
20 Ma
05
r
20 Aug
06
20 Jan
06
20 Ju
06 n
20 No
07 v
20 Ap
07 r
Se
p
Per cent
….and is a key success story for the UK
Employment is high by historical standards
76
75
74
73
4
72
71
70
69
68
Employment rate
…with high employment across most groups
100%
90%
80%
Employment Rates
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Total
Men
Women
Young
UK
Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2007
5
Prime
Age
OECD
Older
Low
skilled
Medium
skilled
High
skilled
Source: OECD
6
U
K
J
C
ap
ze
ch K an
R ore
ep a
ub
lic
M US
ex
ic
o
et
he
rl
D and
en s
m
Sw ar
ed k
Be en
lg
iu
Fr m
a
G nc
er e
m
a
Ire ny
la
Fi nd
nl
a
N nd
or
wa
Sp y
Po ain
rtu
ga
l
Ita
Sw Au ly
itz stri
er a
la
H
n
N
ew un d
ga
Ze ry
a
Sl
ov G lan
ak re d
R ec
ep e
u
Au bli
st c
r
C alia
an
ad
a
N
…at low cost
Expenditure on labour market programmes as a % of GDP
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
HOW HAVE WE GOT THERE?
7
Key elements that have contributed to the success so far…
• Macroeconomic stability
• Flexibility and Diversity
• Making work pay
• Active labour market policies
8
Labour market policies 1997 to 2001: focus on
claimant unemployment
• Built on Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) – one benefit for all
unemployed – and Employment Service – one stop shop for all
unemployed.
• JSA system:- rights & responsibilities
- focus on individual with regular contact throughout claim.
- ‘Work first’
- Increased help as duration increases culminating in the New Deal
• Introduced New Deal for Young People and later New Deal 25+.
• Achievements: youth long-term claimant unemployment down 90%.
Overall claimant and long-term unemployment lowest for 30 years.
9
Labour market policies 2001-2008: focus on all
benefits, particularly ‘inactive’ benefits
• Established and rolled out Jobcentre Plus – one stop
shop for all benefits not just unemployment benefits.
• Introduced work-focused interviews and New Deals for lone parents
and people on incapacity benefits.
• Achievements: world leader in this area. Benefits now falling after
decades when only way was up.
Jobcentre Plus purpose:
“Work for those who can, support for those who cannot”
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Labour market developments since 1997
Unemployment benefits
Incapacity benefits
Lone parents
3,500
3,000
Thousands
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
11
WHAT NEXT?
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But still have high aspirations - full employment
is our goal
An employment rate of 80%, with employment
opportunity for all
• Tackling poverty
• Responding to the challenges of demographic
change and globalisation
• Work is good for you
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…and stubborn barriers exist in getting to that
ambition
• 3 million people of working age have been on benefit for
over a year, many on incapacity benefits
• there are nearly 3 million households in which no-one
works, and 1.7 million children are growing up in these
households
• 5 million adults are not functionally literate and 17 million
have difficulty with numbers
• Of the 5.1m Jobcentre Plus customers – 38% lack
functional literacy, and 45% lack functional numeracy
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…so embarking on next stage of welfare reform
“We are clear that in future, good training to develop the
skills that employers want has to be a central part of
helping people into jobs, and helping people stay in jobs.
Our goal is sustainable employment, not cycling
between short term work and repeated spells on benefit.
We want to support progression in work as well as entry
to work.”
Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, November 2007
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…with 5 key principles
• a stronger framework of rights and responsibilities
• a personalised, responsive and more effective
approach
• not just jobs, but jobs that pay and offer retention
and progression
• partnership – the public, private and third sectors
working together
• devolving and empowering communities
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A stronger framework of rights and responsibilities
Sick and Disabled People
• Employment and Support Allowance will replace
incapacity benefits for new customers from October 2008.
Lone Parents
• Lone parents currently on Income Support will be
expected to look for work when their child reaches 12
from autumn 2008, 10 from October 2009 and 7 from
October 2010.
• Alongside increased expectations there will be access to
skills advice, childcare and employment support to find
work, for example New Deal for Lone Parents
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A personalised, responsive and more effective
approach
flexible New Deal
• Modernising and rationalising existing New Deal, focusing support on
the needs of individual jobseekers.
• Expectations and support for Jobseekers increases as the duration of
the claim increases - recognising that majority of people leave
Jobseekers Allowance within the first year.
• Jobcentre Plus provision for first 12 months, then private sector
provision - with a focus on sustained employment.
Pathways to Work
• Programme of support for those with a health condition or disability
to overcome barriers to work
• Six mandatory work focused interviews have been effective,
increasing the chances of a new customer being in work
• From April 2008 will be available to everyone in the UK and will be
rolled out to existing customers aged under 25 from 2009
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Not just jobs, but jobs that pay and offer
retention and progression
Increased emphasis on skills as well as employment support
• Early screening of all benefit customers to identify literacy,
numeracy and English language needs
• Partnership between Jobcentre Plus and the new adult
advancement and careers service to provide detailed
skills advice and support
• Piloting mandatory training for jobseekers after six
months, subject to adviser discretion
• Enabling jobseekers to take up short, full-time,
employment focused training to support a return to work
• Supporting lone parents to stay in and progress in work
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Partnership – the public, private and third
sectors working together
Local Employment Partnerships - a partnership
between Jobcentre Plus, employers and jobseekers
• Employers commit to make more of their jobs available to
people disadvantaged in the jobs market: we reduce the cost
and risk
• Jobcentre Plus arrange work trials, pre-recruitment
preparation, sifting, reviews of recruitment practices etc
• The target is 250,000 people into jobs by December 2010
• Joining up the employment and skills agendas
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Commissioning - a new partnership
• Longer, larger contracts and greater flexibility in
provision delivery
• Our relationships with providers will be more strategic
and based on shared understanding of government
objectives
• A focus on place with providers taking a more strategic
role
• We’ll increasingly link with local delivery mechanisms
• Smaller, specialist providers will be encouraged to
flourish and develop
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Devolving and empowering communities
CLG and DWP have together created a new Working
Neighbourhoods Fund, worth £1.5bn to 2010-11. The
fund will:
- focus effort on the most deprived neighbourhoods
- support local authorities and communities to tackle
worklessness and low levels of skills and enterprise
- add value by complementing mainstream services
- give local authorities flexibility to achieve the
objectives which matter to local people
- include a significant reward element to incentivise
success
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Testing localisation through the City Strategy
Local authority
Learning and
Skills Council
Jobcentre Plus
Consortium
Primary Care
Trust
Regional
Development Agency
Employers
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Conclusion
• The UK has a strong labour market by historical and
international standards
• But we have aspirations to aim even higher, moving to an
80% employment rate
• Will be very challenging and so reform is essential to
getting there:
- In return for greater obligations on people, much
stronger emphasis on providing tailored employment
and skills support; and
- Recognition that everyone has a part to play in helping
individuals - employers, the public, private and third
sectors and local areas
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Any questions…or answers?
Department for Work & Pensions
www.dwp.gov.uk
Jobcentre Plus
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
New Deal employment programmes
www.newdeal.gov.uk
Learning & Skills Council
www.lsc.gov.uk
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