The Work Programme (WP) was a UK government

welfare-to-work The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The bill implemented major changes to ...

programme introduced in Great Britain in June 2011. It was the flagship welfare-to-work scheme of the 2010–2015 UK coalition government. Under the Work Programme the task of getting the long-term

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

into work was outsourced to a range of

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

and third sector organisations. The scheme replaced a range of schemes which existed under previous

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

governments including

Employment Zones Employment Zones were areas within the UK designated as such to 'loosen restrictions' and requirements on government assistance in job acquisition. Those living in Employment Zones were able to get financial assistance to set up in business, improv ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

, Flexible New Deal and the now abolished

Future Jobs Fund The 'Fund was a UK government initiative introduced in 2009 which aimed to help long term unemployed people back into employment. It was cut by the Coalition government, Prime Minister David Cameron claiming the scheme was "expensive, badly ta ...

scheme which aimed to tackle

youth unemployment Youth unemployment is the situation of young people who are looking for a job but cannot find a job, with the age range being defined by the United Nations as 15–24 years old. An unemployed person is defined as someone who does not have a job ...

. Despite being the flagship welfare-to-work scheme of the Conservative-led coalition government, and then the incumbent Conservative government from May 2015, the DWP announced, in November 2015, that it was replacing the Work Programme and Work Choice with a new Work and Health Programme for the longer-term unemployed and those with health conditions. The DWP also announced that it would not be renewing

Mandatory Work Activity Mandatory Work Activity (MWA) was a workfare programme in the United Kingdom whereby individuals had to work for their benefits or risk being 'sanctioned' and losing them. MWA started in May 2011, but in November 2015 the DWP confirmed it was "not ...

and

Help to Work Help to Work was a government workfare scheme in the United Kingdom for individuals who had not found work after two years on the Work Programme. Help to Work was the overall name for Community Work Placements and other intensified "activation" m ...

which included Community Work Placements. DWP staff were notified that, as of February 2017, new referrals to the Work Programme are discontinued. It was officially stopped on 1 April 2017.

Participation

Individuals could be mandated to take part in the Work Programme if they were in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance or Employment Support Allowance: *after three months if not in education, employment or training *after nine months - if aged 18 to 24 *after 12 months - if 25 or over

Subcontractors

Below is a list of providers under the Work Programme for each area of Britain. Note that these "primes" could sub-contract some cases to other providers. * Scotland:

Working Links Working Links (formally Working Links (Employment) Limited) was a British outsourcing subcontractor established in 2000 as a public, private and voluntary company that provided welfare services and help with employability. It was acquired by the ...

and

Ingeus Ingeus Limited is a British-based, Australian provider of employment and health programmes, services for young people, training and skills support, Labour hire and probation services. It is notable in part, for being founded by Thérèse Rein, t ...

* Merseyside, Halton, Cumbria and Lancashire:

A4e A4e (''Action for Employment'') was a for-profit, welfare-to-work company based in the United Kingdom. The company began in Sheffield in 1991 with the objective to provide redundant steelworkers with the training required to obtain new jobs. Th ...

and

* North, West and Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington: Avanta,

G4S G4S is a British Multinational corporation, multinational private security company headquartered in London, England. The company was set up in 2004 when London-based Securicor amalgamated with Danish firm Group 4 Falck. The company offers a ran ...

and

Seetec Seetec (South East Essex Technology Centre) is a training provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1984 as a company limited by guarantee and registered charity, Seetec was originally established to deliver IT training to the unemplo ...

* Coventry, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and The Marches:

Employment and Skills Group The Employment and Skills Group is a welfare-to-work company in the United Kingdom and one of several companies awarded contracts under the British government's Work Programme. The company was acquired by Interserve Interserve is a British con ...

and

Serco Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...

* Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country:

EOS In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home at ...

Pertemps People Development Groups Pertemps may refer to: * Pertemps Final The Pertemps Final is a Grade Three National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course ...

and

Newcastle College Newcastle College is a large further education and higher education college in Newcastle upon Tyne, with more than 16,000 students enrolled each year on a variety of full time, part time, and distance learning. It is the largest further education ...

* Wales:

and Rehab JobFit * Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and West of England: Rehab JobFit,

Prospect Training Services Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mini ...

and

Learndirect Learndirect Ltd, stylised as learndirect, is a British training provider founded in 2000, owned by the private equity firm Queens Park Equity. The company has a network of learning centres in England and Wales, and also runs some courses online. ...

* Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset:

Prospect Services Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mini ...

and

* North East: Avanta and

* North East Yorkshire and Humber: Intraining, Cityworks,

and

* West Yorkshire:

BEST Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

(Now

Interserve Working Futures Interserve is a British construction and support services business based in Reading, Berkshire, which went into administration in 2019 and which is expected to be wound up in 2024. At that time, the group generated revenue of £2.2 billion and h ...

Ltd, part of

Interserve Interserve is a British construction and support services business based in Reading, Berkshire, which went into administration in 2019 and which is expected to be wound up in 2024. At that time, the group generated revenue of £2.2 billion and h ...

) and

* South Yorkshire:

and

* East Midlands:

and

* East of England:

and

* West London:

Reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

and

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman h ...

* East London:

Careers Development Group and

* Surrey, Sussex and Kent: Avanta and

* Thames Valley, Hampshire and Isle of Wight:

and

Criticism

Opposition to workfare

Some criticisms of the Work Programme reflect a more explicitly political objection to what these critics view as

workfare Workfare is a governmental plan under which welfare recipients are required to accept public-service jobs or to participate in job training. Many countries around the world have adopted workfare (sometimes implemented as "work-first" policies) to ...

. John Downie of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Services argues that workfare is effectively a "handout to business" whereby taxpayers are subsidising the wage bill of the private sector. Downie also argues that the Work Programme exploited unemployed people desperately seeking work, and that it further provided a disincentive for employers to create jobs. The anti-workfare group

Boycott Workfare Boycott Workfare is a British campaign group that has opposed "workfare" policies in the United Kingdom. The group's campaigning has been very successful in making companies and charities pull out of "workfare". In January 2014 the group lodged ...

makes similar arguments stating that workfare replaces jobs and undermines wages.

Allegations of conflict of interest

''The Guardian'' has reported that several high profile donors to the Conservative Party have made money from workfare contracts.

Sovereign Capital Established in 2001, Sovereign Capital Partners LLP is a UK-based private equity specialist renowned for 'Buy & Build'. It invests in companies in business and technology services, healthcare and pharmaceutical services and education & trainin ...

, a venture capital firm set up by John Nash (subsequently Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools 2013–2017) and Ryan Robinson owned

. ESG was awarded a £73 million workfare contract.

Failures to create a viable market

In November 2013 Deloitte sold its 50% stake in the Work Programme contractor Ingeus. Critics argue that this shows the government had failed to create a viable market in the welfare-to-work industry. Alastair Grimes from the consultancy Rocket Science stated: "I'm not aware of people who are making money out of the Work Programme". However Employment Minister Esther McVey argued that the sale shows the success of the Work Programme, with Deloitte exiting when their business was performing well.

Debate over effectiveness

A 2012 report found that only 18,270 people out of 785,000 people enrolled on the Work Programme had held down employment for six months or more – a success rate of 2.3%. Given that 5% of the long-term unemployed would be expected to find employment if left to their own devices the Work Programme can be considered less successful than doing nothing at all. However, Employment Minister Mark Hoban argued that "as the Work Programme supports people for two years or more ... it is too early to judge Work Programme performance by Job Outcome and Sustainment Payment data alone." In February 2013 the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons revealed that the Work Programme had only got 3.6% of participants off benefits and into secure employment during the first fourteen months of its operation. The Department for Work and Pensions had set a target of 11.9%. The Chairman of the PAC Margaret Hodge described the performance of the Work Programme as "extremely poor". In May 2013 the House of Commons' Work and Pensions Select Committee published a report critical of the Work Programme which described the performance of Work Programme contractors as variable in quality. The report also stated that specialist services dealing with problems such as drug dependency and homelessness were underused and that specialist subcontractors received a raw deal. In September 2013 A4E had its number of referrals cut for poor performance.

Lack of funding

A further analysis by the Public Accounts Committee found that the service that the Work Programme could offer was negatively affected by a lack of funding and that in some instances there was not enough money to provide interpreters to those with poor English language skills. The report suggested that the level of support that the Work Programme could offer was reduced by the sheer number of people requiring help. The report stated:

Particular issues reported as resulting from a lack of funding included an inability to pay for interpreters and for participant transport in rural areas. Some subcontractors felt this also affected their ability to meet the needs of particular groups of participants.

Impact on charity sector

The Work Programme was blamed for the closure of some charities who criticised the way in which WP contracts were structured.

Drafting of legislation

The workfare element of the Work Programme was ruled ''

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

'' in a 2013 Court of Appeal judgment which stated that the

Jobseeker's Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme) Regulations 2011 ''R (Reilly and Wilson) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions'' 013UKSC 68is a United Kingdom constitutional law and UK labour law">labour law case that found the conduct of the Department for Work and Pensions "Workfare in the United King ...

did not describe the employment schemes to which they apply, as is required by the primary legislation. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...

responded to the Court of Appeal judgment by announcing emergency legislation in order to correct this. He also appeared to attack the utility of geology as a profession when attacking unemployed geology graduate Cait Reilly who had challenged the workfare scheme. His remarks were criticised by the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

Payment-by-results

It has been argued that payment-by-results whereby companies only get paid for finding people work meant that they focussed on the "easiest" cases among the long-term unemployed with the most "difficult" effectively sidelined. The term "creaming and parking" has been used to describe this process. The Department for Work and Pensions denied that "parking" was an issue. A study by the Third Sector Research Centre at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

found widespread "gaming" of the Work Programme by private sector providers. They argue that because providers were not paid until an unemployed person had been in work for two years it made little economic sense to concentrate on the most "difficult cases". The study also found that the largest private sector providers known as "primes" were guilty of passing more difficult cases onto sub-contractors. Furthermore, "parking" meant that charities were not getting referrals under the Work Programme as such customers were not considered likely to result in a payment for the provider. One interviewee told the study:

"It's not being PC but I'll just say it as it is … you tend to get left with the rubbish; people who aren't going to get a job … If the
rime Rime may refer to: *Rime ice, ice that forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, such as trees Rime is also an alternative spelling of "rhyme" as a noun: *Syllable rime, term used in the study of phonology in ling ...
thought they could get them a job, they wouldn't efer them tosomeone else to get a job."

Former COO of Ingeus Richard Johnson, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', argued that the tendering process for Work Programme contracts meant that those companies that submitted the cheapest tenders were successful, something that encouraged "parking and creaming". Those driven to submit the cheapest tenders did not have any other business outside of welfare to work and either secured Work Programme contracts or closed. Discounts on the base price of over 30% were offered by some bidders, but with the discounts kicking in during the later years of the contract - when the financial viability of the contracts could be at risk.

References

External links

Department for Work and Pensions - The Work Programme
{{Workfare in the United Kingdom Workfare in the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions Unemployment in the United Kingdom 2011 establishments in the United Kingdom