Brief for Npc & Ersa Roundtable on the Work and Health Programme

BRIEF FOR NPC & ERSA ROUNDTABLE ON THE WORK AND HEALTH PROGRAMME

Context

At the Spending Review 2015 the Government announced the successor to the Work Programme and Work Choice – a new ‘Work and Health programme’, concentrating on those furthest from labour market. This programme would be specifically targeted at people with disabilities or health conditions and those who have been out of work for two years or more. This is a significant change from the existing work programme, and the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion estimate that the new programme will face an 80% cut compared to the previous Work Programme.

Alongside this a number of areas are striking their devolution deals with the Government, all of which involve a varying degrees of control over reviewing, design and commissioning of employment support for people furthest from the labour market. This undoubtedly poses significant opportunities and challenges for employment support providers.

Although the payment model in the new ‘Work and Health programme’ has not yet been announced, there is likely to be an element of payment-by-results. However, given the challenges faced by jobseekers in the new programme, and thus the need for providers to engage for a long period of time and work intensively with people, there is equally likely to be a greater up-front payment for providers. There have also been calls from many quarters for some kind of payment for distance travelled, which would help ensure that providers are able to deliver the interventions that lead to people getting into work.

NPC and ERSA are hosting a roundtable to explore a range of questions and draw out learning and insights from the first iteration of the Work Programme. Following the discussion NPC and ERSA will publish a paper that looks to answer some key questions that need to be considered by Government, charities and private sector providers in the design and commissioning of the new Work and Health programme.

Key questions

We believe many of the key questions to explore relate to risk, payment profile, data and devolution:

Jobseeker Profile

 What are likely to be the most prevalent needs of the client group served by the proposed Work and Health Programme?

 Does the changing client group mean that charity-led social sector primes have a potentially greater role to play given the specialisation needed?

 Are there individuals who should be fast-tracked onto the programme as in current programmes (eg ex- offenders) and what would be the cost / benefit? What aspects of existing programmes, such as the Work Programmes, Specialist Employment Support and Work Choice, need to be maintained in future programmes to build on best practice?

Provider models and market  Will the scope of the new programme result in a different relationship between primes and charities and where is the risk likely to lie?

 Is there more or less scope for charities to form social sector primes that are able to compete for contracts on price, risk and knowledge? How can these social sector primes evidence the impact of their track record?

 How can employment support providers best harness alternative funding streams eg ESF, Local Authority funding to provide holistic support?

Payment structures

 What is a realistic split for up-front payment vs PbR that charities are able to deliver and what would be the optimum payment schedule?

 How do you capture distance travelled outcomes, which are so important for this group, and how do you calculate any tariff/ payment attached?

 Should the programme consider the potential to support individuals to progress once in work and, if so, how?

Integration and Localisation

 Can health data be shared to inform and shape integrated services for people furthest from the labour market?

 How can health provision be better integrated with employment support? Will new relationships need to be formed with charities more traditionally focused on health related issues than employment?

 How much input and control will devolved areas have? Will combined authorities have the power, and crucially the funding, to create truly integrated, holistic services that genuinely deliver what people need? How much input and influence will Local Enterprise Partnerships and local businesses have?

 How can devolved areas assess the effectiveness of local support providers in delivering outcomes and ensure that they are best able to respond to local needs?