Research report Work Programme evaluation: Findings from the first phase of qualitative research on programme delivery by Becci Newton, Nigel Meager, Christine Bertram, Anne Corden, Anitha George, Mumtaz Lalani, Hilary Metcalf, Heather Rolfe, Roy Sainsbury and Katharine Weston Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 821 Work Programme evaluation: Findings from the first phase of qualitative research on programme delivery Becci Newton, Nigel Meager, Christine Bertram, Anne Corden, Anitha George, Mumtaz Lalani, Hilary Metcalf, Heather Rolfe, Roy Sainsbury and Katharine Weston A report of research carried out by the Institute for Employment Studies, the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions © Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. This document/publication is also available on our website at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at: Central Analysis Division, Department for Work and Pensions, Upper Ground Floor, Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ First published 2012. ISBN 978 1 909532 01 4 Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for Work and Pensions or any other Government Department. Contents iii Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. ix The Authors .................................................................................................................................................x Summary .....................................................................................................................................................1 1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................8 1.1 The Work Programme .............................................................................................................8 1.1.1 The commissioning model ......................................................................................9 1.1.2 Programme delivery and service design ........................................................... 11 1.2 The evaluation of the Work Programme ......................................................................... 12 1.2.1 The commissioning model evaluation ............................................................... 13 1.2.2 Programme evaluation ........................................................................................ 13 1.3 Coverage of this report and methods .............................................................................. 14 1.3.1 Qualitative research with Work Programme providers and Jobcentre Plus ......................................................................................................... 15 1.3.2 Qualitative research with participants ............................................................... 17 qualitative research ........................................................................................................ 18 1.3.3 Participant observations ....................................................................................... 18 1.4 Report structure .................................................................................................................... 19 2 Provision: overview of delivery models and their key features ............................................... 21 2.1 Structure of delivery models .............................................................................................. 21 2.1.1 Pre-employment support ..................................................................................... 21 providers used ................................................................................................................. 23 2.1.2 In-work support ...................................................................................................... 24 2.2 Overview of support provision ........................................................................................... 24 2.2.1 Stages of support provided .................................................................................. 24 2.2.2 Focus of support on specific groups .................................................................. 26 2.2.3 Additional expenditure on external provision .................................................. 27 2.2.4 Use of performance pay and incentives ............................................................ 28 2.3 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 28 iv Contents 3 Jobcentre Plus perspectives on the Work Programme ............................................................ 29 3.1 Knowledge of Work Programme provision ...................................................................... 29 3.2 Training for Work Programme implementation ............................................................. 29 3.3 Early impressions of the Work Programme ..................................................................... 31 3.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 31 4 Information sessions ...................................................................................................................... 33 4.1 Jobcentre Plus perspective ................................................................................................. 33 4.1.1 Information for claimants .................................................................................... 34 4.1.2 Information for voluntary participants .............................................................. 34 4.2 Provider perspective ............................................................................................................ 35 4.2.1 Information for participants about specialist support ................................... 35 4.2.2 Information for voluntary participants .............................................................. 35 4.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 36 5 Referral and handover ..................................................................................................................... 37 5.1 Jobcentre Plus perspective ................................................................................................. 37 5.1.1 Response to referral ............................................................................................... 37 5.1.2 Random allocation ................................................................................................. 38 5.1.3 Referral of voluntary participants ....................................................................... 39 5.2 Provider perspectives .......................................................................................................... 39 5.2.1 Handover .................................................................................................................. 40 5.2.2 Referral information ............................................................................................... 40 5.2.3 Problems with referrals and handover ............................................................... 41 5.3 The participant experience ................................................................................................ 42 5.3.1 Information received ............................................................................................ 43 5.3.2 Feelings and experiences of handover .............................................................. 43 5.3.3 The observational data ......................................................................................... 44 5.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 45 6 Assessment ...................................................................................................................................... 47 6.1 Assessment structure .......................................................................................................... 47 6.2 Assessment tools ................................................................................................................. 48 6.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 49 Contents v 7 Provision: pre-employment support ............................................................................................ 50 7.1 The role of advisers in pre-employment support .......................................................... 50 7.1.1 Ambition to provide one adviser throughout ................................................... 50 7.1.2 A change of adviser at each stage of the journey .........................................