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Mandatory work scheme does not improve job chances, research finds Mandatory work scheme does not improve job chances, research finds
(about 2 hours later)
Thousands of jobseekers have been referred to a mandatory work scheme that has done nothing for their employment chances, has made them more likely to claim benefits in the long run, and may have had adverse consequences on their physical and mental health, government research has found.
Published late on Tuesday evening, the Department for Work and Pensions' own assessment of its mandatory work activity (MWA) programme was filed at the House of Commons library just three hours after the employment minister, Chris Grayling, announced that he would be pumping in millions of pounds of extra funding to expand the scheme so it could take up to 70,000 referrals a year. Thousands of jobseekers have been referred to a mandatory work scheme that has done nothing for their employment chances, has made some of them more likely to claim benefits over the long term, and has led to a proportion subsequently signing on for sickness support, government research has found.
The government also announced that it would toughen up the sanctions regime making it even harder for those to temporarily sign off benefits to avoid being forced into unpaid work for up to four weeks. The assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions of its own mandatory work activity (MWA) programme was filed at the House of Commons library late on Tuesday evening, three hours after the employment minister, Chris Grayling, announced he would be pumping in £5m of extra funding to expand the scheme so it could take up to 70,000 referrals a year.
The government's peer-reviewed study concluded that being referred by Jobcentre managers to mandatory unpaid work for 30 hours a week was good at pushing people off jobseeker's allowance in the short term. The government also announced that it would toughen the sanctions regime, making it even harder to temporarily sign off benefits to avoid being forced into unpaid work for up to four weeks .
However, over a five-month period people were more likely to return to all sorts of out-of-work benefits when compared with those who had never been referred in the first place. The government's peer-reviewed study concluded that being referred by jobcentre managers to mandatory unpaid work for 30 hours a week was good at pushing people off jobseeker's allowance in the short term.
DWP researchers said this return to benefits included a 3% increase in those claiming employment support allowance, a benefit given to those with serious health problems. However, over a five-month period, those who did not eventually start mandatory work were more likely to return to out-of-work benefits when compared with those who had never been referred in the first place.
In the study, which compared the outcomes between more than 3,000 MWA referrals with 125,00 non-referred jobseekers, they also concluded that the scheme had zero effect in helping people get a job. Overall, out of those being referred, there was no long term deterrent effect on benefit claims. DWP researchers said this total of people returning to benefits included a 3% increase in those claiming employment support allowance, a benefit given to those people suffering with serious health problems.
"The results show that … a MWA referral had no impact on the likelihood of being employed compared to non-referrals," the 62-page report said. The study, which compared the outcomes of more than 3,000 MWA referrals and 125,00 non-referred jobseekers, also concluded that the scheme had zero effect in helping people get a job. "The results show that … an MWA referral had no impact on the likelihood of being employed compared to non-referrals," the 62-page report said.
Analysing the different groups of unemployed people over a five-month period, the study found: "Overall, the benefit impact over the first 21 weeks equates to referrals being off benefits for an average of about four days more than if they had not been referred." This rose to eight days after sanctions. Researchers found that, between May and November last year, more than 1,600 people had their benefits cut for up to six months for refusing to start a placement or leaving it before it finished. One in five of those who failed to start MWA were sanctioned. The researchers said it was "possible that the impacts will change later on as the programme develops".
But it added that, those being sent on mandatory unpaid work "returned to benefit on average more than the comparison group".
Researchers also found that between May and November 2011 more than 1,600 had their benefits cut for up to six months for either refusing to start a placement or leaving it before it finished. One in five of those who didn't start MWA were sanctioned.
Researchers added that it was "possible that the impacts will change later on as the programme develops".
In a ministerial statement on Tuesday, Grayling said: "We've found that a month's full-time activity can be a real deterrent for some people who are either not trying or who are gaming the system. But we're also fighting a battle to stop claimants slipping back into the benefits system by the back door."In a ministerial statement on Tuesday, Grayling said: "We've found that a month's full-time activity can be a real deterrent for some people who are either not trying or who are gaming the system. But we're also fighting a battle to stop claimants slipping back into the benefits system by the back door."
In a statement to the Guardian on Wednesday, Grayling defended the scheme , saying the research was already out of date. Grayling defended the scheme on Wednesday. He told the Guardian: "This was a scheme our own Jobcentre Plus advisers wanted to introduce. This impact analysis only covers the first three months of the programme a year ago and is already out of date.
"This was a scheme our own Jobcentre Plus advisers wanted to introduce. This impact analysis only covers the first three months of the programme a year ago and is already out of date. "What it shows is we had teething problems in the first three months and, since then, we've taken a number of steps to tighten loopholes and are continuing to do so. It's a relatively new and experimental scheme which is improving all the time."
"What it shows is we had teething problems in the first three months and since then we've taken a number of steps to tighten loopholes and are continuing to do so. It's a relatively new and experimental scheme which is improving all the time." The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), which was asked by the DWP to peer review the research, said Grayling's decision to expand the scheme flew in the face of the evidence that showed it was not working.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), which was asked by the DWP to peer review the research, said Grayling's decision to expand the scheme on Tuesday flew in the face of the evidence that the programme wasn't working. Writing on his blog, the NIESR director, Jonathan Portes, said: "This is a complete policy disaster. It is very difficult not to conclude that, whatever your position on the morality of mandatory work programmes like these, the costs of the programme, direct and indirect, are likely to far exceed the benefits
Writing on his blog, the NIESR director, Jonathan Portes, said: "This is a complete policy disaster." "The analysis shows that the programme as currently structured is not working. It has no impact on employment; it leads to a small and transitory reduction in benefit receipt and, worst of all, it may even lead to those on the programme moving from jobseeker's allowance to employment and support allowance."
"The analysis shows is that the programme as currently structured is not working. It has no impact on employment; it leads to a small and transitory reduction in benefit receipt; and worst of all, it may even lead to those on the programme moving from jobseeker's allowance to employment and support allowance". He went on: "It is highly commendable that the department has undertaken and published this analysis. It would be even better if that hadn't been accompanied by a policy decision which seems to fly directly in the fact of the evidence. At at time of austerity, it is very difficult to see the justification for spending millions of pounds on a programme which isn't working."
He went on to write: "It is highly commendable that the department has undertaken and published this analysis. It would be even better if that hadn't been accompanied by a policy decision which seems to fly directly in the fact of the evidence. At at time of austerity, it is very difficult to see the justification for spending millions of pounds on a programme which isn't working."