MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions Committee have praised the
establishment of the new jobs and career service but called for
the Government to “urgently bring forward more details” on its
plans, warning that uncertainty is putting service delivery at
risk.
In a report published today, the Committee said that the
‘exciting opportunity' for real change in jobs and careers advice
in the Government's plans to merge the National Careers Service
with Jobcentres but were concerned about a ‘troubling' lack of
progress. It added the plans risked ‘becoming little more than a
rebranding exercise' without a ‘more ambitious and energetic
approach to implementation'.
To capitalise on the potential for improving employment and
delivering ‘huge productivity gains', the Department for Work and
Pensions and Department for Education should jointly develop a
strategy for adult careers guidance, MPs on the Committee said,
which should be introduced before the merger comes into force.
Doing so, the report said, would help fix the ‘patchwork' of
services in England where responsibilities have too often fallen
through the cracks between different Government departments and
local government.
The funding model for the service should also be reviewed to
enable additional sessions for people who would most benefit.
Current contracts only provide for one meeting every 12 months
with individuals, and the funding model pays up to £230 for
advising a limited number of people in target groups, for example
single parents or 18-24 year-old NEETs, but only £67 for those
outside priority groups. The Committee said that the Government
should also review this incentive model to ensure it fits its
wider employment goals.
Coupled with the strategy called for by the Committee, the result
of a review of funding and contracts for careers advisors would
help provide certainty and stability in the service the Committee
said was an ‘undervalued and under-utilised resource'.
The National Careers Service offers job advice to anyone over the
age of 18. However, over the course of the inquiry the Committee
heard that around 1,000 careers advisors across the country face
challenges in providing advice.
Work and Pensions Committee Chair said, “The plans
to create a new jobs and career service are both necessary and an
exciting opportunity to truly transform the service and improve
outcomes for service users. But the service that helps to secure
peoples' futures is itself facing uncertainty over its own.”
“The Government has rightly identified the careers service as
something that needs to be reformed and given greater prominence.
We heard how only a third of people are even aware that the
careers service exists, and a merger could help improve its
visibility. But we would make the point that careers advisers
have a specialised skillset which must be protected and
effectively utilised in the new service.”
“The National Careers Service is a critical service and its
funding model should be reviewed. Adult careers services face
issues in accountability, with responsibility falling between the
DWP, the Department for Education, or with local government. This
hodgepodge arrangement and the uncertainty created by the
prospect of reforms has highlighted the urgent need for a jointly
developed strategy ahead of the merger that will provide a
clarity of direction, lines of responsibility and strengthen any
holes in the funding model.”
“These will be important building blocks in creating the
environment in which a new careers service can thrive; getting
more people into quality work.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- You can find out more about the Committee's inquiry into
Reforming Jobcentres here.
- Careers advice is a devolved matter, and as such the
Government's planned merger only applies to England.
- In last week's reshuffle, responsibility for skills moved
from DfE to DWP. The Committee called on the Government to
clarify accountability arrangements for adult careers services,
and for its new jobs and careers service.
- NEET: Not in employment, education or training.
- When published, the report will appear online on this link:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmworpen/1286/report.html
