Funding for careers advisors will be reformed, the Government has
confirmed, following criticism of the current model in a report
by a cross-party Committee of MPs.
The Work and Pensions Committee's Creating a new jobs and
careers service report said that a combination of poor
funding and badly designed targets had led to the service
spending too little time with people and focusing too much on low
impact interventions.
In its response to the report, the Government said that bringing
“careers advice in England in house will end the current
incentivised model and enable the development of a more
integrated service”. Careers advice in the UK is devolved, so
these changes will not automatically apply in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland.
The Government also agreed with the Committee on the importance
of recognising the distinct roles of work coaches and careers
advisors. It added that it was looking into a “dedicated training
pathway” for advisors in addition to the planned Coaching Academy
for work coaches. MPs on the Committee made their
recommendation following fears that the planned Jobcentre-careers
service merger would eliminate the distinction between Work
Coaches and Careers Advisors, which they thought would reduce the
effectiveness of the service.
The DWP also committed to providing certainty to staff at the
National Careers Service by publishing a transition plan in the
next 6 months. Since publication of the report, the Government
has moved to bring the contracts for careers advisors in-house,
sparking concerns among advisors over what will happen when their
contracts run out on 30 September 2026.
Committee Chair, said, “We welcome
the Government's recognition that the careers service funding
model was broken and that it must be reformed. Budgeting, as it
does now, for just one meeting between jobseekers and advisors a
year is like trying to fill an ocean with a teaspoon. The job is
about finding out enough about people, their ambitions and
interests, their skills, the barriers they face, what drives
them, their needs, in order for them to be effective. A new, less
exclusive, model would help meet the goals of Government and get
people into work that suits them; benefitting jobseekers,
employers and ultimately, the economy.
“The recent brief shake-up will help. Giving the DWP sole
responsibility over the adult skills brief, instead of sharing
with the Department for Education, should help to reduce the
incoherent patchwork of services that are available. And bringing
the careers service in house, rather than outsourcing, will in
time provide clearer lines of accountability, and greater
efficiency.
“But we have to recognise that pressing on with little detail on
what will happen after current contracts end in September 2026
has caused significant worry among careers advisors. Certainty on
this could be the solid foundation that ensures the new system
gets off to the best start. So, the Government really needs to
crack on with fleshing out the detail of the service from 2027 to
boost the confidence of advisors and in the new system.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
