ippr publish research showing strain on personal advisers

• ippr research shows advisers overrun by demands on the system
• Advisers doing almost twice as many interviews compared with pre-recession
• Report shows a need for more training for advisers
• Government needs to fulfil promise to recruit more advisers

On the day the Office of National Statistics publishes its new jobless figures showing unemployment has climbed by 232,000 to 2.26 million, a new report from the UK’s leading independent think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) reveals that frontline services provided by Jobcentre Plus, much trumpeted by Government as new tailored services to get people back to work quickly, are badly stretched.

ippr found that Jobcentre Plus Personal Advisers providing one-to-one support for jobseekers are doing almost twice as many interviews with benefit claimants since the beginning of the recession and almost half of advisers surveyed do not feel they have enough time to help people.

ippr projections show that the number of one-to-one interviews carried out by advisers is likely to have peaked at 700,000 this month*, but that the total numbers of interviews could continue to rise by a further 15 per cent on this year going into 2010.

Despite £3bn of Government investment in the Jobcentre Plus network and in the Flexible New Deal which provides support to those out of work for a year, latest available figures show only an extra 600 Personal Advisers have been recruited since the beginning of the recession. This falls far short of ippr’s estimate of at least 3,000 additional Personal Advisers needed to cope with the current influx of new jobseekers.

These findings come as Personal Advisers’ skills are tested by the toughest job market in almost 15 years with more candidates and fewer jobs available. The range of candidates has also broadened, with many more white collar workers needing support. ippr research found that despite some positive experiences, some jobseekers felt the support provided was not relevant to their situation.

ippr recommendations to improve the overall effectiveness of support to help the jobless back into work include:

• Better training for advisers in interview techniques to encourage more productive one-to-one interviews with benefit claimants
• Clearer career progression routes for advisers themselves to improve staff motivation, performance and retention
• Introduction of a core qualification for employment advisers to raise standards across the welfare to work sector

Lisa Harker Co-Director, ippr said:

“Job Centres are under great strain at the moment with nearly half of advisers saying they can’t support jobseekers sufficiently. More Personal Advisers need to be urgently recruited to ensure that all steps are being made to help the unemployed back to work.

“Tackling high unemployment will be one of the toughest problems for any political party in the years ahead – all parties must commit to providing more effective support for the unemployed.”

* - This indicates Jobseeker’s Allowance interviews only.

1. The report argues that current policy is failing too often in its intention to provide personalised back-to-work support and that significant ‘up-skilling’ of the adviser workforce is needed for more effective services. Further recommendations include the need to:
   • Respond to evidence showing the negative impact of unemployment within the first six months of job loss by ensuring advisers can provide advice on where to go for counselling support.
   • Provide better opportunities for advisers to discuss complex cases with managers or peers as part of a more structured approach to case management.
   • Form a more coherent national policy of reaching out to disadvantaged groups through localised networks of outreach workers.
2. New quantitative analysis is presented to show changes to the ratio of Jobcentre Plus personal advisers to the number of interviews they have conducted since the recession began (see report p. 70 for more details)
   • In early 2008 before the full impact of the recession, there was a ratio of almost 40 interviews a month per Jobcentre Plus adviser for Job Seekers Allowance claimants.
   • In February this year this rose to 65 as the number of benefit claimants surged.
   • June 2009 is expected to see a peak of just over 70 interviews a month per adviser as the cumulative effect of growing long-term unemployment is felt.
   • This is expected to ease in early 2010 to 50, but based on a variant projection showing a higher path for unemployment, it could still be as high as just over 60 interviews a month per adviser. This is because based on the projections initial influx since the recession began will have stabilised.
   • ippr’s research also shows that if the UK’s projected unemployment levels rise higher than current estimates, the amount of additional Personal Advisers needed could climb to as many as 5,600.
   • The latest available figures which show 600 Personal Advisers have been recruited since the start of the recession are from February 2009.
3. An online survey was carried out with over 100 frontline advisers in employment services to inform the research. Key findings included:
   • Almost half of advisers surveyed (47 per cent) said they did not have as much time as they would like to support their clients.
   • Half (49 per cent) of advisers surveyed did not feel there were many opportunities for them to progress into a role with more responsibility.
   • More than half (54 per cent) did not feel there were many opportunities for them to progress into a better paying job.