Welfare reform bill announced ... 12 month job outcomes for Work Programme

A Welfare Reform Bill was announced in the Queen's Speech. It will create a single welfare-to-work programme and make benefit payments more conditional on willingness to accept work. The Government has also said said that the Work Programme will operate on the basis of payment based on 12 month sustained job outcomes.

The Government has published supporting information saying that the purpose of the Welfare Reform Bill is to "simplify the benefits system in order to improve work incentives." They say that the main benefits of the Bill would be:

• Making the benefits system less complex.
• Improving work incentives.
• Getting the five million plus people languishing on benefits into work and out of poverty.
• Reducing the scope for fraud and error.

The Government says the "main elements of the Bill" are:

• Removing the confusing complexity of the benefits system, which too often leaves people afraid to make any change to their circumstances and can be a barrier to moving from benefits to work.
• Making people see a gain when entering work through simplifying the benefits system.
• Reducing the scope for fraud and error by making the benefits system simpler.
• Reducing unnecessary administration of benefits. Currently people can have overlapping entitlements or switch between different benefits – around 200,000 people a year cycle between Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and Incapacity Benefit (IB/ Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).