The Local Government Association (LGA) has published details of a survey showing that up to three quarters of English local authorities will have to either significantly scale back crisis support for vulnerable people or scrap their provision entirely, if Government goes ahead with its plans to remove funding for Local Welfare Schemes.

British employers who hire EU migrants over UK born job seekers do so for their experience and commitment rather than lower pay, reports the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, Iain Duncan Smith has announced plans to test the use of pre-paid benefit smart cards to prevent claimants "destructive habits."

A future Conservative government will freeze benefits for two years to save £3bn from the welfare bill, George Osborne has announced at the Conservative Party Conference. 

More than 90,000 more young women than men are out of education, employment and training. According to the latest figures, 418,000 women aged 18-24 compared with 325,000 men are considered NEET.

Official figures show that one in four disabled people have been made to wait an “unacceptable” length of time for the outcome of ESA claims to be decided. The Mirror reports that just 25% of ESA claims are being processed within the 13 week target, with some waiting for as long as over a year.

New research carried out for London Voluntary Service Council shows that nine in every ten jobs advertised in London on Universal Jobmatch were placed there by job warehouses, CVlistings sites, and recruitment agencies.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) is looking for a general FE college to step in after a major private provider pulled out early from London’s £17m prison education contract, reports FE Week.

In the latest example of a college taking on prov

Iain Duncan Smith has insisted that HM Treasury is due to sign off the full business case for Universal Credit ‘very shortly’ despite it being five months since it was submitted.

Following a successful career as Director of Operations for Kennedy Scott Ltd, Anne Angell has recently been appointed as Head of Operations for Holt’s Academy based in central London.

The government has published employment and other 19+ learner outcomes for Further Education and skills providers, for the first time.

The data from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), for learners at all Skills Funding Agency-funded providers that completed in 2010/11, comes as part of a consultation on proposed new success measures from 2016/17.

The move to collect and monitor this data reflects a shift in how HE success is viewed, offering a way to capture success beyond qualifications.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has published a briefing paper on the new DWP Commissioning Strategy.

Systematic problems in the way the government administers and imposes benefit sanctions, including disproportionate burdens on the most vulnerable, are revealed in a report commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The report found the way in which the DWP communicated with claimants was legalistic, unclear and confusing. The most vulnerable claimants were often left at a loss as to why benefits were stopped and frequently not informed by the DWP about hardship payments to which they were entitled, it said.

The Bank of England has said that while the number of people in employment rose by almost 350,000 between March and April, average weekly earnings have fallen.

Officials said that wages may be falling because more people are working, including growing numbers of elderly people "concerned about the adequacy of retirement provisions".

They also suggested that the government's welfare reforms may mean that more longer-term unemployed people are coming onto the jobs market.

A “fundamental redesign” is needed of the disability benefits system, because flaws in the process are so “grave”, says a report published by the Work and Pensions Select Committee. The report argues that replacing Atos will not address the problems in the system, and urges ministers to take the withdrawal of Atos as an opportunity to fundamentally redesign Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).