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This event is supported by Remploy

Missing the Target

Missing the Target: How we can ensure that the flexible new deal reaches those with most barriers to employment?

Date: Monday 29th September, 08.00 - 09.00

Location: Exec Rm 7, ICC

Speakers: James Clappison MP, Caroline Ellis, RADAR Ian Mulheirn, SMF Beth Carruthers, Remploy

Chair: tbc

Following on from the March 2007 Freud Report, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published In work, better off, which looked at ways to expand private and voluntary sector provision of employment services. The aim of the policy is to use outcome payments to reward independent organisations for success in getting long-term workless people back into sustained employment.

Having opted for a multiple-provider, top-down model with competition between providers, there remain a number of important issues that DWP will need to resolve in order to make the system function efficiently. These were explored in the recent SMF publication The Flexible New Deal: Making it Work.

The seminar will discuss the themes outlined in the research, including:

• How should the contractual relationship between the top-tier providers and Job Centre Plus be specified to reduce incentives for cream-skimming?
• What are the criteria for a healthy and effective second tier provider market and how should the top- and second-tier contracts be structured to ensure such a market develops?
• How can service providers be made to help all their clients rather than just those easiest to find employment? How can we capitalise on third sector know-how to provide the best help for more vulnerable clients?