Jobcentre Plus

Patrick Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, asked the Minister for Work and Pensions, Andrew Western, what recent assessment his department has made of the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus in helping people get back into work. In his response, the Minister acknowledged that the current system is focused on the problems of yesterday, with economic inactivity increasing and the employment rate falling in the last Parliament. He stated that the government is planning fundamental reforms to the system, which will be outlined in their forthcoming White Paper, "Get Britain Working", to focus on the problems of today and get more people into work. Hurley followed up by asking how the proposed merger between Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service will help to tackle economic inactivity and change the way that jobcentres work with their customers. The Minister responded that the merger will address the issue of jobcentres functioning more as places for administering benefits than as centres supporting people into work. He said the merger will enable more personalised and localised support, ensuring that no one is left behind. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, then intervened, highlighting the challenge that jobcentres in Cumbria face in getting people back into work due to a small workforce and high housing costs. He asked the Minister to work with housing colleagues to provide more social housing grants and allow more flexible visa arrangements. The Minister acknowledged the specific challenges in Farron's rural constituency and stated that the government intends to work more flexibly to support the needs of communities in a varied and bespoke way, but declined to make housing or Home Office policy from the dispatch box. Mims Davies, the Conservative MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, then intervened, defending the work of jobcentres and criticising the new Minister's previous comments describing them as places "nobody wants to go" and not offering real help. The Minister responded that the criticism was not levied at the outstanding work coaches, but at the policies of the previous government, which have left the country with the highest rate of economic inactivity in years and a lower employment rate than before the pandemic.