London — March 8
The report following David Freud’s 10-week review of the way forward in U.K. welfare-to-work policy will include proposals for several much-needed measures designed to tackle core welfare dependency.
Employer buy in, however, will be crucial, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The CIPD long has supported greater involvement by the private and nonprofit sectors in helping to improve the employability of welfare claimants.
The CIPD also supports a “something for something” approach to welfare, making receipt of benefits conditional on recipients demonstrating they are making every effort to find jobs.
There also is a strong case for extending conditionality to single parents once their youngest child begins secondary secondary school, which would bring the United Kingdom more in line with practice in other developed countries.
But according to Dr. John Philpott, CIPD chief economist, gaining sufficient buy in from employers will be critical if the Freud plan is to work to full effect.
“David Freud is right — we need more personalized, one-to-one help for the core jobless while at the same time putting more pressure on them to make use of that help,” Philpott said. “However, in a job market where, as CIPD surveys find, a large proportion of employers are wary of recruiting from the ranks of long-term benefit claimants, more will also need to be done to bring employers onboard.
“The ability of private and voluntary sector bodies to do so will ultimately determine the success of this next stage in the government’s welfare-to-work policy.”
