The government has promised to publish a “detailed transition plan” for transferring up to 1,000 subcontracted careers advisers and staff into the Department for Work and Pensions by April next year.
Ministers have responded today to a report from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) select committee that called out an “absence of information” about the planned merger of the National Careers Service (NCS) and Jobcentres.
They have promised to work with NCS employers, contractors and unions on a “detailed transition plan” which will be published “within the next six months”.
But ministers have rejected the committee’s call for a cross-government national strategy for adult careers guidance, arguing this would “risk” its work on transforming Jobcentres into an “integrated Jobs and Careers Service”.
The department also said that while careers advice will be available for anyone “who wants to look for work, increase their earnings, or change their career”, those who are not on benefits will be “served digitally, through a self-service option”.
The DWP is currently designing the new Jobs and Careers Service after announcing a merger of Jobcentres and the £55 million per year NCS last July.
Last month, the department told contractors it will be “in-sourcing” around careers advisers working for NCS contractors, estimated to number about 1,000, by October next year.
But MPs on the work and pensions committee have criticised an “absence of information” about the merger, with the first test site for the new service launching in June this year, almost a year after the first announcement.
Shortly after McFadden was appointed work and pensions secretary, the work and pensions committee published its report warning the merger risked being “little more than a rebranding exercise”.
Performance measures
In today’s response, the government accepted the committee’s recommendations to review the “incentives model” of the outsourced careers service, promising “robust performance measures” that will “align with the government’s wider employment goals”.
However, it rejected the suggestion of a national strategy for adult careers guidance which balances universal support with a focus on those who “need the most support”.
Pointing out that careers, adult skills and employment support are now “in one place” at the DWP, the response argued careers now needs to be “considered as part of this larger whole”.
It added: “Writing a separate careers guidance strategy therefore could risk our integrated Jobs and Careers Service vision.”
In response to a call for clarity around who will be eligible for careers advice, the department said: “We recognise that people are individuals with different support needs, and we want everyone who wants it to be able to access tailored support.
“For the majority of those not claiming benefits and who are seeking employment support or careers advice, this will best be served digitally, through a self-service option.
However, we recognise this will not be appropriate for everyone and other channels of support will be available.”
‘Crack on’
Addressing concerns about the relationship between careers advisers and Jobcentre work coaches, the department said it is designing the new service “to retain the strength of both roles”.
The new service will also “retain” the level 4 minimum qualification of careers advisers and officials will “explore” developing a dedicated training pathway within jobcentres.
The response added: “As the design of the service progresses, we will provide further detail on how this training pathway will be implemented and how careers advisers will be supported and developed within the new service.”
Committee chair Debbie Abrahams welcomed the government’s promise to reform performance measures for careers advice, but urged the government to “crack on” with detailed plans for in-sourcing careers staff.
She added: “Giving the DWP sole responsibility over the adult skills brief, instead of sharing with the Department for Education, should help to reduce the incoherent patchwork of services that are available.
“And bringing the careers service in house, rather than outsourcing, will in time provide clearer lines of accountability, and greater efficiency.”
Your thoughts