About 800 careers advice staff have moved to work in-house at the Department for Work and Pensions following 14 years of outsourcing. From 1 October, about 500 qualified careers advisors and a further 300 back-office staff transferred into the DWP following the government’s decision not to renew National Careers Service (NCS) contracts from 30 September. According to the DWP, adults seeking careers advice will now access support through jobcentres rather than NCS providers, creating a more “joined up” service. Since the contracts were launched in 2012, more than 50 organisations with NCS contracts delivered careers advice to about 300,000 customers per year at an annual cost of up to £55 million per year. A DWP spokesperson told FE Week that it plans to continue serving about 300,000 customers per year to help “everyone” seeking careers advice, either on the telephone or face-to-face in jobcentres. Last year, an estimated 1,000 staff worked for NCS contractors. The DWP said it offered roles to about 800 through the service transfer process. DWP minister for employment Andrew Western, said: “Everyone deserves the chance to find secure, meaningful work and build a career – and we are delivering a modern employment service to make that a reality. “Bringing careers advice under the same roof as the jobcentre will join up fragmented services and enable thousands of people to access joined-up careers advice and employment support. “This builds on the wider employment support we are already providing young people as well as disabled people and those with long-term health conditions to ensure everyone has the chance to get on life.” Last-minute transfer concerns MPs have repeatedly raised concerns about an “information void” around the how many of the estimated 1,000 NCS staff would move into the DWP. In correspondence published by the work and pensions committee in September, chair Debbie Abrahams said she was concerned that the department “only” started its formal staff transfer consultation period in August – leaving “many staff” in a state of uncertainty about what roles they would move to last week. She also cited “deep uncertainty” at the future of community-based organisations about to lose a key source of income. The DWP said moving NCS staff in-house is part of its development of a new “jobs and careers service”, although jobcentres will continue to be known as Jobcentre Plus. Last month, the government announced a new “insourcing unit” that will identify outsourced services that could be delivered more effectively under direct public control, such as security and cleaning. The Cabinet Office also issued guidance on insourcing and the public interest test in June, which asks decision makers to “holistically assess long-term value for money, service quality, and broader economic and social goals” when making sourcing decisions.