The Tories' back-to-work benefits crackdown has been dealt a stark warning by their own watchdog.
The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) said the government had rushed through tighter rules for unemployed people without proper evidence.
Early this year the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) changed the rules so unemployed people would have to look for jobs outside their preferred sector after just four weeks on benefits – before many people receive their first payment – instead of the previous 13 weeks.
Now the SSAC, which advises the DWP and monitors its decisions, has warned the rule change was rushed through without enough evidence, and without considering the risks to unemployed people.
In a letter to welfare secretary Therese Coffey, SSAC chair Stephen Brien said: “No assessment had been made of the risk of individuals entering roles that were inconsistent with their qualifications/experience, or simply wrong for them in terms of their career path and ambitions.”
He said there was a risk that forcing higher qualified jobhunters to look for low-skilled jobs would make it harder for lower skilled, long-term unemployed people to find work.
He also warned the DWP hadn’t considered the impact on people “with part-time … job-search expectations”, or how to handle the risk of job mismatches for workers and employers.
The DWP tightened the rules because of the high levels of vacancies as the economy emerged from Covid, with opportunities available for those who switch careers paths.
But the letter accused the government of providing “no data or explanation” of the impact of the rule change, with “no estimate” given of how success would be measured.
In fact, the evidence showed that the previous 13-week time limit did not lead to a “noticeable” increase in people moving off benefits – suggesting that forcing unemployed people to broaden their job search “did not have a discernible impact”, according to the SSAC.
The rules were tightened as part of the DWP’s ‘Way to Work’ scheme, which sought to get 500,000 jobseekers into work in the five months to the end of June.
The government recently declared the scheme a success, but the SSAC said that since around 114,000 people moved from benefits into work during February – before the new rules had had a significant impact – then getting 500,000 into work in five months might not be a hard target to reach.
A DWP spokesperson said: “When vacancies hit a record high of 1.3 million following the lifting of restrictions, we swiftly introduced a package of measures, including a change to the permitted period, in order to encourage people to take all reasonable steps to get into work. This was the right thing to do, and we have succeeded in meeting our target of getting half a million jobseekers into roles – bringing unemployment to near record lows.”
“Our dedicated Work Coaches consistently assess the capabilities of jobseekers against the jobs market, helping them recognise transferable skills to get into the roles the economy needs, and easements where appropriate.”
