WIDER POLICIES
UK Work Policy

Key policies: 

• Pathways to Work 
• The New Deal (and Building On The New Deal).
• Progress to Work/Link Up.

A 2003 ODPM.^[1] policy briefing on homelessness and employment stated that local authority homelessness strategies are the main and most effective way in which employment opportunities can be improved for homeless people.  However, it provides little guidance on what the strategies should say on the subject. 

There is a similar lack of substantive guidance on employment in the ODPM Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities - help is limited to a list of organisations and government schemes that may be of use.  This is in contrast with housing issues, where substantial guidance is provided.

Pathways to Work

The Pathways to Work programme provides support tp help those claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB) back into work.  This policy is relevant to homeless people as research estimates that up to 70% of homeless people claim IB.  The government evaluation of the pilot revealed that it had helped move 25,000 claimants into work.  It was announced that the programme will be rolled out nationwide, alongside the launch of the Welfare Reform Bill in July 2006, which outlined the Governments commitment to reduce the number of claimants on IB by 1 million.  The national roll out of will begin in October 2006, with the final phase of roll out in April 2008, when the programme will be available to all new claimants of IB. 

The New Deal (and Building On The New Deal)

The New Deal programme offers counselling and guidance to job seekers, provision of education and training, and provision of work experience.

In April 2004, the New Deal was adapted to make it more suitable for homeless people.  In particular, homeless people on the programme will now be identified and counted, directed to suitable provision (including meaningful occupation where appropriate) and monitored as they progress through to long term work.

However, eligibility is restricted to those who have been claiming JobSeekers' Allowance for at least 6 months consecutively (if aged 25 or under) or at least 18 months consecutively (if aged over 25).  This may make it unsuitable for many homeless people whose itinerant and chaotic lifestyles often mean that there have been gaps in the claiming of benefits.

In June 2004, DWP published Building on the New Deal: local solutions meeting individual needs.  This document set out how the New Deal might evolve to give individuals more tailored help back to work.  It stated that the Government would be developing a national strategy for the most disadvantaged to try to ensure that future arrangements do not result in the ‘hardest to reach' slipping through the net.  To be successful, this strategy will need to grapple with those aspects of lack of work which are of particular importance for homeless people.  Examples include:

• The ‘soft issues' which often create a barrier to homeless people finding work.  For example, three-fifths of those accessing the services of the Off The Streets and Into Work (OSW) organisation feel that they do not have appropriate clothes to go to a job interview.^[2]
• Discrimination of  potential employers on the basis of someone lacking a permanent address or having a hostel address.^[3]
• The particular problems of older homeless people trying to find work.^[4]
• Recognition of the value of meaningful activity as a stepping stone towards paid work.
• Problems with some of the administrative rules governing Housing Benefit (see Housing Benefit Policy section).

A further issue relates to coverage.  It is well known that homeless people live in a variety of circumstances, including temporary bed-and-breakfast accommodation and sleeping on the floors of friends and family as well as hostels.  The danger is that the strategy may limit itself to only some of these groups, for example, where the individuals are easiest to identify.

In November 2005 it was announced that seven JobCentre Plus districts would pilot the Building on the New Deal programme from October 2006.  However, the timing of the implementation of the building on the new deal pilots is being reconsidered and there is little confidence that the pilots as originally described will materialise.   

Progress to Work/Progress to Work Link Up

‘Progress to Work' (P2W) is a tailor-made employment support programme linked into Jobcentre Plus programmes, which is designed specifically to help drug mis-users back into work.  P2W Link Up is the same programme, but expanded to cover others with support needs, including homeless people, ex-offenders, and alcohol mis-users.  The schemes are typically operated by specialist service providers (such as Turning Point) on behalf of Jobcentre Plus.

The P2W initiative has a number of characteristics which are particularly relevant to homeless people, including a high level of support, an emphasis on an individual's experience and aspirations, a degree of flexibility and provision of aftercare once in work.

It is clear, however, that the current Government commitment is limited in terms of both its scale (it operates in 24 of the 90 Job Centre Plus Districts in the UK, aiming to help 1,750 people into work over two years) and its duration (currently only funded for the next two to three years).  Homelessness agencies suggest that it takes an average of two years from the first meeting with the support programme, for homeless people to enter employment.  As such, a concern is whether the model will be able to establish itself fully over the three year period and thus demonstrate its value before the committed funding runs out.

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[1] ODPM - the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - has now been renamed as the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Back to text

[2] As reported in No home, no job: moving on from transitional spaces, Off The Streets and Into Work (OSW), 2005, (Singh). Back to text

[3] No home, no job: moving on from transitional spaces, Off The Streets and Into Work (OSW), 2005, (Singh). Back to text

[4] Single homeless people in London: profiles of service users and perceptions of needs, Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing, 2001, (Crane and Warnes).  This survey questions staff about services provided to single homeless people.  One question asks whether there are particular difficulties "with obtaining employment and skills training for a client group aged 40 years or more".   A third responded ‘don't know'.  Of all questions asked, this was by far the question which received the highest frequency of ‘don't knows' in response.  The authors suggest that this is perhaps because the need for such a service is not given adequate consideration.Back to text 

Page last modified on 06/07/2007 at 08:22