13 December 2007 – Moving benefit claimants from passive dependents to active job seekers - Hain
A radical shift from passive to active benefits in the welfare system, to achieve full employment and help eradicate child poverty, was announced today by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain.
In a major shake-up of the welfare state, Mr Hain confirmed that a raft of 50 changes to the current system of benefits and job-seeking support will be implemented over the next four years - with the bulk of the measures taking effect from next year and 2009.
The core of the reforms will see hundreds of thousands of people on benefit moving from being passive recipients of cash handouts to job seekers actively seeking and preparing for work, at the heart of a ‘something for something’ welfare system.
The key points announced by Mr Hain in Ready for work: full employment in our generation are:
- The presumption will be that lone parents on income support who are able to work will be required to actively seek work once their youngest child is 12 or over from October 2008, 10 or over from October 2009 and 7 or over from October 2010.
- From October 2009, major reforms of the New Deal will see jobseekers who struggle to find work after 12 months of trying referred to specialist intensive help from private, public and voluntary sector providers. These providers will get longer and larger contracts and will be paid on the basis of results.
- A commitment to look further at the idea of a single system of benefits for all people below pension age to provide greater simplicity and incentives to work.
Mr Hain also announced measures to ease and encourage the transition from welfare to work and a new emphasis on skills support.
These include: The national roll-out of the ‘In Work Credit’ from April 2008, which offers £40 a week (£60 in London) extra support for lone parents; piloting a new ‘better off in work credit’ next year which tops up the earnings of those who have been on long-term benefits so that their weekly in-work income will be at least £25 a week more than on benefits; reforms of the ‘16-hour rule’ so that short-term Incapacity Benefit claimants can study for more than 16 hours without losing Housing Benefit; more childcare provision through the Department for Children Schools and Families extended school programme; and a skills health check for all new benefit claimants.
Mr Hain said:
“We have made huge progress over the last decade – over 2.8 million more people in work, one million fewer on key out-of-work benefits and 600,000 children lifted out of poverty.
“But a new vision is needed to achieve our goal of full employment in our generation. Today I am setting out how we will make this vision a reality by putting in place a radical shift, treating benefit claimants as active job seekers rather than passive dependents.
“These plans will see an increase in the number of lone parents in work of up to 100,000 – and will lift around 70,000 children out of poverty.
“And because we believe in something for something, we will in return extend, modernise and personalise the support we offer to people who often face multiple challenges to finding and keeping a job. We will ensure they have the right level of support to get a job, and the skills they need to stay in work, and get on.
”We will also drive forward a sharp reduction in Incapacity Benefit levels. Already 137,000 people have come off Incapacity Benefit, with the goal of getting a million people off IB by 2015, as they move on to the new Employment and Support Allowance with a focus on what people can do, not what they can’t.”
Mr Hain’s announcement was made as new research released today shows public support for a more active welfare system.
An in-depth study by Ipsos MORI showed that:
- 84% of participants agreed that the Department for Work and Pensions should provide more personalised services for those seeking work.
- 80% agreed that suitable work is good for people’s mental and physical health, even for those with a long-term illness or disability.
- An increasing number of people believe that individuals should take responsibility for themselves wherever possible.
Notes to Editors
- Ready for work: full employment in our generation can be downloaded from http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/readyforwork/
- The Ipsos MORI research The challenges facing DWP in the future: Deliberative research with the public can be downloaded from http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep476.pdf
- Ready for work: full employment in our generation follows public consultation on the proposals the DWP made in July 2007 in the green paper In Work, better off: next steps to full employment. This consultation period ended on 31 October 2007, and a summary of the responses are published today.
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