DWP Autumn Performance Report 2004: Progress against Public Service Agreement targets
Foreword by the Secretary of State
The delivery of our Public Service Agreement targets is crucial to achieving our ambition of a fair and inclusive society with opportunity and independence for all. This report sets out the progress that has been made over the past six months – in continuing our fight against poverty; in breaking down the barriers that prevent people from getting into and staying in work; and in modernising welfare delivery.
Tackling poverty is a central aim of this Government. With over half a million children lifted out of relative low income since 1997, it is also a major achievement.
In July the “Child Poverty Review” and “2004 Spending Review” set out the next steps, including the creation of a new PSA target, shared by DWP and HM Treasury. This is to halve the number of children in relative low-income households between 1998–99 and 2010–11, on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020. As part of this new PSA, we set a target to halve by 2010–11 the number of children suffering a combination of material deprivation and relative low income.
Early education and childcare will be crucial. In this month’s Pre-Budget Report, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that 1 million extra childcare places will be made available by 2010 and the number of Sure Start Centres will increase from 600 to 3,050 over the same period.
We are tackling pensioner poverty too – thanks to the success of Pension Credit, which is now reaching over 3.1 million pensioners. These pensioners are getting an average weekly award of more than £41, while the full package of our pension reforms means that on average the poorest pensioners are £1,750 a year better off in real terms than under the 1997 system.
With work as the best route out of poverty, our continued transformation of the labour market is key to our success.
We have the highest employment rate of the major industrialised nations, with unemployment at its lowest level for 30 years. There are 2 million more jobs than in 1997, with 1 million people helped into work through our New Deal programmes. And as this report illustrates, we have seen an increased employment rate for lone parents, ethnic minorities, people aged 50 and over and the low skilled.
Our Pathways to Work pilots have achieved outstanding early results with twice as many sick and disabled people getting back to work after four months of their benefit claim in pilot areas compared with non-pilot areas. The Pre-Budget Report announced our intention to build on this success by extending the scheme to a third of the country, covering the most disadvantaged areas and local authority areas with the greatest concentration of Incapacity Benefit claimants, starting from October 2005.
We have also seen a continued increase in the employment rate for disabled people. This is now over 50 per cent, so with the majority of disabled people in work, we are really challenging old stereotypes. Furthermore, with last month’s introduction of the Disability Discrimination Bill and October’s extension of the Disability Discrimination Act, we are radically transforming the rights and opportunities of disabled people.
All this means that we are taking major strides in helping those who can work to do so. But the Government is also committed to provide help and security for those who can't work.
In providing this security, we continue with the modernisation of welfare delivery. 72 per cent of benefit customers now receive their benefit payments directly into their bank and building society accounts and we remain on course to make this a reality for 85 per cent by 2005.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of our staff. With their expertise and commitment, I know that we will be able to build on our achievements so far and embrace the challenges of meeting these PSA targets in the months to come.
The Right Honourable Alan Johnson MP
December 2004