Publications

This report presents the first findings of a representative face-to-face survey of 3,650 Employment and Support Allowance claimants. It was carried out between December 2009 and February 2010 by Ipsos MORI. The sample consisted of those who made a claim for ESA between April and June 2009, allowing a sufficient gap for the majority to have had a decision on the outcome of their claim by the time of the survey.

The London Borough of Newham commissioned an analysis of worklessness within the borough with a particular focus on understanding those who had been out of the labour market for long periods of time, and those who had never worked. The research involved a literature review, analysis of secondary datasets to provide an overview of the scale and characteristics of worklessness locally, and qualitative interviews with a range of people, including stakeholders providing services to workless groups and workless individuals in the borough.

This report provides findings from the interim stage of the evaluation of the ‘Work-Focused Services in Children’s Centres’ pilot. The pilot operated in ten local authority areas (30 Sure Start Children’s Centres in total) in England, providing work-focused services through a dedicated Jobcentre Plus Personal Adviser, as well as activities designed to meet local needs. It ran from January 2009 to March 2011.

From October 2008 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers. This report represents the first stage of the evaluation of ESA and presents the findings from an early implementation study. It is based on fieldwork carried out in May and July 2009 in four Jobcentre Plus districts across Great Britain.

This research draws out common experiences and broad lessons from three pilot interventions which focused on very hard-to-help individuals, exposed to serious social exclusion. The three pilots were the Next Steps Test Bed Regional Pilots, the ACE Pilots, and Exit to Work. The study explored the Department for Work and Pension’s departmental responsibilities, and the Pilots’ approaches to improving employment prospects.

This paper examines the impact of recession on the labour market through three lenses: Firstly, it presents a summary of the key evidence to date on redundancies and employment decline in the UK, with international comparisons, identifying which labour market groups and geographical areas have been most affected. Secondly, it reviews and assesses the government policy response, focused on initiatives to support employment. Thirdly, it reviews employer responses to recession (action which affects current employees, and their plans for the future), and questions the level of employer engagement with government policy.

This report presents the findings from qualitative research to evaluate Access to Work (AtW) a programme designed for people with long-term health conditions who need extra practical support to take up work or to do their job.

This report presents the findings from qualitative research to evaluate Access to Work (AtW) a programme designed for people with long-term health conditions who need extra practical support to take up work or to do their job. The report explores the inclusion of AtW within Individual Budget (IB) pilot areas.

This report presents the findings from qualitative research to evaluate Access to Work (AtW) a programme designed for people with long-term health conditions who need extra practical support to take up work or to do their job. The report explores the effects of the decision that Ministerial Government Departments (MGD) should pay for their AtW adjustments.

This report presents the baseline findings for the evaluation of the work-focused services in Children’s Centres pilot. The main research reported here is taken from a baseline survey of Children’s Centre users, which took place in January 2009, and from familiarisation visits to the Children’s Centres which took place in December 2008 and January 2009.