FE News caught up with Fisher at this year’s Welfare to Work conference to discuss the government’s strategy for social justice.

Fisher says he pays particular attention to multiple disadvantages and how the government strategy may help in the form of funding streams and local partnerships.

The social justice director said the five themes of his strategy are prevention, partnership, multi-agency working, innovation and locality.

“We need to work with welfare to work providers on new ways of funding and new funding streams that deliver multiple outcomes,” he said.

He highlighted a recent example of new funding streams whereby Work Programme providers are rewarded for increasing the employment of offenders, thus reducing re-offending. Fisher believes this could be expanded to work with drug misusers in the future.

“We’re also doing work with the National Treatment Agency to see if we can replicate that for drug misusers, because actually getting a job is one of the best ways of reducing dependence on drugs,” he said.

Kyle Northern