MPs Praise ‘Exciting Opportunity’ of Career Service Reform While Demanding End to ‘Patchwork’ of Services Between Government Departments

MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions Committee have praised the establishment of the new jobs and career service but called for the Government to “urgently bring forward more details” on its plans, warning that uncertainty is putting service delivery at risk.

In a report published today, the Committee said that the ‘exciting opportunity’ for real change in jobs and careers advice in the Government’s plans to merge the National Careers Service with Jobcentres, but were concerned about a ‘troubling’ lack of progress. It added the plans risked ‘becoming little more than a rebranding exercise’ without a ‘more ambitious and energetic approach to implementation’.

Patchwork’ of services in England where responsibilities have too often fallen through the cracks

To capitalise on the potential for improving employment and delivering ‘huge productivity gains’, the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Education should jointly develop a strategy for adult careers guidance, MPs on the Committee said, which should be introduced before the merger comes into force. Doing so, the report said, would help fix the ‘patchwork’ of services in England where responsibilities have too often fallen through the cracks between different Government departments and local government.

Current contracts only provide for one meeting every 12 months with individuals

The funding model for the service should also be reviewed to enable additional sessions for people who would most benefit. Current contracts only provide for one meeting every 12 months with individuals, and the funding model pays up to £230 for advising a limited number of people in target groups, for example single parents or 18-24 year-old NEETs, but only £67 for those outside priority groups. The Committee said that the Government should also review this incentive model to ensure it fits its wider employment goals.

Coupled with the strategy called for by the Committee, the result of a review of funding and contracts for careers advisors would help provide certainty and stability in the service the Committee said was an ‘undervalued and under-utilised resource’.

The National Careers Service offers job advice to anyone over the age of 18. However, over the course of the inquiry the Committee heard that around 1,000 careers advisors across the country face challenges in providing advice.

Work and Pensions Committee Chair Debbie Abrahams said, 

“The plans to create a new jobs and career service are both necessary and an exciting opportunity to truly transform the service and improve outcomes for service users. But the service that helps to secure peoples’ futures is itself facing uncertainty over its own.”

Only A Third Of People Are Aware That The Careers Service Exists

“The Government has rightly identified the careers service as something that needs to be reformed and given greater prominence. We heard how only a third of people are even aware that the careers service exists, and a merger could help improve its visibility. But we would make the point that careers advisers have a specialised skillset which must be protected and effectively utilised in the new service.”

“The National Careers Service is a critical service and its funding model should be reviewed. Adult careers services face issues in accountability, with responsibility falling between the DWP, the Department for Education, or with local government. This hodgepodge arrangement and the uncertainty created by the prospect of reforms has highlighted the urgent need for a jointly developed strategy ahead of the merger that will provide a clarity of direction, lines of responsibility and strengthen any holes in the funding model.”

“These will be important building blocks in creating the environment in which a new careers service can thrive; getting more people into quality work.”

In last week’s reshuffle, responsibility for skills moved from DfE to DWP. The Committee called on the Government to clarify accountability arrangements for adult careers services, and for its new jobs and careers service.