Chris Grayling “really disappointed” at NAO report
The National Audit Office (NAO) has released a less than glowing report on the achievements and future of the Work Programme. In particular, it states the government has overestimated the number of people to be helped return to employment.
The National Audit Office report said 26% of over-25s would get jobs, compared with the official estimate of 40%.
The report also described the possibility that some programme providers will “cut corners to stay in profit” by ignoring harder-to-reach people. Additionally, some of the programme providers could get into “serious financial difficulty” while trying to meet their ambitious targets.
Chris Grayling said payment by results was “a totally new approach” and its success could not “be assessed in the same old ways”.
“I’m really disappointed that the NAO is producing a report which is partially based on guesswork, when it’s private companies and not taxpayers who are carrying the risks.
“Unlike the last government’s welfare to work schemes, we only pay when companies succeed in getting the long-term unemployed into sustained employment.”
Read the full report “The Introduction of the Work Programme”
Click here to read the response of a DWP spokesperson
Amanda Frewin
Research & Project Support
Rather – ‘…. would ‘ever’ engage in…(supra)
‘guesswork’ = estimation – something no government minister would never engage in.