The Work Programme is the Government’s flagship Welfare to Work scheme and we are working with both Newcastle College Group and A4e in managing delivery. Although still embedding, the programme has been progressing very effectively so far and is clearly benefitting from being delivered by locally-based civil society organisations that have considerable experience and expertise in delivering employment support services in their respective localities and of supporting a range of different client groups successfully back into employment. We have been liaising regularly to support our providers and have held 'best practice' meetings to share ideas on how to address some of the early challenges.
Minister for Employment Chris Grayling, December 2011:
"It is still early days, but I am encouraged to see there are people receiving the specialist help they need from the Work Programme. These organisations provide a vital service helping us give people the tailored support they need to get into employment. They bring with them specialised skills and expertise to help some of the most vulnerable unemployed people find sustainable jobs.”
Over a thousand referrals have already been made and the focus has quickly moved from initial referrals to gaining actual job outcomes. We have been in recent discussions with employment framework primes to identify further opportunities for end-to-end or specialist or supplementary support to Work Programme delivery and so far, on the basis of effective delivery performance, are delighted to have secured further opportunities in Yorkshire. Therefore the expected referrals over the life of our five year contract has increased significantly.
