#4 Inside Labour: Getting Britain back to work
Nearly a million young people are not in work, education or training. It’s an appalling statistic and a shameful indictment of Tory economic policy.
Labour's approach could not be more different. Today, Liz Kendall will unveil the first stage of her welfare reform plans to tackle our growing ‘inactivity’ crisis. In the new year, we’ll hear more about her plans to reform the assessment process for benefits.
In this week’s Inside Labour, I will make the case that this Government should trust local areas and local organisations to get on with helping people back to work.
The Tories give up on sick people, Labour helps them back to work
The below graph shows the difference a reforming Labour government makes in clearing up Conservative messes. The first big increases in incapacity claims followed their failure to help people find work as Britain deindustrialised. It took a Labour government to reform the system and get people back to work.
In a little-noticed document last month, the OBR revealed that the Conservative government had largely stopped the re-assessment process, meaning the DWP no longer checked if people are still unfit for work.
Now, Labour has to help people again.
Labour will be different
Today, the Government will confirm young people will be expected to take up a job or the training needed to find a job.
The thinking is clear. The Government has a responsibility to provide opportunities for young people to acquire skills and find work. In return, young people have a responsibility to take up such opportunities.
Secondly, this government will reform the way Jobcentres operate.
Jobcentre Plus was one of the most significant public sector reforms of the last Labour government, bringing together old benefit offices with employment support.
Alison McGovern, the Employment Minister, has brilliantly led the debate on Jobcentre reform. She rightly pointed out that the Tories became too focused on policing claimants and offering one-size-fits-all exercises like CV writing classes. No wonder too few employers genuinely engaged with the Jobcentre.
To add to the muddle, Tory ministers in Whitehall carelessly imposed programmes on local areas, regardless of the specific economic needs of a community.
And, the costs were astronomical. £20 billion was spent funding 49 schemes, administered by nine different government departments and agencies.
Rather than aiding a return to work, it created a legacy of rising economic inactivity and a spaghetti junction system of overlapping, confusing, and ineffective national schemes.
Local organisations should play a key role in reform
Instead, the Government should harness local organisations that know their communities best. As an MP in Leicester, I was always proud to work with organisations like the Shama Women’s Centre or Leicester’s Bangladeshi Youth and Cultural Shomiti who helped people acquire the skills to move into jobs. Andy Burnham has been pioneering a similar model across Greater Manchester, working with local organisations to help people get employment.
But, I would urge my colleagues in the Cabinet to go further. Combined Authorities who deliver on supporting and sustaining people into jobs should receive a share of overall savings to the benefits bill.
With Labour, Britain will be working again
For people who cannot work, a Labour government will always guarantee security. For people who do want to work, this Labour government will stand by them on their journey into employment.
Today’s reforms combined with others coming in the New Year will be radical and far-reaching.
They will help lift families out of poverty and make our economy more prosperous. Most importantly, this will change lives, offer opportunities, and give people hope for the future.
Jonathan Ashworth
Chief Executive, Labour Together
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