A Department for Work and Pensions programme to reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits and help them into work has had a limited impact and, while a serious attempt to tackle an intractable issue, has turned out to provide poor value for money, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office.
The findings are published a day after Iain Duncan Smith, the new work and pensions secretary, declared Britain's welfare system "bust" in a Guardian interview which sets out the most ambitious welfare reform plans for a decade.
The report gives credit to the Department for trying to tackle the problem but, while the number of people claiming incapacity benefits has fallen slightly in recent years, the volume of claimants has remained in excess of 2.5 million for over a decade. The precise contribution of the Pathways to Work programme to a reduction of 125,000 in the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is not clear, but is likely to be limited. The reduction is likely to be due to the earlier medical assessment to determine benefit entitlement.
Other elements of Pathways employment support – at an estimated cost of £94m in 2008-09 – appear to have had no impact on claimants, with new claimants just as likely to move into employment without Pathways support as they are with it.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: "The Department for Work and Pensions has made a concerted effort to reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits and deserves credit for grappling with a problem often seen as intractable.
"However, the Pathways to Work programme has turned out to provide poor value for money and it is therefore important that the Department learns from the experience. In the future it should base its programme decisions on a robust and clear evidence base, follow best contracting practice and establish a measurement regime which allows it to understand better what happens to those whom they may have helped."
From Bubb's Blog
From Whitehall Watch
