Privatised welfare system plan 'open to abuse'

A modern responsive welfare system requires a basket of solutions to make a difference to the millions of people who require support to re-enter the workforce. To be clear with our audience, at Reed in Partnership we are paid by our results. These results are reflected in the 80,000 people we have helped back into work in the last 10 years.

The Policy Exchange report highlights that lessons can be learnt from around the world. The report also believes that when the system is managed, appropriate checks and balances are in place then it can be a success. What is clear from this report and from our experience is that the outdated way of considering welfare to work services can no longer be applied. A system that encourages both the individual seeking work and the organisation supporting them must surely be the best approach.

In our experience, the relationship that is built between the provider and the individual is one that extends beyond the payment by results period. When you work closely together to give someone a new opportunity you tend to build a bond. We are motivated by people getting jobs, and by seeing the difference we can make to their lives and those around them. This system of mutual responsibility,  a sense of pride and caring, and a robust and accountable financial reward system for the individual and provider is what we should be seeking. In fact, it is what we already have to date. The challenge is for us as a society and economy to realise that we need an economy of all the talents to maintain our economic competitiveness.

The Draft Welfare Bill represents a radical shift in the way the welfare state works

Last week the Government published its Draft Legislative Programme that lays out which laws the it intends to introduce next year. Of the 18 Bills announced by the Prime Minister, one is of particular importance to Reed in Partnership – the Draft Welfare Bill.

The Welfare Bill will overhaul the whole system of benefits and welfare to work. This new law, if passed by Parliament, will provide the framework for how the new welfare system works. The principles behind this Bill are not new. The Government has been moving from a system of universal benefit to helping people help themselves back into work for quite some time.

Last year, for instance, the Government announced its intention to introduce a new benefit that will replace Incapacity Benefit (IB). From October 2008 the new Employment and Support Allowance will change the way benefits are paid to millions of people. The new allowance will not automatically assume that because a person has a significant health condition or disability they are incapable of work as is often the case with IB at present.

We see this every day at Reed in Partnership in helping people return to work from Incapacity Benefit. There is an assumption, incorrect in our mind, that if you are on IB you are incapable of all types of work. This is far from true and by offering individualized and tailored support that focuses on what people can do—rather than what they can’t—we are helping thousands of people come off IB and return to the workplace.

The Welfare Bill will outline an important principle that we at Reed in Partnership have long been championing. Namely that an individual has the right to support from the state and society but this is in exchange for clear personal responsibility for improving their own circumstances. The Bill will apply this principle across all employment benefits and will also start a review of housing benefit with the Treasury to ensure this too is both fair and affordable.

This Welfare Bill represents a quite radical shift in the way the welfare state works but we have already seen this type of thinking help thousands of people back into work. Aapplied across the benefits system, we believe many thousands more people can be helped back into paid employment – and that is welcome news indeed.

The Queen will officially introduce this bill in the Queen’s Speech in November this year. The Welfare Bill will now be scrutinised by companies and organisations with an interest in this area. Reed in Partnership will feed in our thoughts to the Government on this new piece of legislation. What are your views?