The National audit Office (NAO) has released a report today which highlights how the DWP’s work coach system is failing to cope with demand even now, without the massive increase in clients which the Pathways To Work Green paper will bring.

The NAO’s report Supporting people to work through jobcentres finds that:

  • 2,100 fewer work coaches were employed on average by DWP than it estimated it needed in the first six months of 2024-25.
  • 57% of jobcentres reduced their support for claimants between September 2023 and November 2024 when work coach caseloads were too high.
  • The proportion of universal credit (UC) claimants in lowest earning category who move into work each month has declined in the past two years to below pre-pandemic levels.

Even the government’s plan to fling large amounts of money at employment schemes may not help, given that the report found that the DWP faces challenges in recruiting and retaining work coaches.

According to the report, “the DWP has also had fewer work coaches than it has had funding for, which it attributes to factors such as challenges with recruiting and retaining staff. We reported in July 2024 that resourcing to meet demand is a key area of focus for DWP and that it finds it difficult to retain staff in critical frontline roles, such as work coaches. The turnover rate for DWP executive officers working in jobcentres, including work coaches, was 8.5% in 2023-24.”

Rachel Reeves is currently reassuring MPs that claimants who lose their PIP as a result of the proposed Green Paper changes will be able to make up lost income by moving into work, supported by a new army of work coaches.

Judging by this NAO report, the DWP may struggle to even recruit work coaches, let alone discover a way that they can move people with disabilities and long-term health conditions into work with hugely reluctant employers.

You can read the NAO’s report Supporting people to work through jobcentres hereSupporting people to work through jobcentres read the NAO’s report Supporting people to work through jobcentres here

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 hours ago
    This government feels like it is run by clowns and charlatans that don't really know what they are doing, no joined up thinking, just a load of half-baked ideas and policies thrown together and held together with lots of sound bites and bluster. I don't think they are going to achieve even a fraction of their policy targets. 
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    · 13 hours ago
    How long does it take to train a work coach
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    Hi I'm scottish and thank god we may not be be the best football team but believe me we have each others backs. It's devastating when a loved one is not the same person anymore things happen in life that are extremely hard but no matter how much money you have we carry on we manage we don't need the english government to tell us how to treat ppl it's human nature to care and protect so keir and rachel you've probably never been loved enough to be able to love and that's the difference no wonder we want independence we love our ppl and our country so just stop and think who voted you and why you have betrayed the ppl whom thought you would make it OK buy nope your no better than trump or putin nobody grew up being a lawyer and your only pm because of the ppl please remember that 
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    · 1 days ago
    Work coaches don't and won't get people into work and find people jobs.  They never have.

    Half the work coaches out there have no qualifications themselves.  Not a GCSE to their name!  They are sat there dictating to people with Masters degrees, engineering etc "why not try applying for a cleaning job in the toilets" or "You could try applying for McDonalds", "Maybe you could become a window cleaner"  "Why haven't you spent 37.5 hours applying for non-existent jobs this week, sanctions for you me laddo",  "You could retrain in one of our 5 minute microwave training schemes, ran by people with no qualifications, that'll teach you to read and write betterer, then you should be able to become an astronaut easy peasy lemon squeezy".

    My God I want to swear!!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 8 hours ago
      @Mick Love the sarcasm humour. Approve.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 18 hours ago
      @Anon Spot on.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 18 hours ago
      @Dannan
      Sorry that wasn't my intention and I see how it could have come across.  It wasn't my intention to insult, belittle or look down at anyone.  I was just pointing out the irony, hypocrisy and ridiculousness of it all.

      There are people with degrees doing interview after interview for (in some cases) hundreds of jobs.  They are told they are overqualified and as a result rejected time and time again!  Then they also can't get a job in the field or, commensurate with their skills and training.  Screwed one way or another.  It isn't a case of refusing to take jobs at any particular 'level' or looking down their nose.  The government go on and on about people's talents and skills being wasted and that is happening at both ends of the spectrum, qualified or not.

      I'm not saying at all that people with qualifications are better than people who work with no qualifications.  I'm just trying to point out that the work coaches, many of whom don't have any and no doubt many who are degree qualified, are telling people with very high academic qualifications to go on stupid, pointless courses that don't provide any qualifications to anyone.  The private companies that provide the courses are paid massive sums and there are not enough decent jobs, suitable or otherwise, for anybody.  There aren't the jobs for healthy, able bodied people, let alone disabled people and people with chronic illnesses.  Now they are introducing these 'reforms' which is going to add hundreds of thousands more to the list of people who cannot find work, through no fault of their own and pushing them into poverty.  That's without taking any qualifications, skills or their ability into account.

      We're all told if you work hard, study, get qualifications, aim for the stars, you can be anything you want to be.  Parents teach kids that 'you don't want that job, you want want to be a...' .  The reality is that no matter whether you're all of the above, with degrees coming out of your ears or, you have no academic qualifications or skills, you could end up being screwed and getting nowhere in low paid insecure work, or unable to find any work at all, despite trying hard to be the best you can be.

      The Covid pandemic showed that everyone is valuable, whether academic or not, doesn't matter.  Ordinary people, whatever their skill level, kept this country and the world going, not the people in downing street throwing their parties and now carrying out a continuation of attacks on the disabled, chronically ill, vulnerable, pensioners etc.  They disregarded disabled people's lives during the pandemic.

      No matter though, as everyone could become work coaches for the DWP.  They're desperately recruiting right now as per this article!
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      · 22 hours ago
      @Mick Yes, I'm 61 now and working enough hours now cleaning, but some of the work coach suggestions for a person my age who has arthritis sciatica and degenerative disc disease in my neck have been; retrain as a lifeguard, kitchen porter, and give up my social housing flat to go live on a holiday park for the season and clean toilets. Can't make it up 
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      · 1 days ago
      @Mick Having qualifications doesn't mean you've above working, or at all better than someone with no qualifications who IS working whilst you're not.

      I agree the training for work coaches is absolutely abysmal and they're not fit for purpose, but your tone of "unemployed people with masters degrees are better than employed people with no qualifications" is a bit ridiculous. 

      Qualifications don't make you better than anyone else. I was unable to get anything beyond GCSE due to my disability restricting what education I could take, and "learn from home" wasn't available back then. I now can't afford to do it. I bust my ass and now have a work from home job compatible with my disability - very hard earned. Someone with a Masters Degree, able to work but feeling the available jobs are beneath them, is for sure not in a position to look down their nose at me.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    From previous experience working for HMRC . I know that there will be a lot of faffing about and delays and even if things are to be implemented by the time they get it up and running the whole situation could have changed. It doesn’t mean it won’t be very stressful and devastating for a lot of people but it could be watered down by them because they just simply can’t cope with the volume of people. 

    This will be an unmitigated disaster. They will be referring so many people for council help social services homeless services foodbanks children services etc. 

    It’s crass stupidity what they are doing. At least have things in place first . 
    I mean the jobs aren’t going to be there for disabled people in the numbers they want and be suitable and safe. 
    So a lot won’t get employed it’s unbelievably stupid and dangerous would they have people with arthritis doing cleaning Or People who can’t organise their own houses cleaning or budgets turning up and  trying to work on a companies accounts (that’s if they can even get there being incapable of getting on a bus) . 
    Are they gaslighting us now that disabled people aren’t real?.. it’s so stupid it’s ridiculous what do they think people are going to do wave a magic wand. You can’t put a square peg in a round hole . 
     
    Then the poor people already working with PIP. I mean what are they doing how horrible to feel insulted  when you are doing your best. 
    Absolutely insulting to all disabled people working or not. 
    They should be ashamed I’m afraid this just goes to show they are not fit to govern because it’s quite obvious they haven’t considered everything or thought it through. 
    Millions will lose out for a few people getting it and they shouldn’t. 
    They are deliberately holding back their own facts on how it might effect people and be harmful. 
    I think we need a very front and brutal campaign with billboards about deaths already attributed to DWP and loss of benefits and treatment end of rant sorry but this is shameful .. 
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    · 1 days ago
    Nice to see reports like this to further prove the governments motives aren't to get ill and disabled people into work.

    Employment schemes are another way to massage the unemployment figures to make them look good. When they sign a job seeker up for this, they're taken out of the unemployment stat.
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    · 1 days ago
    The government may be forced/pressured to change their plans for certain sections of us. I pledge to keep on fighting these brutal policies even if the situation did begin to look better for me and my family. All for one and one for all!! Don't let them divide and conquer us. 
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    · 1 days ago
    It's never good news is it.
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    · 1 days ago
    @ a salary of minimum 35,000 plus 10,000 in contributory pension scheme it means the dwp will spend half a billion pounds on the wages of these people not to mention what is paid to the companies who do the assessments. Seems to me the real waste is coming from the reform schemes itself which is of course self defeating to say the least. Work coaches will not conjure up jobs but will teach people to write cvs for low paying jobs such as cleaning, labouring, stock filling etc. How can any of this lead to anything successful is beyond me!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @philip Very good point Philip and James.

      The total costs of these reforms, including £1 billion new investment, plus operating costs, plus extra assessment costs, plus extra tribunal costs, plus work coach wages, et al., will probably be A NET LOSS or break even.

      These reforms a lose-lose for all parties.
      A lose for disabled people.
      A lose for the treasury.
      A lose for Labour's electoral support.
      A lose for Labour's re-election prospects.
      A lose for the political careers of those pushing the reforms.

      Back to the drawing board because even a blank drawing board is less damaging than a lose-lose-lose-lose green paper.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @philip just out of interest on UC alone the total spend was around 12.8bn

      https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240185166/Universal-Credit-will-cost-taxpayers-128bn
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @philip I did not even mention the IT systems and their costs plus operating running cost as well as the fact the cost of these government systems always go up over time. I think well over 4/5 billion has already been spent and gone into the coffers of the companies and other interested parties.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @james I agree. Not enough is written about the cost of these reforms. Too much is written about POTENTIAL savings that take no account of costs. For example Tribunal costs, assessment costs and so on. These reforms are so obviously political and as usual presented as economic.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    As usual a government devices a policy for the greater good in this country and then it starts to think of a few who may cheat the system so hire an army of people to catch those thereby spending all the funds on that instead. It's like a supermarket when set up will always calculate the small percent it looses to shoplifters as part of its operational profit but not the civil services and politicians defeating the very purpose of these social improvements!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    so much for getting sick and disabled people into employment! You really couldn't make this up. I look forward to Labour being hammered at the local elections but have serious doubts about all political parties come the next GE.

    Let's assume it's a hung Parliament (which I think is likely). Are the Lib Dems going to do another Clegg? God forbid we have Steve Darling as Minister of State for the DWP!

    I am close to 57. I don't enjoy my job but need the money. I won't be getting PIP daily living after my next reassessment. By that time I'll be over 60.  I was hoping to go part time, not least because like many on this forum, I am likely to have more medical appointments at hospital and I hate having to make the time up at work (and another reason why employers do not like employing the sick and disabled).  But the loss of income from PIP will mean I will have to continue to work full time until state pension age, which could be anything over 70...literally they want us to drop dead before we retire.


  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    Labour and then the Tories or Reform have no intention in helping disabled people into work, all they want to do is take away their entitlement and leave them with the bare minimum which will leave them destitute. 

    Again surely Labour's plans will be seen to be unlawful and disproportionate? All this leaves me with a terrible taste in my mouth, disabled people are not a burden, their courage and integrity to fight through the problems they face serves as an inspiration. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 days ago
    Labour's proposals are being revealed as a farce. Let's hope the veil can be lifted in the eyes of the public. 
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      · 1 days ago
      @The Dogmother (To add to my other comment)

      It's called hypocrisy. 

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @The Dogmother Them that maintain anyone with a pulse is fit to work are the exact same thems who complain when a sick or disabled person has to be off work or who cannot do the job as well and as quickly. 

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @gingin I've read some desperately offensive  comments towards us this past while. I hope too ppl stop swallowing the government rhetoric and the flipping rags need to shut up aswell. It's like a feeding frenzy. If benefits are so easy to get let them all try it i say. 
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