Department for Work and Pensions 1 The Work Programme Tuesday 7th September 2010

Department for Work and Pensions 2 This presentation will cover….. The Work Programme –Overview of the Work Programme –Framework Agreement for the Provision of Employment Related Services –Commissioning the core Work Programme –Voluntary and Community Sector involvement Question and Answer Session

Department for Work and Pensions 3 The Work Programme will radically simplify the back to work system An integrated package of support will provide personalised help for a range of customers Delivery partners will have longer to work with individuals and greater freedom to decide the appropriate support for them We will offer stronger incentives for delivery partners to work with the harder to help, paying providers out of benefit savings We aim to have the Work Programme in place nationally by the summer of 2011 What is the Work Programme?

Department for Work and Pensions 4 Mandatory community activity Currently looking at whether people who remain unemployed for a long period of time could undertake some form of community activity to get back into the habits and routines of working life An integrated, personalised welfare-to-work programme for a range of customers Contracted out, almost all funding for additional sustained outcomes Differential prices Two year programme with continuing provider support and payments Core Work Programme Specialist Disability Provision Work Choice will launch on 25 October 2010 and will provide an improved service to disabled people with complex barriers on contracted out basis – higher proportion of funding for sustained outcomes than now. Decisions regarding other Specialist Disability Programmes are ongoing. Timeline Jobcentre Plus Offer Will include broadly similar core and mandatory provision Will also include a menu of support options, including: skills support; work experience; voluntary activity; peer to peer support etc. Many of the employment pledges in the Coalition Agreement (Work Clubs, Work Together) will be accessible via Jobcentre Plus.

Department for Work and Pensions 5 Key design features DWP is committed to giving specialist suppliers the freedom to tailor support that works Effective supply chain management will be expected from lead suppliers We anticipate that the majority of customers who move to the Work Programme would do so on a mandatory basis We anticipate that all mandatory customers will spend a fixed period on the programme

Department for Work and Pensions 6 Framework Agreement for the Provision of Employment Related Services The commercial vehicle through which the Work Programme will be delivered. Will be an umbrella commercial arrangement which sets out some terms of agreement on future contracts Individual contracts will be let via mini-competitions once the framework agreement is in place Organisations who submitted an Expression of Interest as a Prime Provider or as a member of a consortium have been invited to tender

Department for Work and Pensions 7 Why use a Framework? Using a Framework offers commercial and operational advantages More efficient and responsive Simplify and significantly reduce the time and cost involved Drive up performance and value for money Accessible to other contracting authorities

Department for Work and Pensions 8 Lots The DWP expect to appoint between 3 and 8 organisations to each Lot Organisations may compete to be included in one, all, or any combination of the Lots Contracts let may cover the whole of the area comprised within a Lot or a smaller area within a Lot Indicative value of contracts £0.3 billion - £3 billion per year Average individual contract values estimated £ million per year North East London North WestSouth East Yorkshire and The Humber South West East MidlandsWales West MidlandsScotland East of England The framework agreement will be divided into 11 lots

Department for Work and Pensions 9 Award criteria likely to include Good financial standing; Ability and capacity to manage large and diverse supply chains; Willingness and ability to take on greater capital and supplier management risk; Ability to support all claimant groups who are or may be capable of working; Providing innovative/black box solutions for all services that they are invited to deliver under this framework.

Department for Work and Pensions 10 Pricing design principles Payment should be exclusively or largely for delivering results and that payment should normally be made after the results have been delivered We should, where possible, avoid paying for customers who would have moved off benefits without help The price paid for employment outcomes should be set to make it worthwhile for delivery partners to help each group of customers

Department for Work and Pensions 11 Timetable for implementation Our intended timeline for implementation is as follows: DateAction By end of June 2010Start Framework competition November 2010Framework let December 2010Work Programme competition starts Spring 2011Work Programme implementation starts Summer 2011Work Programme implementation complete

Department for Work and Pensions 12 Voluntary and Community Sector involvement Shortlist of primes Events to bring together primes with potential sub-contractors What primes need to demonstrate in their tender The Merlin Standard

Department for Work and Pensions 13 Work Programme Any Questions?

Department for Work and Pensions 14 Further Questions for the Work Programme If you have any questions that you wish to ask about the Work Programme, these can be posted via the following address To see questions and answers already posted, the Q&A log can be accessed via The Work Programme page on the Supplying DWP website:The Work Programme Supplying DWP o%2Dwork%2Dservices/work%2Dprogramme/ o%2Dwork%2Dservices/work%2Dprogramme/