Youth Contract Wage Incentive: a view from Ingeus Thursday 9 th May 2013 CESI Youth Unemployment Convention Dr Vinny Pattison, Head of Policy and Research

8 UK regions 73 offices 283,266 clients (79, yr olds) 2 Ingeus and the Work Programme since June 2011

3 Context A familiar story: economic cycle BUT pre-recession rise Periods of unemployment expected but problematic when structural WI policy intent: influence recruitment choices, stimulate demand WP – structurally unemployed young people: Patchy working history c.20% have never worked 56% - lack of experience is their major barrier Negative labour market signal! Employers want experience and employability skills

4 Delivery Communication and marketing drive 391,000 5,000+ EST and advisor promotion Workshops for employers and clients

5 Successes c.1,

6 Delivery and Observations There have been many positives: Increased awareness (issue and recruitment strategy) Engaged SME’s and non-traditional employers Tipped the balance for some young people – time lag on true impact Full labour market impact won’t appear in official stats However, take up has been low: Awareness, marketing and roll out (being addressed) Large employers not engaging Bureaucracy issues for providers and employers (being addressed)

7 Conclusions Raising awareness and stimulating demand – c.1,500 evidenced jobs directly (and many more indirectly) DWP addressing some key concerns although admin challenges continue However, with an anticipated underspend can we do more? WP – young people most likely to start work WI most effective with those closer to work but what about the others? 48% don’t have basic literacy, numeracy and IT skills – emp impact 38% don’t have level 2 maths and English; 24% struggle to read and write Broaden use of WI funding? Integrate with other streams to address core constraints e.g. use to part/fully fund traineeships “Employment premium” for disadvantaged Post WP support provision