1. Employment Research Institute 1 The EES and employability policies in the UK: towards a ‘quality at work’ agenda? Colin Lindsay Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh

2. Employment Research Institute 2 Structure of the presentation The EES and employability policies in the UK UK’s employability policies: priorities and results Policies to promote quality at work agenda Challenges for the quality at work agenda Employability policies: recent developments Implementing EES: conclusions and questions

3. Employment Research Institute 3 EES and employability policies in the UK Key role of employability EES and UK policy OMC: policy learning and legitimation 2003 EES: ‘employability’ and quality at work EES and UK policy: reinforcement not inspiration EES and UK policy: one influence among many Implementing EES and progress towards ‘quality’

4. Employment Research Institute 4 UK employability policies - New Deal New Deal - 18-24, unemployed six months (1998) Extended to: LTU; lone parents; partners; disabled Previous approach - passive; ‘benefit policing’ by ‘signing on’; ‘stricter benefit regime’ (1986-97) New Deal features: ‘Gateway’/Personal Adviser - client-centred approach; choice of training options; employment option/subsidy Reflects EES focus on ‘fresh starts’ for young/LTU

5. Employment Research Institute 5 New Deal (Young People) - Results 2002 target: 250,000; 257,000 by October 2001 “Youth claimant LTU has been virtually eradicated” Unemployment 20,000 955,000 participants to end of 2003 40% job entry (30% unknown); 80% sustained Positive impact of PAs/client-centred approach

6. Employment Research Institute 6 New Deal - Issues and problems Declining job entry rates and ‘the revolving door’ - 20% of participants repeating Tightening of sanctions and ‘unknown destinations’ A ‘real work’ focus? 4% on employment subsidy Low cost programme - low skills equilibrium Geography of labour markets - demand problems?

7. Employment Research Institute 7 Promoting the ‘quality at work’ agenda ‘Overarching theme’ of 2003 EES Strong focus on lifelong learning/employability Building on work-life policy agenda Impacts on working time and leave policies Childcare policy agenda gradually developed Making work pay in the UK - NMW; WTC; CTC

8. Employment Research Institute 8 Challenges to the ‘quality at work’ agenda Exclusion of young people from NMW and WTC 250,000 young people on less than adult NMW 1/4 working households <60% median income Turnover: up to 40% in key service sectors Insecurity: 2/5 JSA claimants repeating (6 mths) Job seekers’ negative views of key service sectors

9. Employment Research Institute 9

10. 10 Employability policies: recent reforms StepUp (2002) –Piloting job guarantees and ILMs in 20 areas –Punitive workfare for New Deal ‘failures’? Working Neighbourhoods (2004) –Area-based New Deal targeting 12 sub-regional areas –Revival of the ‘dependency culture’ thesis? Employment Retention and Advancement (2004) ‘Jobcentre Plus’ and ‘a Work First approach’

11. Employment Research Institute 11 The EES and employability policies EES - validation not inspiration OMC and ‘norm entrepreneurship’ Mutual reinforcement of supply-side analysis Shift towards ‘quality at work’ agenda Continuing influence of: policy inheritance and institutions; policy choice and political change

12. Employment Research Institute 12 Conclusions… and questions Welcome shift towards quality at work agenda Apparent (limited) success of employability policies Has New Deal reached its logical conclusion? Labour market geography matters Dependency culture: exploded myth re-assembled? Low pay; insecurity; progression and advancement