The government needs to address the inadequate support provided at “useless” Jobcentres or
Benefit reforms are destined to flop.
, a previous employee from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has cautioned.
The Labour party aims to reduce approximately £5 billion from healthcare-linked benefits.
Personal Independence Payments
(
PIP
and the inability aspect of
universal credit
— in an attempt to encourage more individuals to join the workforce.
Ministers additionally aim to redistribute
1,000 Jobcentre work coaches will provide “in-depth” training to individuals claiming benefits.
As part of a ₱560 billion investment in employment support.
Job coaches will likely dedicate additional time to assist unemployed individuals with their resume writing and interview skills.
Alexander, who dedicated nearly 15 years to working as a caseworker for the DWP’s Child Maintenance Service (CMS), stated that significant reforms are essential. He chose to stay unnamed.
The individual, aged 52 and residing close to Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, has had difficulty finding significant employment after leaving their government position in 2016.
Read Next:
How 1.2 million people are being excluded from universal credit because of a flaw in the means test.
A father raising two small girls is currently depending on government assistance.
He receives £650 per month through universal credit and approximately £220 via the Scottish child payment –
An additional top-up exclusively for low-income families in Scotland.
.
“The breakdown of my relationship around 2016 had a significant impact. Suddenly, I found myself becoming a single father. I was exhausted and simply could not continue working,” he stated.
Last year, Alexander applied for around 50 positions, predominantly administrative roles, yet without success. He criticized the Jobcentre for adopting a “tick-the-box” attitude towards individuals receiving benefits.
“It’s been so frustrating. They call it a job coach. But there’s no coaching that happens,” he said. “The appointments are around 10 minutes, if you’re lucky.
“It feels pointless, useless. It feels like they are there just to manage your file. They write in your journal you have had a work-related meeting. The level of box-ticking, pointless bureaucracy is ridiculous.”
He added: “There’s nothing proactive – they point you to job websites I’m looking at anyway. There’s no understanding of the local jobs market. The system doesn’t seem linked up with local businesses at all.”
Alexander was due to start as a delivery driver for a courier company before he suffered a slipped disc in his back in November. He is now waiting for keyhole surgery.
He has lately applied for the increased amount of universal credit, which is an incapacitation benefit designed for individuals who aren’t well enough to work and would receive an additional £417 each month as part of this support.
This increased level of Universal Credit, which includes the healthcare component, is among the benefits that Labour intends to reduce. Individuals making new claims will observe this reduction drop from £97 per week to £50 weekly by the period between 2026 and 2027.
I am uncertain about the impact of these cuts on myself since I’m unsure whether I’ll receive disability benefits,” he stated. “I wouldn’t like to rely on them for an extended period.
Alexander stated, “They must be extremely cautious when reducing disability benefits and Personal Independence Payments (PIP), as this might not encourage individuals to seek employment. It seems they’re choosing the simpler route by targeting those who are most susceptible. They appear oblivious to the challenges involved in securing a job.”
The ex-DWP employee appreciates Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s proposal to reallocate job counselors to offer more tailored, comprehensive support for those who have been out of work for a longer time.
However, Alexander doubts Labour’s pledge to allocate £1 billion for improved support.
“I would definitely appreciate a deeper emphasis, be it on interview techniques or any sort of training,” he stated.
I am not sure that additional funds for improved support will actually be available. They might require rather strict training since it appears there isn’t much comprehension regarding disabilities or medical conditions.
A previous DWP benefits evaluator once shared
The i Paper
those work coaches were “extremely overloaded”
.
Last month, labour plans faced scrutiny following an National Audit Office (NAO) report that revealed issues.
a shortage of approximately 2,100 work coaches from April to September last year
.
Representatives from the PCS union recently informed MPs that an additional 6,000 work coaches are necessary for the present system to function efficiently.
The former assessor likewise cautioned that additional job training could be seen by certain applicants as “punishment” and might lead them to have difficulty engaging appropriately if their benefits were concurrently reduced.
Why Labor Is Reducing Benefits
By Chloe Chaplain
Upon taking office, the Labour government stated they aimed to decrease the welfare budget by over £5 billion by 2030—aligning with the savings made under the prior Conservative administration—but also planned to implement new changes to achieve these reductions.
The government has stated that these measures will be equitable and sustainable, while safeguarding disadvantaged individuals with disabilities who can never participate in employment. These actions aim to address the escalating cost of social benefits.
Expenditure on Personal Independence Payments (PIPs), designed to assist disabled individuals with daily needs, is expected to nearly double to £34 billion by the fiscal year 2029-30.
Based on data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, expenditures related to health benefits for individuals of working age—which encompasses support for those unable to work due to disability—increased from £36 billion in 2019-20 to £48 billion in 2023-24. The projections indicate this figure will continue rising, reaching over £60 billion by 2029.
At the same time, ministers face mounting pressure to address the rise in economicallyinactive individuals, particularly as there has been a sharp uptick in those who aren’t employed or engaged ineducation because of health issues. The government reports that one in every ten people withinworking-age brackets receive benefits related to illness or disability, amounting to nearly 3million people unemployed owing to health conditions.
Part of Alexander’s doubt stems from his personal experience with the Child Maintenance Service.
“I used to work at the DWP and found the red tape extremely frustrating. Files would be shuffled from one place to another, and there was always restructuring with teams being rearranged,” he stated.
“There wasn’t always compassion or empathy to really getting involved and sort things out for families. You had to take the time to build a complete picture of people’s lives and that didn’t always happen.”
The Government wants to increase the employment rate from 75 per cent to 80 per cent, as well as tackling the rise in the welfare budget.
Plans set out by Kendall involve merging Jobcentres with the National Careers Service in England.
A DWP spokesperson said: “Our Jobcentres are full of brilliant work coaches – but they are held back by the system that is too focused on ticking-boxes and monitoring benefits.”
“That is why we are modernising Jobcentres with new digital tools and improving access to free up work coaches’ time as we bring the network together with the National Careers Service.
“We are also redeploying 1,000 work coaches, as part of our £1bn support package, to help deliver intensive employment support to sick and disabled people.”