Jobcentre Plus is an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). DWP delivers its business strategy based on a vision of ‘Work, Welfare, Well Being, Well delivered’ to help people achieve their potential and live longer, more active lives. Jobcentre Plus plays a major role in helping people to gain the support and skills they need to move from benefits into work by providing our services based on individual customers’ needs to achieve the best outcome for them, while continuously building on our performance and efficiency, and value for money.
Organisational Purpose
Purpose
Jobcentre Plus seeks to make a real and lasting difference to people’s lives and to the wider community. Jobcentre Plus makes an economic and social impact through our expert understanding of the job market, working with employers on pre-recruitment activity to promote job vacancies that match the customer group using the Jobcentre network. The Jobcentre network offers support for customers who need it most, and its Advisers have access to contracted provision to help customers in their job search.
Structure
In the Black Country District there are 14 Jobcentre’s with 3 in the Borough of Dudley. These Jobcentres are based in Halesowen, Stourbridge and Dudley, and are supported by a Black Country District Office based in Wolverhampton. Jobcentre Plus also has a Benefits Delivery Centre (BDC) which processes welfare benefit claims for the Black Country, and this BDC has responsibilities for processing claims for a range of welfare benefits including Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, and the Employment and Support Allowance.
Common Purpose with LSPs
Jobcentre Plus works closely with the Dudley Community Partnership and in particular on the agenda around tackling worklessness and improving employment rates and skill levels within residents of the Dudley Borough.
Jobcentre Plus has actively supported the Dudley Community Partnership ‘signpost’ one stop shop in Brierley Hill, and has Advisers located in the shop to give job search advice to jobseekers.
Jobcentre Plus activities help address the ‘worklessness’ outcomes for Local Strategic Partnership (LSP’s) in disadvantaged and deprived areas. Jobcentre Plus seeks to increase the employment rates of disadvantaged groups (lone parents, ethnic minorities, people with health problems or disabilities, people aged 50 and over, those with the lowest qualifications and those living in the local authority wards in the poorest labour market position). Jobcentre Plus seeks to focus additional resources on these groups in order to significantly reduce the difference between the employment rate for these groups and the national rate.
Jobcentre Plus is a member of the LSP and is committed to supporting the development of new initiatives and funding streams to tackle worklessness ensuring that that they add value to existing mainstream provision.
Cross-cutting interests include improving occupational health and helping sick and disabled people have more active lives; ensuring there is additional support for those offenders being released from prison, and improving employment support for those who are recovering from substance misuse.
Drivers
The Jobcentre network holds 'Charter Mark' status for it's customer service excellence, and seeks to deliver these high service standards, whilst achieving targets set by Government around jobs and training provision.
Jobcentre Plus has a target for helping support unemployed customers into sustainable employment in the form of job outcomes. Performance is assessed not on the simple total of individual job placements but on a weighted total – with different points allocated for different customer categories and additional points for residents of disadvantaged or deprived wards.
Benefits and Constraints from LSP Engagement
Benefits
- Improved JCP performance through partnership working
- Greater take-up of JCP services by public agencies and other partners
- Greater partner focus on achievement of DWP PSA, including what this means for tackling numbers of people on Incapacity Benefit
- Higher local profile for JCP
Constraints
JCP is concerned with the delivery of national Government programmes. Local discretion is in the form of decisions over the mix of services provided. District Managers, however, can also allocate a limited part of their resources in support of innovation and locally determined strategies, working with local partners and employers. Other local discretion includes the use of ESF Co-Financing (channelling EU funding for action on employability and long term unemployment).
Relationship with Other Partnerships
- Regional Skills Partnership
- Regeneration Zones
- New Deal for Communities
- Connexions
- Early Years and Childcare Partnerships
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Information, Advice & Guidance Partnerships
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Learning Partnerships
More Information
Other things you need to know
Jobcentre Plus is concerned with the delivery of national Government programmes and is responsible for implementing a number of welfare reform initiatives. At present there are a number of mainstream Prime-Contractors running provision on behalf of Jobcentre Plus in the Dudley Borough. These include Seetec who are responsible for supporting and advising customers with health or disability issues, Future Skills Dudley who are currently the contractor for the New Deal programme, and Shaw Trust who have implemented a flexible routeway approach which is funded by European Social Fund.
Websites where people can find out more
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.direct.gov.uk
www.dwp.gov.uk
