The Marketisation of Employment Services and the British Work Programme

Abstract

Responding to seemingly intractable levels of long-term unemployment and more recently arising from fiscal austerity, many countries have re-examined their approach to activating the unemployed. This re-examination has altered the role of the public employment service from provider to commissioner of services created quasi-markets in the delivery of labour market programmes. The purpose of this review is to examine the success of these markets and to determine if the design of Britain's Work Programme reflects lessons learned in other countries. We conclude that a thorough review of international experience and a measure of patience while the Flexible New Deal ran its course, would have informed the Programme's design and commissioning model. These flaws, combined with a depressed economic climate, will make it impossible for the Programme to demonstrate expected levels of additionality in terms of job outcomes