Evaluation of the "day one mandation to the Work Programme".

Flynn, Nick

The Department for Work and Pensions has recently published an evaluation of the "day one mandation to the Work Programme" initiative. The initiative requires people leaving prison who are claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) to join the Work Programme immediately on release.

The compulsory nature of the initiative is due to the recognition that people leaving prison face considerable barriers to employment and need greater support to find work. The apparent advantage of the programme for prisoners is that they can make an advance JSA claim from up to five weeks before release and can receive additional support to help them find work.

The evaluation included 57 interviews with prisoners and a telephone survey with 1,013 prison leaver JSA claimants. Almost three in 10 (28%) claimants surveyed had all or part of their benefit stopped because they failed in some way to follow the requirements of the programme. Those respondents aged under 25 years were more likely (31%) to have all of their benefit stopped compared to those aged 25 and over.

A copy of the evaluation, published in December 2014, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment data/file/399519 /rr897-evaluation-day-one-mandation.pdf

Edited by Dr Nick Flynn and Ross Little, De Montfort University