Jobcentre Plus gives help and advice on jobs and training for people who can work and the financial help for those who cannot. Many Jobcentre Plus offices are already offering a fully integrated work and benefit service, and in other areas services will continue to be provided in local social security offices and Jobcentres.

Supporting basic skills
The skills agenda is highly relevant to Jobcentre Plus and it has targets to deliver on basic skills achievements as part of the Skills for Life strategy. One of the challenges is to make the screening processes work better so that those who are unemployed with poor basic skills are accurately identified by Jobcentre Plus staff and better supported to take up opportunities to improve their skills.

Some pilot programmes are underway to find out if the threat of losing benefit will persuade people to take up training which will improve their chances of getting and keeping a job. There are concerns that forcing people to do courses will be counter-productive, but ministers have given undertakings that the use of sanctions will not be rolled out without clear evidence that they do not have a disproportionate, adverse impact on disadvantaged clients.

There is a network of basic skills champions in each district who work to raise awareness among staff of the issues. A quality checklist has been developed with the support of the Basic Skills Agency, and training packages have been prepared for advisers.

As part of their role in supporting the unemployed to become more 'work-prepared', funding has been made available through local projects to support basic skills and IT learning. Partnerships with prisons have led to Jobcentre Plus surgeries in all prisons.

Practice
LifeLine Projects is a learning provider with a contract with Jobcentre Plus to offer a package of learning targeted at learners from ethnic minorities. More on the partnership with Jobcentre Plus

Link:
For more information visit www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk