Terms of engagement: Rethinking conditionality to support more people into better jobs

They wanted to see a much greater focus on careers advice, skills, and training, “It would be better if it was voluntary alongside recognition of the range of barriers to engagement… give people the trust that they work many people experience and the personalised deserve for the first few months.” support needed to overcome these: THE PUBLIC PERSPECTIVE “If the quality of Jobcentre support is good. [...] A strict and prescriptive about the number of people who are ‘economically approach to conditionality directly undermines inactive’ (ie out of work and not expecting to return people’s ability to focus on finding a well-paid and to work) due to disabilities and poor health. [...] When it came to work coaches suggesting specific jobs, many participants reported that these were There was a clear sense that specific attention sometimes completely unsuitable or that they needed to be given to the messages and power weren’t the sort of thing they wanted to do but dynamics implied by the look, feel, and set up of that they felt pressurised to accept for fear of being the physica. [...] The focus use of conditionality should be responsive to the during this period would be on trying to build circumstances of the individual and the extent to a trusting and effective relationship of support. [...] This aspects of the current approach to conditionality, should inform a genuinely co-produced and such as a specified number of hours per week of personalised plan, setting out what the person job search and the requirement to apply for and and the work coach will aim to do, how they will accept any job recommended by a work coach.