Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed tighter benefits rules in the Autumn Statement today, which will reduce the number of people on state benefits, and introduce mandatory work placement.
Under the rules, if a claimant in England and Wales has failed to find a job after six months, they will be referred to an expanded and improved Restart.
Restart started in July 2021 with an initial focus on those who had been on Universal Credit in the Intensive Worksearch Regime for between 12 and 18 months. From January 2022, the length of time on Universal Credit was cut to nine months.
But that has now been cut to six months.
The scheme will provide 12 months of intensive, tailored support to tackle barriers to employment, with more expectations placed on claimants and eligibility expanded to include those who are six months, rather than nine months as now, into their work search journey.
Proposed government support will include coaching, CV and interview skills, and training sessions.
Work coaches will track the activity of participants to ensure they comply with the scheme’s requirements.
Claimants in England and Wales who are still unemployed after 12 months on Restart will take part in a claimant review point: a new process whereby a work coach will decide what further work search conditions or employment pathways would best support them into work.
If no suitable local job is available immediately, claimants will be required to accept a time-limited mandatory work placement or take part in other intensive activity, designed to increase their skills and improve their employability.
No good reason
If a claimant refuses to accept these new conditions without “good reason”, their Universal Credit claim will be closed.
This means they will have to go through the application process again if they want to keep receiving benefits and lose access to extras such as free prescriptions and legal aid during that time.
The model will be rolled out gradually from 2024.
As a result of these reforms, no claimant should reach their claimant review point at 18 months of unemployment in receipt of their full benefits if they have not taken every reasonable step to comply with Jobcentre support.
Hunt said that after the pandemic “we still have over seven million adults of working age, excluding students, who are not working despite nearly one million vacancies in the economy”.
The move may make protection insurance more attractive for some customers.
The government believes mandatory work placements will boost skills and employability for those who have not found a job after 18 months of intensive support.
Those who choose not to engage with the work search process for six months will have their claims closed and benefits stopped.
The chancellor also announced an expansion of employment support and available treatments.
“Between 2019 and 2023, the number of people inactive because of long-term sickness who reported a mental health condition rose by over 35%.” he said,
“To counter this trend, the government is committing £795m over the next five years to tackle the root causes of mental health problems and support people to remain in or return to work, providing support for an additional half a million people over five years.”
