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Publication of DWP research reports 691 and 99: 'Support for Newly Unemployed and six month offer evaluations: a report on qualitative research findings' and 'evaluation of the six Month Offer: a report on quantitative research findings'.

Two reports are published yesterday by the Department for Work and Pensions from the evaluation of Support for the Newly Unemployed (SNU) and the Six Month Offer (6MO). The reports include findings from:

• qualitative research with customers, providers/brokers and employers experiencing SNU and 6MO from seven Jobcentre Plus districts;
• three waves of qualitative research with staff in six Jobcentre Plus districts;
• a national quantitative survey of 4,000 customers taking up 6MO support; and
• a survey of customers claiming Jobseekers Allowance for six months

Key findings from the research were:

• Both Jobcentre Plus staff and customers generally welcomed the introduction of the SNU and 6MO initiatives, with staff reporting that the measures increased the support available to customers in the recession.
• There were some implementation and delivery issues, particularly around the availability of some of the 6MO training and volunteering support, and a mismatch between provider and Jobcentre Plus staff expectations regarding the volunteering and self-employment strands. This was thought to be in part due to the short period between the announcement and roll-out of the initiatives.
• Provider delivered SNU support for professionals/executives attracted positive feedback from Jobcentre Plus staff and customers with mixed views on provider support for non-professionals. Jobcentre Plus delivered SNU support varied widely between offices and experienced disappointing attendance rates.
• Around half of customers eligible for 6MO support took up at least one strand of support. Customers were most likely to have made use of the recruitment subsidy, either informing employers about it or submitting it with applications as part of their jobsearch.
• Although staff and customers thought that the recruitment subsidy was a valuable initiative, employers reported that it made little difference to their recruitment decisions.
• At the time of the survey, customers who had accessed the recruitment subsidy were most likely to be in work, followed by customers who had accessed the self employment support.

Notes to Editors

1. The DWP Research Reports ‘Support for Newly Unemployed and Six Month Offer evaluations: A report on qualitative research findings’ and ‘Evaluation of the Six Month Offer: A report on quantitative research findings’ will be published on 12 October 2010.
2. These research reports explore the delivery of Support for the Newly Unemployed (SNU), and the Six Month Offer (6MO) and the experience and outcomes of customers accessing 6MO support.  They incorporate findings from a range of qualitative research with customers, providers and employers, three waves of qualitative research with staff in six Jobcentre Plus districts, a survey of customers accessing 6MO support and some findings from a survey of customers reaching six months claiming JSA¹
3. The research was carried out on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions by a consortium led by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI). Qualitative research was undertaken by Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) from September to November and PSI from September 2009 to February 2010.  The survey was conducted by IFF Research Ltd in March 2010.
4. The authors are Sandra Vegeris, Kim Vowden, Christine Bertram, Rosemary Davidson, Fatima Husain, Karen Mackinnon and Deborah Smeaton from PSI and Lorna Adams, Katie Oldfield, Sarah Fish, Laura Godwin and Charlie Taylor from IFF.

Website: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp

Footnote

1. The Jobseekers Regime and Flexible New Deal Evaluation: Stage 2 and 3 Customer Surveys report will be published on 28 October 2010.

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