Restart How The Government’s Plan for Jobs Scheme Will Work

RESTART - The government’s Plan for Jobs is helping millions of people across the country who have been directly impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19). The DWP know that those who have been out of work for longer periods might need extra help to move back into employment.

At the 2020 Spending Review, the chancellor allocated £2.9 billion for the new Restart Scheme, which will give Universal Credit claimants who have been out of work for between 12 to 18 months enhanced support to find jobs. The Restart Scheme will break down employment barriers that could be holding them back from finding work. Providers will work with employers, local government and other partners to deliver tailored support for individuals.

Referrals will be made over a 3-year period and the Restart Scheme will benefit more than 1 million Universal Credit claimants who are expected to look for and be available for work but have no sustained earnings. The scheme will provide up to 12 months of tailored support for each participant. Early access can be considered on a case by case basis where conversations with a work coach suggest this is the most appropriate route for the individual.

Commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Restart Scheme will be delivered across England and Wales in 12 different Contract Package Areas (CPA). Providers on Tier 1 of DWP’s Commercial Agreement for Employment and Health Related Services framework (CAEHRS) were invited to bid. These providers were selected to join the framework in September 2020 following an open competition. The providers and their delivery partners, including specialist charities and small and medium-sized enterprises, will complement the vital work of Jobcentre Plus with extra expertise, investment, innovation and additional capacity for tailored support.

We have conducted a fair and transparent call off exercise to secure the delivery of the Restart Scheme. The programme will be delivered by the following providers across the 12 Contract Package Areas:

Bidders were required to show how they proposed to tailor their offer to local labour market conditions in the Contract Package Area, including their plans for close working with employers, local government and other service providers to identify skills gaps and growth sectors and complement the wider landscape of support.

In recognition of the differing conditions found in each CPA, each CPA had its own unique question assessing providers on the specific context in that CPA. These questions were developed in conjunction with local partners across England and Wales. The provider responses were evaluated by representatives from local partners to ensure local expertise was incorporated into the evaluation.

Through regular contact with all participants, providers will develop a strong understanding of individuals’ employment history, skills, aspirations and support needs to develop the right package of support to help each participant succeed.

For some this might be bespoke training to take advantage of opportunities in a growth sector or to succeed in a major recruitment exercise, for others it might be support to get the right certificates to take up a job in a different industry such as construction or transport or to update skills such as IT.

The DWP want to ensure all participants are given the best support to find employment. The Restart Scheme will be the first DWP employment programme procured with a customer satisfaction measure built in as an integral part of performance management. DWP has designed robust Customer Service Standards with contractual requirements which will ensure:

• regular contact with all participants using a variety of methods and channels
• a personalised offer for all participants, tailored to individual and local need

Alongside these protections to ensure that all participants receive regular, personalised support, the Restart Scheme will use a balanced Payment by Results model. Providers will be incentivised to help as many people as possible into sustained employment: the more people they help, the more outcome payments they will receive.

DWP has worked with providers to ensure the scheme is in place as quickly as possible while building on its long experience of successfully delivering large scale schemes. DWP have started conversations with claimants from 28 June 2021, with referrals to providers expected from 12 July 2021.

ABC Note: Despite this scheme unemployment is expected to rise. 

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