New DWP Jobcentre rules for people who claim Universal Credit, JSA, PIP

New Jobcentre rules are being rolled out for people on Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) Universal Credit, Jobseekers' Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Liz Kendall is to overhaul benefits system, pushing young people into work or education, she has revelaed.

Jobcentres has become a hollowed-out “benefit administration service” that is shunned by employers and jobseekers alike, she warned. Ms Kendall, the Labour Party MP, warned that the nation’s 650 jobcentres are no longer “fit for purpose”.

“Employers are desperate to recruit,” she said. “People are desperate to earn money and get on in their jobs. So we need big change. We need to see change in our jobcentres from a one-size-fits-all benefit administration service to a genuine public employment service. It’s not fit for purpose and it has to change.

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“When only one in six employers use a jobcentre to recruit, that is a major issue. We’ve got to change the way we work to make sure employers want to use us and that people looking for a job have got the skills employers need.”

“We are going to transform the opportunities for young people, including through early intervention to deal with mental health problems, with support in schools, with new work experience and careers advice,” she said, promising to provide “new opportunities” to young adults.

“But young people will have to take that up. If you are out of work when you’re young and you don’t have basic skills, there can be lifelong consequences in terms of your earnings, your career and your health. We do not accept that – we will not write young people off. We will transform those opportunities, but young people will have a responsibility to take them up.”

“We know that, yes, benefits can incentivise or disincentivise work – but it’s also about skills. It’s about childcare. It’s about balancing your work and family life. It’s a whole range of issues," she said. "We’ve got to bring all of that help and advice together in one place … [Jobcentre] work coaches who’ve worked for 25 to 30 years, they know what needs to change and we’re determined to back them.”