What does the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, think he’s getting for his money?

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of Exchequer, today announced the £500m extension of government action and said that the government was “literally throwing the kitchen sink” at helping people to find work. But is it true and what does he think he’s getting for his money?

Or does he just want to spend some money? Who could tell him what he is getting, or is that question too difficult?

We hear a lot about plan for jobs but very little on the actual performance of the schemes that DWP commission to help people back into work. Only 1/3 of Kickstart roles are being filled. Shouldn’t the Chancellor be asking DWP “What are they going to do differently?”.

What they should be doing is focussing the money where they will get the best return on investment, i.e., getting the most people back into work. DWP are not doing that. Is the Chancellor aware of this? It’s hardly demonstrating value for money when performance is purposefully not measured.
This can hardly give comfort to the government’s further tax rises when funding could be allocated better than it is, benefitting people who recently got off furlough and are looking to get into work.

John McDonough, Managing Director of Recro Consulting, an employability and recruitment solutions training company and consultancy said “Last year, we designed a number of programmes specifically for people who had been made redundant due to the pandemic. They were designed to be highly effective and be delivered at speed and scale for jobcentres across the country. Almost all those programmes got 50% of people back into work within 13 weeks, (often in full lockdown) and were delivered through the Job Finding Support service which the Chancellor has just extended”.

Beneath the top line numbers DWP could be doing much better than it is. The Chancellor should be ensuring that DWP is focused on getting him the best return on investment as possible. Are DWP capable of doing that?

McDonough says “They’ve got to shift their mindset and take action to proactively seek a solution. Now is a good time to start as they’ll be doing much more of that if we’re ever going to level up!”

For media enquiries, interview and film opportunities please contact:
Portia Rohm, Marketing and Business Development – on 0330 122 7015
portia.rohm@recroconsulting.co.uk
John McDonough, Managing Director 
john.mcdonough@recroconsulting.co.uk

Editor’s notes
Recro Consulting is an employability and recruitment solutions consultancy and training company. Their award-winning programmes are seen as the most effective in the UK at helping people get back into work. Many of their programmes get at least 50% of people back into work. Participants often describe their experience of being on a Recro programme as life changing. www.recroconsulting.co.uk