Jobcentre Plus

Eilidh Whiteford Excerpts

Thursday 10th July 2014 Westminster Hall

[Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan) (SNP)]

As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Amess. I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Dame Anne Begg) and her Committee on the report, which identifies some key issues for jobcentres, for staff and for those who use the services that they provide.

On a day when many jobcentre staff are on strike to highlight the impact of the Government’s austerity measures on their own incomes, I want to take the opportunity to thank the jobcentre staff in my constituency for the work that they do on their clients’ behalf, and in particular for the helpful way they engage with my constituency office staff. I have many examples of cases of individuals that have been resolved quickly and efficiently, without the need for ministerial letters or interventions, because of the common sense and helpful advice of our jobcentre staff. It is important to pay tribute to them today.

The report we are debating covers a wide range of important issues, but I want to focus on just one, which has been highlighted by a number of previous speakers—namely, the challenges facing those who are furthest from the labour market.I am particularly concerned about the support available to people coming off ESA and moving on to JSA. A number of people have highlighted that aspect of the report, which really merits further attention.

It is not simply that the work capability assessment finds too many people fit for work who are not, but that some of those who are potentially fit for work are limited in the kind of work they can do. Most ESA claimants are in late middle age, and many have solid work histories, but they have developed chronic health problems late in their working lives and often struggle with more than one condition. We have debated the shortcomings of the assessment and appeals process many times, but the point here is that these people face enormous barriers to employment and need extra support.

At best, any employer will be reticent about taking on somebody in, say, their late 50s who has a significant gap in their employment history due to ill health and who is likely still to be afflicted by chronic health problems or disability. All of us know that sickness absence, even for a short period, can cause havoc in a workplace; it can put huge pressure on colleagues, cause problems for the efficient running of an organisation and add significant costs if additional labour has to be brought in. Those are enormous hurdles for people with chronic health conditions to overcome when looking for work. Even where people have fully recovered or have a well-managed condition, an employer’s perception remains that the risk involved in taking them on is high.

That is before we consider the kind of jobs available. In my part of the world, we are fortunate to have low unemployment; for a skilled and able-bodied person, finding a job there is not nearly as difficult as it is in some other parts of Scotland. However, many of the available positions involve very physical labour. There are often vacancies for care assistants, for example, but people will need to be reasonably fit, and they will need a car. There are also often jobs in food processing, but, again, people will need to be able to be on their feet for hours at a time, and they will need a level of physical dexterity and fitness that many people with chronic conditions will find difficult to achieve.

The Committee is therefore acutely concerned about the ratio of support in jobcentres for sick and disabled clients, particularly those coming off ESA and moving on to JSA. People are likely to need sometimes quite intensive support to get into suitable work, while some employers will need support to help them overcome their fears and manage taking on a disabled person or someone with a long-term health condition. In Scotland, the Scottish Association for Mental Health does a lot of work to support employers in that way, but we need more systematic support from jobcentres to assist those who are potentially fit for work, but face significant disadvantages in accessing suitable employment in the labour market. As others have said, we also need to do a better job on the long-term tracking of outcomes.

The other related issue I want to touch on, which previous speakers have also mentioned, is sanctioning and the overlap between those previously in receipt of health and disability benefits and those being sanctioned. I have seen far too many people who are falling through the net. They are just not well, but they are being sanctioned. Previously, I have raised concerns with Ministers about those with mental health problems. In this case, I urge the Government to think again about their rejection of the Committee’s recommendations on sanctions.

We can all see the impact of inappropriate sanctions in our constituencies. We see it in the growth of food banks, even in relatively wealthy areas such as mine. We also see it in the rising number of people who are seeking assistance from MPs and from statutory and voluntary sector agencies or who are seeking emergency support. We should not hide from those realities, however unpalatable they are, and we really should not hide our heads in the sand.

For many of those with serious health problems, sustainable employment is an ambitious goal, but it is not an unrealistic one. However, it will not be achieved unless the systems improve and we take a more holistic view of an individual’s circumstances and of the context in which they are seeking work. I therefore echo earlier comments about how we measure and collect performance data. Above all, however, I urge the Government to look much more seriously at how we tackle the structural disadvantages some jobseekers face in the labour market and to ensure that there is support for them.