Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure careers services remain operationally effective following the merger of the National Careers Service with Jobcentre Plus.

The National Careers Service provides free, up to date, impartial careers information and advice for citizens aged 13+, plus in-depth careers guidance from 19+, and can help people make informed decisions on learning, training, and work at all stages in their career.

As we set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus, and in England bringing it together with the National Careers Service, to help get more people into work and help them get on at work, including through greater focus on skills and careers. We are starting a test and learn approach to develop the new service, ensuring that we develop a service that is locally tailored and embedded, designed to meet the different needs of local labour markets, local people and local employers.

As a start to our commitment to better integrate employment support and careers advice in England, we have launched a data sharing agreement between the Department for Education (DfE) and DWP. This will encourage ‘join-up’ of our services and promote a more streamlined process for our customers ahead of the new service. We will continue to work closely with the DfE to develop the new service, including career advisers, who will be able to share their experiences, views and ideas around how we deliver careers services in the future.