Editorial Comment:

Focus of Study

This research was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The aim of the research - coming as it did at the time of the advent of the incoming Labour Government - was to take stock of what had been learnt from prior experience of welfare to work programmes, and in particular to consider evidence arising from programme evaluation. The area of research that is most relevant to guidance relates to the assessment of the relative effectiveness of job-search programmes.

Key finding

Job-search programmes - prior to the introduction of New Deal - were subject to evaluation by the Employment Service, and other sources. The review considered these studies and concluded that the average unit cost of provision (at some £94) was about a third of the next lowes (transitional financial assistance).

However, in terms of the programmes impact in getting people into work, additionality estimates for such programmes were 4 per cent or less, meaning that the cost of getting people into work - for example through Jobplan Workshops, Jobclubs and 1-2-1 were in the range £3,000-£6,0007. Although additionality evidence is not available, positive outcomes are also recorded for Restart Interviews, with research quoted indicating that in terms of the time taken to find a job, a control group took 25% longer to enter their employment than Restart Interviewees.

Additional comments

The review indicates that pilots and evaluations of welfare to work measures are expensive to undertake, but provide crucial information. It argues that if these costs are to be justified there is a need for a greater integration into the policy-making process, and a requirement to standardise methodologies and data collection. In particular, efforts should be made to record systematically short and longer-term impacts in a form that enables meta-analysis.