Receipt of Discretionary Social Fund Awards : findings from the Family Resources Survey

The Centre for Research in Social Policy has been commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to research the current role and future direction of the Social Fund. The research is focused on the Discretionary Social Fund. This is one of two quantitative working papers produced as part of the research. It is based on secondary analysis of the Family Resources Survey and examines receipt of Discretionary Social Fund awards. The other paper uses data from the Family Expenditure Survey/Expenditure and Food Survey and examines the questions: who uses the Discretionary Social Fund?; what are the variations in amount of loans and grants, and loan repayments, between families?; and what is the Social Fund used for? (Magadi and Beckhelling, 2006)

New Deal for Disabled People: second synthesis report - interim findings from the evaluation

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is the major employment programme available to people claiming incapacity-related benefits, and is an important part of the Government’s welfare-to-work strategy. NDDP is a voluntary programme that provides a national network of Job Brokers to help people with health conditions and disabilities move into sustained employment. The evaluation design incorporates a longitudinal dimension, and this report presents selected findings from the evaluation. It covers developments up to and including spring 2004, and synthesises findings from fieldwork with NDDP participants, employers, members of the eligible population, those delivering the programme (notably staff from Job Brokers and Jobcentre Plus offices), and from administrative data. There are two recurrent themes running through this report: first, continuity and change in the programme, the institutions delivering NDDP and in respondents’ views and experiences; and secondly, identifying ‘what works’ in terms of securing job entries and sustainable employment. For findings covered in both synthesis reports, Chapter 2 maps the extent to which there has been continuity and change for selective aspects of NDDP. As might be expected there are some aspects of NDDP that are unchanged. However, there is also evidence of change and progression – for example, of improved relationships between Job Brokers and Jobcentre Plus locally

The evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots : three years evidence : a quantitative evaluation

This is the third report of the longitudinal quantitative evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilots and the first since the government announced that EMA is to be rolled out nationally from 2004. The evaluation was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) from a consortium of research organisations, led by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) and including the National Centre for Social Research, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling (NICEC). The statistical evaluation design is a longitudinal cohort study involving large random sample surveys of young people (and their parents) in 10 EMA pilot areas and eleven control areas. Two cohorts of young people were selected from Child Benefit records. The first cohort of young people left compulsory schooling in the summer of 1999 and they, and their parents, were interviewed between October 1999 and April 2000 (Year 12 interview). A second interview was carried out with these young people between October 2000 and April 2001 (Year 13 interview). The second cohort left compulsory education the following summer of 2000 and young people, and their parents, were first interviewed between October 2000 and April 2001

The Social Fund - current role and future direction

This report considers the role of the discretionary Social Fund in combating poverty and possible reforms to the scheme. It is mainly based upon secondary analysis of the Family Resources Survey and the Expenditure and Food Survey and qualitative research with benefit recipients: both discretionary Social Fund applicants and nonapplicants, and people from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Participants in the qualitative research discussed times of particular financial hardship, experiences of the Social Fund and possible reforms to the Social Fund

New Deal for Disabled People : survey of registrants – report of Cohort 3

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) was implemented nationally in July 2001. It is a voluntary programme that aims to help people on incapacity benefits move into sustained employment. NDDP is delivered by a national network of local Job Brokers comprising public, private and voluntary sector providers of varying types and levels of work-focused support and assistance. The evaluation design for the programme includes a Survey of the Registrants, which aims to obtain information on NDDP participant characteristics, their experiences of, and views on, the programme. The survey involves three cohorts, with the first two having two waves of interviewing and the third one wave. This report is of the third cohort. The survey for the third cohort entailed face-to-face Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) interviews with people who were registered between August and October 2004 as NDDP participants on the Evaluation Database. The sample was stratified by whether or not registrants were within Pathways to Work pilot areas and whether they had registered with new or existing Job Brokers. Disproportionately large numbers of those within Pathways areas and those with new brokers were sampled to allow robust analysis of these groups. The survey fieldwork was conducted between February and May 2005. After the opt-out process, and after identifying those out of scope, the field response rate was 77 per cent. The 2,531 interviews achieved represent an overall response rate of 64 per cent. Where the respondent had a partner living in their household, and the partner was available, a short interview with the partner was also conducted. If the partner was unavailable for interview it was possible for the interviewer to conduct the interview by proxy (with the respondent on behalf of the partner)

New Deal for Disabled People national extension : first wave of the first cohort of the survey of registrants

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is the major employment programme available to people claiming incapacity benefits. It is a voluntary programme that aims to help people on incapacity benefits move into sustained employment. It is delivered by around 60 Job Brokers, who are a mix of public, private, and voluntary sector organisations. Many provide services in partnership with other organisations. People wishing to participate in the programme must register with a Job Broker (and are referred to in this report as registrants). This report outlines the findings from the first survey of people who have registered to take part in NDDP. The survey achieved 3,014 face-to-face interviews with people who were registered as NDDP customers between May and June 2002. Fieldwork was conducted between October and December 2002 (with a few interviews conducted in January 2003)

New Deal for Disabled People National Extension: First Wave of the First Cohort of the Survey of Registrants. DWP Research Report No. 180.

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is the major employment programme available to people claiming incapacity benefits. It is a voluntary programme that aims to help people on incapacity benefits move into sustained employment. It is delivered by around 60 Job Brokers, who are a mix of public, private, and voluntary sector organisations. Many provide services in partnership with other organisations. People wishing to participate in the programme must register with a Job Broker (and are referred to in this report as registrants). This report outlines the findings from the first survey of people who have registered to take part in NDDP. The survey achieved 3,014 face-to-face interviews with people who were registered as NDDP customers between May and June 2002. Fieldwork was conducted between October and December 2002 (with a few interviews conducted in January 2003)

New Deal for Disabled People: third synthesis report - key findings from the evaluation

The New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is the major national employment programme available to people claiming incapacity-related benefits, and it is an important part of the Government's welfare to work strategy. NDDP is a voluntary programme that provides a national network of Job Brokers to help people with health conditions and disabilities move into sustained employment. This synthesis report highlights key findings from a large-scale, comprehensive and multi-method evaluation of NDDP. It covers the programme over the period July 2001 to November 2006 and is based on all of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published evaluation reports on NDDP as well as analysis of administrative data using the DWP NDDP database. The findings also include a wealth of information pertaining to more general issues around employment of disabled people, beyond the NDDP programme itself, and are therefore of substantial interest to future policy development in this area