Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2009, Publicación: 99ª reunión CIT (2010)

Convenio sobre la política del empleo, 1964 (núm. 122) - Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte (Ratificación : 1966)

Employment trends. The Committee notes the Government’s comprehensive and detailed report received for the period ending May 2008, including information on the measures taken in Northern Ireland and Wales. In its 2005 observation, the Committee took note of a strong labour market situation with a high level of employment and record levels of unemployment. This trend was again noted in the 2007 direct request in which the Committee observed the new historic favourable conditions of the labour market. In its last report, received in September 2008, the Government indicated new unprecedented high levels of employment (in May 2008 the number of persons in employment was 29.59 million). The favourable employment trends, however, began to reverse towards the end of the reporting period. The United Kingdom economy experienced almost 16 years of unbroken gross domestic product (GDP) growth up to the second quarter of 2008, when the economy recorded negative growth. As indicated in May 2009 by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in its analysis of the impact of the recession on the labour market, the unemployment rate was 7.1 per cent for the three months to March 2009; during this period, the number of unemployed persons increased by 244,000 over the quarter and 592,000 over the year, reaching 2.22 million. The West Midlands has been hardest hit by the recession, with high levels of redundancies combined with high unemployment and large decreases in vacancies. Men have been more affected by the recession than women. According to the analysis of the ONS, the discrepancy may be explained by the greater tendency for men to work in the private sector. Young persons have experienced the largest percentage point increase in unemployment compared with any other age group. The Committee notes the deterioration that has taken place in the employment situation since its last comments. It understands that the Government intends to support employment by stimulating growth. The Committee requests the Government to specify in its next report how, pursuant to Article 2 of the Convention, it keeps under review the measures and policies adopted according to the results achieved in pursuit of the objectives specified in Article 1. It recalls that an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment should be pursued “as a major goal”. As required by Article 3, the Committee hopes that the Government’s report will also include information on consultations and cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations in the formulation and implementation of employment policies to address the current employment situation.

Role of employment services in employment promotion. The Government indicated in its report that there were two key features of its national active labour market policies, namely Jobcentre Plus and the New Deal programmes. Jobcentre Plus offices combined payment of benefits to customers on unemployment benefits with active labour market interventions. The New Deal programmes offer intensive individualized support, delivered through Jobcentre Plus personal advisers. These programmes are primarily directed at those who have been unemployed for long periods of time and offer a number of options. The Committee notes that the New Deal approach has been extended to groups further away from the labour market, including single parents and those on incapacity benefits. It further notes that the programme to roll out Jobcentre Plus across Great Britain was formally completed in July 2007. The Government indicated that, as a result of the programme, a Jobcentre Plus presence was established together with a network of around 800 modern jobcentres for customers seeking face-to-face services, a network of telephone contact centres and a network of benefit delivery centres. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the activities of the employment services, and how they contribute towards implementing active labour market policies.

Education and training policies. The Government indicated that it seeks to build a joined-up employment and skills system that offers flexible and responsive help which supports individuals in preparing for and securing sustained employment. The Committee notes that a Command Paper entitled “Work skills” was published in June 2008 which sets out proposals for: (a) a skills system shaped by employers that puts the individual in charge of their learning; (b) the extension of the principle of rights and responsibilities to those with skills needs that are preventing them from finding work, so that when they claim benefits they also sign up for skills provision; and (c) a skills system that is less top-heavy, ensuring that delivery systems work more closely together and are driven by those who know best how to shape services to meet local needs. The Committee also notes that Skills for Jobs seeks to help those out of work to gain sustainable employment and progress in both employment and learning. Skills for Jobs encompasses an employability skills programme, developed to enable Jobcentre Plus customers to gain, on a part-time or full-time basis, nationally approved literacy, language, numeracy and employability qualifications delivered in an employment-embedded context with the aim to help customers find a job and progress in work; and other projects run locally to help those out of work or economically inactive. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information in its next report on the policies and measures being implemented to improve skills levels and to coordinate education and training policies with prospective employment opportunities.

Youth employment. The Committee notes from the Office of National Statistics that, in the year to March 2009, unemployment rates for 18–24-year-olds increased by nearly 4 percentage points to 16.1 per cent. In this regard, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the New Deal for Young Persons, which is a mandatory programme for 18–24-year-olds who have been claiming job support allowance for at least six months. The programme aims to give participants the skills, confidence and motivation to help them find work. They further enter a “gateway” of intensive job search and specialist help to improve their job prospects. The Government is requested to continue to provide information on the measures taken to meet the needs of young people and on the effect such measures have had on increasing the access of young people to lasting employment.

Persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the employment rate for persons with disabilities has increased by nine percentage points since 1998 from 39 per cent to 48 per cent in early 2008. The Government attributed this progress to active labour market policies, such as the New Deal for Disabled People and the Pathways to Work provision, alongside a strengthening of the legal rights of persons with disabilities. The Pathways to Work programme seeks to help persons with a disability or a health condition move towards work. The programme provides a series of interviews with a personal adviser, training programmes to increase skills, increase confidence or help to manage a health condition, support once in work and financial incentives to assist in the transition into work or to give a temporary increase in income during the first year in work. The Committee also notes the Work Preparation programme which provides for individually tailored assistance for persons with disabilities to address barriers associated with their disability and prepares them to access the labour market with the necessary confidence to achieve and sustain their job goals. The Work Preparation programme can also be used to help persons who are at risk of losing their job due to their disabilities by helping them overcome difficulties that are affecting their work. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the results of the implementation of the measures designed to address the needs of persons with disabilities.

Long-term unemployed. The Committee notes that the Local Employment Partnerships project aims to help priority group customers into work through a simple deal between the Government and employers, by which the Government prepares long-term jobseekers for work, while employers agree to give them a fair opportunity to find employment, inter alia, through measures such as guaranteed job interviews, work placements, monitoring, work trials and reviewing recruitment processes to be more inclusive. The Government indicated that the project seeks to integrate both employment and skills, and thus the Government seeks to ensure that people not only find sustained employment but also have opportunities to develop their skills during employment. The Government is requested to continue to provide information on the implementation of the Local Employment Partnerships project, and on the effects this has had on promoting the return of long-term unemployed persons to the labour market.