Background to the report

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) aims to help people move into work and to support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation.

Jump to downloads

DWP relies on its jobcentres to help people seeking employment or wanting to progress in work. Within each jobcentre, work coaches play a critical role working directly with Universal Credit (UC) claimants to identify their needs and provide support.

UC is a benefit to help with living costs, paid to people who are out of work, who cannot work or who have a low income. In October 2024, there were 7.2 million people claiming UC. Of these, 2.5 million were below the earnings threshold where DWP can impose conditions on their UC claim – 1.6 million in what DWP calls the ‘Intensive Work Search’ category and 0.9 million in the ‘Light Touch’ category.

In November 2024, the new government published a white paper, Get Britain Working, which set out its plans for reforming employment support, including the role of jobcentres. Its aims include “bringing together skills and health to get more people into work and to get on in work”.

Scope of the report

The purpose of this report is to set out the facts about how jobcentres support people to work in order to inform public debate and support scrutiny of the implementation of the government’s reforms. It does not assess the value for money of DWP’s spending on jobcentres.

The report sets out:

  • the system for supporting people to work, including explaining what jobcentres do and the support they provide to UC claimants
  • the demand for, and supply of, support through jobcentres, including whether DWP has enough work coaches to meet demand
  • the performance of jobcentres

Video summary

Laura Brackwell, the report’s director, summarises our findings.

Downloads

Publication details

Press release

View press release (31 Mar 2025)

Related work