Supporting moves into work: New Deal for Disabled People findings

Abstract

New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) is a voluntary programme designed to help people with disabilities and health conditions secure (sustainable) employment. It was delivered through a national network of public, private and voluntary sector organizations (known as Job Brokers). This paper discusses the impact of NDDP and how its relative success was enabled by the wider institutional environment. NDDP was cost-beneficial in both reducing incapacity-related benefit receipt and increasing the employment rate of programme participants. The institutional factors covered are: programme take-up, contract management and funding regime, and Job Brokers relationships with the public employment service, Jobcentre Plus.

Keywords:

• New Deal for Disabled People
• employment programme
• institutional framework
• Jobcentre Plus
• impact analysis
• cost-benefit analysis

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the published reports of the evaluation of the New Deal for Disabled People which was sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. The paper in draws upon the research conducted by colleagues from the research consortium, in particular the work of Steve Bell, Anne Corden, Abby Davis, Lucy Dillon, Dave Greenberg, Tim Harries, Kathryn Hill, Karen Kellard, Ken Lam, Jane Lewis, Larry Orr, Elspeth Pound, Roy Sainsbury and Trish Thornton. However, the views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of other team members or the Department for Work and Pensions.

A version of this paper was originally prepared for a Panel on Disability Employment Policy: Findings from Three Path-Breaking UK Studies and Their Lessons for the US at the Association of Policy Analysis and Management Conference What Else Shapes Public Policy Analysis and Management? 8–10 November 2007, Washington Marriott Hotel and Embassy Suites Hotel, Washington, DC, USA.

Notes

1. The evaluation was large-scale, used mixed and multiple methods and covered the period July 2001 to November 2006. The evaluation had both summative and formative components. It included surveys of: the eligible population (three waves of interviewing), participants (three cohorts, with the first two comprising two waves of interviewing), employers and Job Brokers. The qualitative research included interviews with key actors involved with NDDP delivery (two waves of interviewing), ‘knowledgeable’ non-participants and employers (two waves of interviewing), and case studies to explore differences in Job Broker performance.

2. Although not reported here in this paper, numerous sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the results (see Greenberg and Davis 2007).

3. Take-up is defined as the percentage of qualifying claims that result in an NDDP registration within six months of the start date of the claim.