by Don Paskini

An absolutely devastating report from the Public Accounts committee should make all political parties rethink their approach to reforming welfare.

The ‘Pathways to Work’ programme was launched nationally between 2005 and 2008 to help reduce the number of incapacity benefit claimants ‘through targeted support and an earlier medical assessment’.

It is delivered by contractors in 60% of districts, with Jobcentre Plus providing the service in the remainder.



By March 2010, the programme had cost an estimated £760 million. The numbers on incapacity benefits reduced by 125,000 between 2005 and 2009. Pathways contribution to this reduction has been much more limited than planned… Private providers have seriously underperformed against their contracts and their success rates worse than Jobcentre Plus even though private contractors work in easier areas with fewer incapacity claimants and higher demand for labour…

The report says contractors have ‘universally failed by considerable margins’ to meet their contractual targets for helping claimants who are required to go through Pathways.

These have performed worse than Jobcentre Plus areas, although recent improvements have narrowed the difference.