Jobcentre Plus Performance Against Targets

Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency of the Department for Work and Pensions

Launched in April 2002, Jobcentre Plus brought together the Employment Service and parts of the Benefits Agency that delivered services to working age people.

The aim and purpose of Jobcentre Plus

• The aim of Jobcentre Plus is to help more people into work and employers to fill their vacancies, and to provide people of working age with the help and support to which they are entitled.
• The purpose of Jobcentre Plus is to contribute to the Government’s aim of tackling poverty, reducing worklessness, promoting growth and opportunity, and modernising Government.

Objectives of Jobcentre Plus

• To increase the effective labour supply by helping as many unemployed and economically inactive people of working age as possible to move into jobs or self employment and active competition for jobs by making available to them job vacancies, information, advice, training and support, and encouraging employers to open up more opportunities to them
• To provide high quality and demand-led services to employers, which help them to fill job vacancies quickly and effectively with well-prepared and motivated employees
• To help people of working age in the most disadvantaged groups and areas to move closer to the labour market, compete effectively for, and remain in work and to adjust more quickly to economic change
• To work towards parity of outcomes for minority ethnic customers
• To ensure that people receiving working age benefits fulfil their responsibilities and are offered high quality help and support appropriate to their needs, while protecting the position of those in greatest need
• To pay people of working age the correct amount of benefit to which they are entitled, at the right time and throughout the period of their claim, and to protect the benefit system from fraud, error and abuse
• To improve continuously the quality, accessibility and delivery of services to all working age customers, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age or disability and achieve the best possible outcome for each of them
• To increase Jobcentre Plus’ overall productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.