More than half of job centres in the UK have reduced support for universal credit claimants due to a lack of work coaches, according to the National Audit Office. The shortfall comes as the number of people requiring personalised employment assistance has increased by 400,000 in a year.
The report reveals that 57% of job centres have scaled back services since September 2023, citing staff shortages, funding gaps, and rising caseloads. With fewer Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff on hand, concerns are growing over the government’s ability to deliver its promised reforms to the benefits system.
Rising Claimant Numbers Strain Job Centre Resources
The number of Universal Credit claimants needing tailored support rose from 2.6 million to 3 million in the space of a year, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). This surge coincided with changes to income thresholds, which expanded eligibility to an additional 400,000 people.
The NAO’s report, released Monday, found that job centres are operating with 2,100 fewer work coaches than required. Work coaches, who assist claimants with job searches and provide referrals, are considered central to the government’s push to reduce economic inactivity.
However, 57% of job centres in England, Scotland and Wales have exercised their discretion to reduce face-to-face or personalised services due to high caseloads.
The shortfall raises questions about the feasibility of delivering reforms set out in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, which promised £1 billion for “guaranteed, personalised employment support” and projected £4.8 billion in savings by overhauling the benefits system.
The DWP said it would redeploy 1,000 work coaches to provide intensified support to disabled and sick claimants, but the NAO noted that recruitment and retention continue to present major obstacles.
Critics Say Staff Shortages Undermine Benefits Reform Agenda
Policy experts and advocacy groups have raised doubts about whether current staffing levels can support government pledges to help more disabled people into employment. According to Iain Porter, senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, “The government must urgently explain how it plans to support disabled people into work while these work coach shortages remain.”
The NAO also highlighted a decline in the number of claimants moving into employment each month over the past two years. This trend, combined with reduced in-person support, suggests that the overall effectiveness of the Jobcentre Plus network may be weakening.
In response, the DWP said it was upgrading its digital tools to improve efficiency and reduce the administrative burden on staff. A department spokesperson said, “Our job centres are full of brilliant work coaches – but they are held back by a system that is too focused on ticking boxes and monitoring benefits instead of genuinely supporting people back into work.”
