Our People

Differing levels of assumed knowledge threatens equality of opportunity because some groups benefit from access to certain information that helps them ‘get ahead’ in education and employment.

This short briefing provides a guide to interpreting the official Work Programme figures when they are released. We examine what the likely performance levels will be, based on past performance; explore the impact both of the economic context and the set-up of the scheme; and, draw broad conclusions about what the data release will and will not allow us to conclude about this flagship Coaltion programme.

This briefing looks at the scale of cuts being made to current spending at the June 2013 Spending Review in the context of the entire fiscal consolidation, and shows that despite the difficulties of making the £11.5bn of cuts required, this Spending Review represents only a fraction of the remaining £33bn consolidation needed to get the public finances back on track by 2018.