The Department has contracted with 22 local employment service providers for 2017, the same number as in 2016, and funding for the provision of the service has also been maintained for 2017 at the 2016 level of €20 million. We have not cut the budget for local employment services.
Local employment services form part of the State’s public employment service. This service is managed by the Department of Social Protection and delivered directly by its own Intreo service as well as by contractors, such as JobPath, the local employment service, LES, and job club providers.
Both Intreo and contractor staff provide unemployed jobseekers with advice and assistance to identify, pursue and secure employment.
Prior to the introduction of Intreo, my Department had approximately 300 case officers, including contracted LES staff, to serve more than 460,000 people on the live register. This was equivalent to a caseload of over 1,500 jobseekers per case officer as against an international best practice benchmark of 200:1.
In developing the Intreo service and introducing JobPath, the total number of case officers has increased to approximately 1,200. Combined with the welcome reduction in the number of people on the live register - from a peak of over 460,000 in July 2012 to about 275,000 today, with a reduction last year alone of just under 45,000 - the average caseload today is approximately 230:1.
The reduction in unemployment has also allowed the Department to increase the quality of case officer support to people who face the most difficult challenges in finding employment. These jobseekers are typically long-term unemployed and are dealt with either by the local employment services or by JobPath. In line with international norms, the Department is seeking to maintain the caseload for this cohort at no more than 125 clients per officer. In order to achieve this level of case officer support, the Department has reduced the number of people referred to local employment services but has asked the providers to increase the time they allocate to work with each jobseeker. This should result in reduced pressure on the local employment services and an improved level of service for clients.