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Whither welfare?

Hot on the heels of the budget, Frank Field's Green Paper on Welfare reform. Much debated, much delayed, quite a lot deleted, here at last it was, in all its glory.

It outlined eight main principles to govern welfare policy in the next few years, with a plethora of criteria by which we can test whether policy s working.

Of course, it is NOT the last word in welfare policy. On pensions we have to wait for another Green Paper later in the year. On other benefits, there was not much radical change. And on Housing Benefit, which we know the Treasury is keen to see reformed, there was really little more than a new slew of enforcement measures to cut out fraud. The Minister for Welfare Reform has plenty more to do.

But what can we say now about how well he's doing his job? The answer on the basis of the early indications is that he is doing very well.

Politicians too scared to speak out

For one thing, with the Prime Minister behind him, he has made it a matter of common consensus that the welfare state needs reform. Moreover, he's done so in a more accurate and a more radical way than his Tory predecessors. They argued that the welfare state needed to be reformed because we couldn't afford it - a proposition largely belied by the fact we patently do afford it, and can continue to do so if benefits are held at today's parsimonious levels. He argues that it needs reform because it's not worth affording - it dampens incentives, traps people in poverty, and to some extent worsens the position of the poor by writing them off rather than challenging them to achieve. His analysis is convincing - most politicians have just been too scared to declare the emperor as wearing no clothes.

But the really big positive thing to say about Frank Field's approach is that he appears to understand the golden rule about welfare: it's 20 per cent policy; and 80 per cent implementation. What Britain does not need is another mega-review of the structure of benefits; and a big bang renaming of everything. No, we need to start operating the system we have far more effectively.

Mr Field talked of how we would reform the 'gateway' into benefits - he wants to allocate a personal advisor to all claimants. Doing so would make applying for benefits simpler. It would presumably make it easier for the benefit office to get to know an individual and assess their circumstances on an informal and intimate basis. Mr Field also wants them to apply tougher eligibility criteria for benefits, to ensure they only go to those who really need them.

At the same time, Mr Field wants to take the DSS, the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service - all of whom appear to model their administration and customer service on those of Aeroflot - and streamline, computerise and accelerate them.

Can tinkering make a difference?

Can such tinkering make a big difference? The answer is 'yes'. For one thing, just talk to claimants to find out. Why not try work if you are on single parent or disability benefits? One reason is that if it doesn't work out, you'll lose cash for three months when you re-submit your claim to get back on benefits while the benefit office attempts to re-calculate your entitlement.

But personal advisors can also deter fraud by making it harder to slip in a claim largely unchecked and unnoticed. They can also help those who are scared of life in the labour market - find them a job, lend a supportive hand in job interviews, organise childcare.

Now talking about the administration of the system may not be as glamorous as introducing new benefits, or big reforms; but it will probably be more successful at reducing dependency and saving money in a way that protects the genuinely needy. Indeed, experience in the US demonstrates there is plenty of potential for radical improvements to the industry of helping people get jobs. Much of it comes from private companies - and it is telling that the 'welfare-to-work' New Deal over here is being operated by private firms in some areas, and that private companies are being invited to look at administering core benefit administration in areas of the UK.

There are lots of decisions to be made about how we reform the benefit administration; there are lots of battles to be had with the Treasury about the resources to put into it. But if Frank Field's performance so far is anything to go by, we may be about to witness a quiet but potentially radical revolution.

Internet Links

Dept of Social Security - Welfare reform

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