Guidance

Chapter 4: IPES action planning

Updated 10 May 2023

Applies to England and Wales

High level must dos

1. Providers must ensure that the support provided is tailored and appropriate to Participant’s needs.

2. Providers must undertake an initial needs assesment for each Participant at the start of provision, and develop an IPES Action Plan.

3. The IPES Action Plan must be developed, agreed and signed with each Participant following the commencement of provision.

4. The signed IPES Action Plan must be reviewed at least 4-weekly, and updated regularly at each contact to reflect the Participant’s journey.

5. Where the Participant has found a job, Providers must plan the transition, updating the Action Plan, and detailing the steps needed to help the Participant get to work, with the support to help them sustain work.

6. Providers must work with the employer on planning the transition from provider-led support to employer-led support to help sustain Participants in work.

7. Where Participants have not gone into employment at the end of provision, Providers should organise a final case conference/ warm handback to JCP, and complete the required Exit Reports, in line with their CSSs.

8. Providers will support Participants who need a break in provision due to fluctuating health conditions, and record all information and contact on the Action Plan.

9. Providers must take the appropriate action to notify DWP when a Participant disengages/re-engages, and to action limited change of circumstances.

Data Protection Legislation and Data Sharing

You must ensure that you follow the requirements around Data Protection Legislation and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking into account your Contract Terms & Conditions.

In relation to the sharing of data, providers should also adhere to all requirements as laid out in Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 8 – Information Security.

Living with COVID-19

The expectation for IPES is that all meetings between Participant and Key Worker should be face-to-face. With Government COVID-19 restrictions now removed, this face-to-face activity should resume, with digital meetings held by exception.

Where meetings are held digitally, the reason for not holding the meeting face-to-face must be clearly recorded on the Participant records, in anticipation of Performance Compliance Officers (PCO) checks.

Action Planning

4.01 The aim of the provision is to move those people with a disability and complex barriers, and who require more intensive support, into sustained employment. Support must be Participant-centric and tailored to their individual needs.

4.02 To support this aim, you will need to work closely with Participants, focussing the support through action planning and working with all Participants to support them in concentrating on what they can achieve to overcome their personal and work-related barriers.

4.03 You need to demonstrate that you are providing the intensity of support as set out in your contractual requirements, with all Participants offered, as a minimum, a weekly face to face meeting as appropriate to their needs plus additional contact.

4.04 As a minimum, face-to-face contact must take place every four weeks throughout the full time on the programme, however, as you are expected to maintain the intensity of support required with more frequent interventions available when required by individual Participants. This level of contact should be maintained as the Participant transitions into work.

4.05 As the Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) programme is an individualised provision, you will need to agree with the Participant the level and type of contact that is most appropriate to them. Aside from the minimum face-to-face meetings, additional contact could be by telephone, e-mail, or text message, for example.

4.06 Key Workers should consider the most appropriate means of communicating with the Participant, taking into account that this may involve travelling to an outreach location.

4.07 You must keep all Action Plans and relevant supporting documentation securely, and ready to produce should you be asked by DWP, and to support for case conferencing activity.

Initial Meeting with Provider

4.08 At the initial meeting with a Participant, (which must be face-to-face, or digital by exception, and within 15 working days of the date the referral was made in PRaP) you must commence the detailed initial needs assessment.

4.09 The initial needs assessment must establish the Participant’s requirements and identify any barriers to work, and then you must use this information to commence an initial, first draft, Action Plan.

4.10 At the initial meeting, you must also issue the Participant with an Induction Pack, for which you should obtain a signature as proof of receipt. Further information regarding the Induction Pack can be found in Chapter 3 of this guidance.

Initial needs assessment

4.11 The detailed initial needs assessment should establish the Participant’s requirements and identify barriers which are preventing them from moving into employment, for example:

• labour market barriers, including lack of skills
• health conditions and disabilities
• personal barriers, including housing issues
• financial barriers, including personal debt
• work-related independence skills (for example mobility, ability to travel independently and required use of assistive technology)

4.12 You may also use the detailed initial needs assessment to build information about the Participant, including:

• the Participant’s support network, both personal and professional, as appropriate
• any personal interests, or hobbies, that can link to future employment
• job goals or aspirations
• previous work experience

4.13 The information established in this Initial Needs assessment will form the basis of the Participant’s Action Plan.

Commencing the IPES Action Plan

4.14 At the same initial meeting, you must commence an IPES Action Plan and agree with the Participant the following:

• the date and time of the next meeting, or contact
• the location of the next meeting
• the Participant’s preferred method of communication
• any action to take in preparation for the next meeting; for example, a list of the Participants’ support network or other action to be agreed
• any further adjustments or support required
• offer of weekly support

4.15 Completing the Action Plan with this basic information begins the Action Plan activity. The Action Plan must be signed and dated by both the Participant and the Provider on the day of the initial meeting.

Collecting IPES signatures

With Government COVID-19 restrictions ended, the easements allowed as part of the COVID-19 support for providers which included the annotation, “due to COVID-19”, should no longer be used and the participant should sign documents appropriately.

IPES is not prescriptive about how those required signatures are collected. However, provision has been made which allows Providers the option to use one (or more) robust digital alternatives to obtain and store a Participant’s signature as part of the evidence of activities undertaken, and where a face-to-face appointment is not possible or where the collection of a wet signature is not practicable, for example, at an Outreach location.

Where Digital process are used, as set out in the letter from DWP on 13 July 2022, Providers must ensure that these processes are suitably robust and will allow the storing of Participant signatures as evidence of any key activities. Signatures will continue to be monitored as part of the Performance Compliance Officers Assurance Checking Regime.

Providers must provide a solution to be applied in the event of the digital alternative not being available at a particular moment in time, and where a wet signature cannot be obtained.

4.16 This forms part of the Customer Service Standard (CSS 2) against which you will be measured, as set out in Chapter 9 of this guidance.

The IPES Action Plan

4.17 A fully agreed Action Plan must be in place within 20 workings days of the start date. This will be a Customer Service Standard against which you will be measured.

4.18 The Action Plan will focus on the intensive support needs of the Participant. It must contain measurable, realistic targets, designed to help the Participant identify complex barriers to work, set out steps to overcome them and progress towards employment.

4.19 The Action Plan is fundamental to the Case Conference discussions and will be used to measure the progress made by each Participant against the milestones as set out in their Action Plans.

4.20 The Action Plan will be used to measure progression in the following areas:

• managing their health condition or disability
• general self-efficacy
• wellbeing
• job search self-efficacy;
• job seeking activity
• experience in a work environment

4.21 Key Workers should therefore ensure that the Action Plan:

• shows clear aims and achievable targets that will help move the Participant into employment, including interventions to tackle barriers linked to health and mobility, wellbeing and financial security, for example, personal budgeting
• details the agreed type and frequency of contact which meets the IPES minimum standards, that is, the offer of weekly face-to-face meeting as appropriate to the Participant’s needs, plus additional contact. If the Participant does not wish to have weekly face-to-face meetings, the Action Plan must be fully noted with the reasons why – please refer to the Living with COVID-19 box above;
• details the nature of the support regime required
• demonstrates how they will work to strengthen the Participant’s support networks
• breaks down activity into bite-sized chunks, and includes a clear explanation of what each activity is; when it occurs; when it must be completed by and what evidence is required to demonstrate completion of the activity, allowing the Participant to be regularly and actively involved in their progression towards the next milestone, and their overall journey
• details how activities agreed with the Participant relates to the individual milestones
• is updated at all interventions and at least 4-weekly
• is updated when the Participant enters employment and updated at least 4-weekly whilst the Participant is receiving In-Work Support (IWS) (this list is not exhaustive)

4.22 Where support is given from more than one source (for example, through a sub-contractor, employer, or other external organisation) you must ensure that all the contributions are included and recorded in the Action Plan. Activities should be recorded separately with an indication of the time period for each.

4.23 You must ensure that, as a minimum, Participants have access to all ongoing actions in a single document that is available to them, and in a format appropriate to the Participant’s disabilities and health conditions. These actions must be taken to the case conferencing meeting for discussions around progress.

4.24 The Action Plan will be a ‘living document’ and Key Workers must update the Action Plan at each face-to-face meeting, with any agreed actions, and ensuring that it is signed and dated by the Participant to provide a record of continuous support. The Action Plan must be updated on a 4-weekly basis as a minimum. The expectation for IPES is that 4-weekly review meetings should be undertaken as face-to-face, with digital meetings held only by exception. Please see the ‘Living with COVID-19’ box above.

4.25 As IPES is a programme to support people with complex needs, it is expected that you will be able to evidence and demonstrate a clearly defined process to identify and assess the impact of a wide range of factors which may affect the Participant’s employability.

Some examples of this might be:

• advocacy support (for example, to seek help with debt, housing issues)
• signposting to local initiatives
• advice on coping strategies for dealing with particular medical conditions
• supporting through significant life-changing events

This list is not exhaustive.

4.26 You will also need to consult and work with the Participant’s support network, which could include family, carers, or social workers.

4.27 When sharing personal data with a participant’s support network you must ensure that you comply at all times with the GDPR and other relevant data protection legislation. You must obtain the participant’s consent if you propose to share their personal data with their support network. If a participant does not give their consent, or gives their consent and later withdraws it, then you must not share the participant’s personal data with their support network.

IPES Case Conferencing

Note:Instruction on the Case Conferencing process can now be found in Chapter 13 of this IPES Guidance

In-Work Support Planning

4.28 You will have continued to update the Participant’s Action Plan throughout their time on provision, supporting them in an ‘experience of work’ and working with them to identify and obtain suitable employment.

4.29 Once an offer of employment has been received, the Action Plan must be updated to demonstrate the transition into work, including but not limited to:

• a course of action agreed with the Participant, which sets out the levels of continuous contact that you will maintain over the IWS period (for a minimum of 182 days) – in line with the IPES requirement offering at least weekly face-to-face support, and additional contact as required. Contact needs will need to be evidenced and must match the Action Plan
• Including where appropriate:
  • journey planning and being accompanied to the workplace
  • pre-start visits for familiarisation
• continuing engagement with the Participant’s wider support network, both formal and informal, to facilitate the Participant staying in work, including, where appropriate, the wider support network assisting with practical help (for example, supporting the journey to work in the early days of employment)
• practical actions taken, including:
• socialising and integration in the work environment
• establishing a buddy in the workplace
• meetings with the Participant and the employer to address any initial issues, and agreeing a crisis management plan

Reasonable Adjustments and Access to Work

4.30 Providers must comply with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 including obtaining and providing special aids or services that might be needed for participation, and including any reasonable adjustments that the Participant requires to help sustain employment.

4.31 Where the help the Participant requires cannot be met by you or the employer by making reasonable adjustments, additional help should be requested from Access to Work.

4.32 To ensure Access to Work assistance is in place when the Participant requires it, you must consider what necessary steps and timescales are needed to implement and fully support the Participant in making their claim to Access to Work. Applications for Access to Work must be made as soon as a firm job offer has been received in order to prevent any delays in the Participant commencing work.

4.33 Read information on Access to Work and support for disabled workers.

Employer Support Plan

4.34 The Employer Support Plan [ESP] documents the support you will give to both the Participant and the employer during the In-Work Support (IWS) period to help the Participant sustain employment. It will also include the Participant’s support needs after you transition the support to the employer and wider support network, when the Participant leaves IPES. The Employer Support Plan should be available for DWP to check, where requested.

4.35 For Participants moving into work, an Employer Support Plan must be completed and issued to the employer within 10 working days of the Participant starting employment.

4.36 The purpose of the Employer Support Plan is to outline the support you will give the Participant and employer when the Participant commences IWS. The Employer Support Plan should outline the Participant support needs that the employer should provide at the end of the period of IWS.

4.37 The Employer Support Plan should also focus on what the employer will do to try and sustain the Participant in employment, for example:

• establishing a buddy in the workplace
• meetings with the Participant and the Provider to address any initial issues, and agreeing a crisis management plan

4.38 You should ensure that throughout the period of IWS, you are working to leave the Participant with support in place, either at the place of work or within the wider network, or both.

4.39 A sustainable support network will enable Participants to be connected to the community and build strong supportive relationships. During provision you will build and utilise a sustainable support network tailored for each Participant, incorporating as appropriate, family, friends, peers, Local Authority representatives (including Children’s Services), charities, employers and professionals, with a focus on helping the Participant move into work or closer to employment. This is critical for long term resilience and sustainability.

4.40 As detailed at 4.32, Support must include facilitating any reasonable adjustments required, and where appropriate ensuring that any necessary Access to Work assistance is in place from the outset.

4.41 When you are transitioning the Participant to the employer at the end of the period of In-Work Support, you will complete the IPES Exit Activity Plan, detailing all the steps required to keep the Participant in employment, including, for example, all adjustments, Access to Work support, engagement with professional and personal support groups, etc.

4.42 Further detail on how to complete the IPES Exit Activity Plan can be found in Chapter 8 of this guidance.

Change of Circumstances

4.43 If you become aware of any changes of circumstances which would impact a Participant and their welfare benefits, you must remind the Participant of their obligation to notify the Jobcentre of the change(s).

4.44 You are not required to formally notify DWP of any change of circumstances, other than where participants have disengaged and subsequently re-engaged. Instructions for completing the relevant form, IPES07, are set out below.

4.45 However, you must have processes in place to receive notification of changes of circumstances from DWP, consider them, and take appropriate action.

4.46 Change of Circumstances notifications will be limited in number due to the voluntary nature of IPES provision and DWP will notify you of the following changes, using either the form UC78e or form CEPD1, where the Participant:

• has died
• has moved outside of the CPA
• has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, or
• has a change of Appointee, or Attorney under a Power of Attorney

4.47 Where a participant has disengaged and the Work Coach has interviewed the Participant, DWP will issue either the form UC78e or form CEPD1 to you to advise whether the Participant is re-engaging, or not.

Participant Disengages

Disengaging whilst on provision

4.48 A Participant disengages when they are not able or willing to engage with the Provider. This could occur, for instance, due to the changing health of a Participant, or if they otherwise fail to attend an appointment or participate in an agreed activity. When a Participant is not engaging with you, the Participant will remain on the IPES programme, and you will be expected to make efforts to re-engage with them and resume support when the Participant indicates they wish to resume provision. A Participant who disengages before day 456 is entitled to re-engage up to day 456.

4.49 If the Participant fails to attend, you must try to re-engage with them within 24 hours and record details of steps taken to re-engage on the Participant’s Action Plan.

4.50 You must attempt to make contact with the Participant on a daily basis over a five working day period, which so far as is reasonable and proportionate to their circumstances as set out in their Action Plan.

4.51 If you are still unable to engage with the Participant after five working days of them failing to attend an appointment or activity, or if the Participant declares they no longer wish to participate in IPES, you should inform DWP that the participant has disengaged.

4.52 To notify DWP, you must complete form IPES07 and send it, by unencrypted email, to the email address provided by Jobcentre Plus, where it will be forwarded to the relevant Work Coach.

4.53 The email subject field will contain the following: ‘IPES Participant Disengagement’, and the Participant’s surname and the last 3 digits of their National Insurance Number (NINo) detailed in the body of the e-mail. Similarly, if the Participant re-engages, DWP should be informed by completing the IPES07 and sending to the Jobcentre, as detailed at 4.44 above.

4.54 Full instructions on how to complete form IPES07 can be found on the form

4.55 In relation to the sharing of data, providers should adhere to all requirements as set out in Generic Provider Guidance Chapter 8 – Information security.

4.56 You must record on the Participant’s Action Plan, the method(s) of communication used, the date(s) of attempted contact and notifications to the Jobcentre Work Coach. If the Jobcentre advises you that there is a valid reason for non-engagement, for example hospitalisation, you will be expected to encourage re-engagement in due course (in consultation with the Jobcentre), but with due regard to the allotted time on provision.

4.57 The circumstances of the Participant’s disengagement and subsequent attempts to re-engage must be recorded on their Action Plan.

Jobcentre Change of Circumstances Action following Disengagement

Please note: You must have processes in place to receive either the form UC78e or CEPD1 from DWP, consider the reason for the form being sent and take appropriate action where required.

4.58 When you have notified DWP that a Participant has disengaged from IPES using the IPES07 form, where possible, the relevant Work Coach will arrange a voluntary interview with the Participant to understand the reasons for their disengaging with you.

4.59 Once the outcome of that interview is known, the Work Coach will complete and send either the form UC78e or form the form CEPD1 to advise you that either:

• the Participant is not willing or able to re-engage, or
• they are ready to re-engage

4.60 Depending on the outcome of the voluntary interview, the Work Coach will include ‘IPES Participant Re-engagement’ or ‘IPES Participant Disengagement’ in the email subject field, and the Participants’ surname and last 3 digits of their National Insurance Number (NINo) in the body of the email.

4.61 On receipt of the the UC78e or CEPD1, where the form indicates that the Participant is willing to re-engage with you, you should take immediate steps to contact them using the Participant’s agreed method of contact, and prepare to support them for the rest of the allotted time on IPES.

Disengaging whilst employed and receiving In-Work Support

4.62 As part of the work with the employer to support the Participant in sustaining employment, you will have agreed an Employer Support Plan with the employer. For details, see Chapter 8.

4.63 If the Participant disengages, you will contact the Participant and employer to understand the reasons for the disengagement and, where possible, work together to address any issues in order to help the Participant remain in employment.

4.64 You should also engage the support network, both personal and professional, in helping the Participant to re-engage with the employer.

4.65 Responding rapidly at this point is vital in ensuring that the Participant is re-engaged with work, and the employer, and back on the journey to sustaining employment.

4.66 If the Participant fails to re-engage at this stage (and they have completed 456 days on IPES provision) then they will no longer require In-Work Support and must exit the provision, in which case an end date must be input manually into PRaP and the IPES Progress Report completed. Please see Chapter 8 of this guidance for further information on exiting provision.

Fluctuating conditions and breaks in provision

4.67 Participants on IPES will have a wide variety of health conditions, with some experiencing fluctuations in their symptoms that may impact attendance on provision, or potentially cause the Participant to permanently disengage.

4.68 To support these Participants, and to enable them to continue to receive the support they need to move into employment without permanently disengaging, Participants may have recorded breaks in provision.

Action

4.69 You will need to work closely with the Participant and recognise fluctuations in conditions, or their ability to concentrate, and accommodate any short breaks to allow the Participant to stabilise and refocus.

4.70 During any break period, you should maintain contact with the Participant, and re-engage to support them back onto provision, reviewing their Action Plan to take into account any lasting impacts or changes in their condition.

4.71 All breaks in provision must be noted on the Action Plan and Participant records, including the reasons for the breaks, and details of all Participant contact made during the break period. Any activity planned to help the Participant move into work, including any work experiences or trials, should be rescheduled on the Participant’s journey once they have re-engaged.