Jobcentre Plus - History

History

The first fifty six Jobcentre plus Pathfinder offices were brought into existence during October 2001.

The forerunners of the Jobcentre Plus were the government-run Labour Exchanges, originally the vision of Winston Churchill, President of the Board of Trade and William Beveridge, who had worked for a more efficient labour system in the early years of the 20th century. This was intended to address the chaos of the labour market and the problems of casual employment. This was followed by 'Jobcentre' with its orange signage in the mid 1970's and the re-branded 'Employment Service Jobcentre' with dark blue signage from 1994 to 2002.

In 1908 Beveridge was commissioned to devise a scheme which would combine labour exchanges with a new government-funded unemployment benefit. The Labour Exchanges Bill was rushed through Parliament and passed in September 1909 and, after months of planning and recruitment of clerks, 62 Labour Exchanges were opened on February 1, 1910. The number of offices rose to 430 within four years. At the suggestion of the Prime Minister David Lloyd-George, from January 1917 the Labour Exchanges came under the new Ministry of Labour and were renamed Employment Exchanges, so as to more accurately reflect their purpose and function.

The National Insurance Act was passed in 1911 and the first payments were made at Exchanges in January 1913. Initially this covered only elected trades, such as building, engineering and shipbuilding. Weekly contributions were paid by workers, employers and the State in the form of stamps which were affixed to an Unemployment Book (later called the National Insurance card). When no work was available, benefit was payable.

The basic rules and administration regarding claims and the disallowance of benefit remain unaltered today. From 1918, payments were also made to unemployed ex-soldiers and their dependants, as well as to civilians who found themselves unemployed due to the decline of war production industries. The out-of-work donation scheme (the original "dole") was originally only a temporary measure.

As unemployment benefit was payable only for those with a contributions record, and even then for only twelve months for each claim, there remained a group on long-term low incomes, without access to benefit. That was relieved after the enactment of the National Assistance Act 1946, when payments began to be made to jobseekers on low incomes regardless of contributions.

Initially benefits were paid weekly, in cash, at the Employment Exchange. From 1973, the then Department of Employment began to open a new network of Jobcentres that advertised Jobs but did not process benefits. During this time, claimants were required to make claims and 'sign on' in separate Unemployment Benefit Offices. However, with the introduction of the Employment Service in the mid 1990s, the Unemployment Benefit Offices were integrated into Jobcentres. From the 1970's benefits were paid in the form of girocheque until the early 2000's when payments would be made directly to the claimants bank account.

In the 1990s, the Jobcentre reinforced a dress code which required male staff to wear ties. The code was later held to be in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act.