Jobcentre staff lacked the skills to provide a ‘personalised service’ to jobseekers, during last year’s rise in unemployment, according to an internal report.

According to the Financial Times, the report found that many Jobcentre recruits were given inadequate training. “As a consequence many advisers lacked the experience, confidence, and sometimes motivation to exercise their discretion.”

Staff were also confused about support available for jobseekers. This confusion was particularly acute for professional level jobseekers.

Staff were also caught in a “perceived contradiction” between imposing sanctions on jobseekers, for example on those who failed to actively seek work, and providing an individual service, when the former risked destroying relations with those they were trying to help.