Specialist Employment Adviser (SEA) Evaluation

The SEA role was piloted within Job Centre Plus (JCP) over two years in seven areas where ethnic minority unemployment is significantly higher than the national average. The initiative was intended to increase ethnic minority employment through the building of strategic and innovative relationships between local employers and the JCP.

Our large scale qualitative evaluation of the SEA pilot found that overall the concept underlying the pilot has been well received and all stakeholders agree that ethnic minority employment is an important issue which needs to be addressed.

In some cases the SEA pilot has worked to promote Jobcentre Plus services and improve its reputation and success amongst employers and community groups. However, many employers in the sample feel they have still only had limited and sporadic communication with SEAs and while initial contact was seen to be positive, it is not always sustained.

There is significant regional variation regarding employer engagement. This is in line with Management Information (MI), which indicates that from the outset, two of the seven areas -- Birmingham and Leicester -- have been dominant in terms of performance. Success can be largely attributed to the strength and clarity of relationships between team members and Jobcentre Plus colleagues.

Download the report pdf, 282KB (at DWP website)

Technical details

The first wave of 90 interviews took place between February and March 2005 across seven areas (Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Wolverhampton) with four key stakeholder groups (Jobcentre Plus employees, SEAs, community group representatives and employers). In the second wave, between September and October 2005, ninety-five depth interviews were conducted with Jobcentre Plus employees, SEAs and employers. As far as possible, the same Jobcentre Plus employees and SEAs were interviewed. Community groups were not interviewed as they had not been engaged during the later stage of the pilot.