Sovereign AI governance of UK JSA — New Style (contribution-based) and income-based unemployment benefit. Claimant commitment, work search conditions, sanctions regime, Universal Credit migration. 12 entry points × 8 transformation priorities × 6 MCPs. Audit-grade. Signed. UK-sovereign.
New Style JSA requires Class 1 NI contributions in last 2 complete tax years (26 weeks at or above LEL). Aged 18-SPA. Not in full-time education. Available for and actively seeking work. Income-based JSA being replaced by UC. Habitual residence test. Right to work in UK.
Claimant commitment sets conditions: work search, availability, work preparation. Three tiers: all work-related requirements, work-focused interview only, no requirements. Tailored to claimant circumstances — health, caring, age. Signed agreement. Breach = sanction risk. Digital claimant commitment.
35 hours/week work search. CV, applications, networking, interviews, skills. Jobcentre Plus advisor support. Universal Jobmatch. Work search review every 2 weeks. Flexible support for carers, disabled, over-50s. Work search journal. Employer contact evidence. Skills gap analysis.
Low-level: 1-13 weeks (failure to attend, incomplete job search). Medium-level: 4-26 weeks (failure to apply, refusing work). High-level: up to 156 weeks (voluntary resignation, misconduct). Hardship payments available. MR and appeal rights. Sanctions rate ~3% of JSA caseload. Mandatory reconsideration before appeal.
New Style JSA: under-25 £71.70/wk, 25+ £90.50/wk (2026 rates). Paid fortnightly. 6-month duration for New Style (contribution-based). Income-based replaced by UC. UC standard allowance: under-25 £311.68/mo, 25+ £393.45/mo. UC work allowance taper. JSA and UC interaction — cannot claim both simultaneously.
Income-based JSA migrating to UC via managed migration. Transitional protection payments. Natural migration via change of circumstances. Gateway conditions. SDP transitional element. Severe disability premium. Carer element. Migration notice issued by DWP. 3-month deadline to claim UC. TP erodes over time.
Restart Scheme for 12+ months unemployed. Intensive employment support. Provider-led — Maximus, SERCO, Reed. Placement history. Skills assessment. Work experience. Employer engagement. Referral from JCP advisor. Claimant can request alternative provider. Provider performance monitoring.
18-24 youth employment support. Youth Obligation — enhanced claimant commitment for 18-21. Traineeships. Apprenticeships. Sector-based work academies. Youth Hub in JCP. Youth employment advisor. DWP/DfE integration. NEET data sharing. Careers advice. Digital skills bootcamps.
Over-50s tailored support. Midlife MOT — health, skills, finances. Experience Corps volunteer mentoring. Flexible working expectations. Pension awareness. Age-positive employer engagement. Skills assessment for career changers. Redundancy support. Part-time work consideration. Carer-friendly claimant commitment.
JSA fraud rate ~3.2%. Overpayment detection via PAYE data cross-check. CIS/RTI real-time earnings matching. Investigation officers. Civil penalty regime. Prosecution. Voluntary disclosure. Debtor management. Recovery from UC. Capital limits. Partner income. Living together as married. Failure to disclose change of circumstances.
~1.2M JSA claimants (New Style). Claim duration distribution. Off-flow rates — employment, UC transfer, sanction. Restart Scheme outcomes. Vacancy ratio by region. Long-term unemployed (>6 months, >12 months). Conditionality group distribution. Statistical bulletins. FOI readiness. LA data sharing.
W&P Select Committee evidence — sanctions effectiveness, UC migration, Restart Scheme outcomes. PQ evidence: claimant numbers, duration, off-flows. Youth unemployment statistics. Over-50s employment rates. Sanctions appeal overturn rates. Cost per job outcome. Regional employment disparities. White Paper contributions.
AI-powered routing: New Style JSA vs UC assessment at claim stage. Eligibility pre-check — NI contribution verification via HMRC RTI. Automatic UC gateway check. Claim form auto-population from DWP/HMRC records. Digital-first claim journey. Phone/webchat fallback. Biometric identity verification. Target: 90% digital claims by 2028, claim-to-payment from 5 days to 48 hours.
AI job matching — skills, location, transport, hours, salary. Personalised work search plan generation. Vacancy recommendation engine. Skills gap identification with training pathway. Sector-based opportunity alerts. Interview preparation tools. Employer feedback loop. Target: 40% improvement in job match rate, reducing average claim duration from 16 weeks to 10 weeks.
Early warning system for sanction risk — missed appointments, incomplete journal entries, employer disengagement. Proactive advisor alert before breach. Sanction fairness audit — demographic bias detection. Automated hardship payment trigger. MR fast-track for vulnerable claimants. Appeal preparation support. Target: 50% reduction in sanction volumes through early intervention, overturn rate under 40%.
Provider performance dashboard — job outcomes, sustainment rates, claimant satisfaction. Cost-per-outcome comparison. Referral quality scoring. Claimant outcome prediction. Provider intervention recommendation. Cross-provider learning. Employer engagement metrics. Target: Restart Scheme job outcome rate from 28% to 45%, cost-per-outcome reduction of 30%.
NEET early identification — school/college leaver data integration. Youth Hub digital portal. Apprenticeship matching. Skills bootcamp recommendation. Traineeship-to-employment pathway. Employer youth engagement programme. DWP/DfE data sharing gateway. Target: Youth (18-24) unemployment halved by 2028, NEET rate below 8%.
Midlife MOT digital platform — health, skills, finances self-assessment. Redundancy early warning from employer data. Flexible job matching. Pension drawdown awareness. Carer-friendly claimant commitment. Age-positive employer network. Target: Over-50s employment rate from 71% to 78% by 2028, average claim duration halved for 50+ cohort.
Managed migration digital assistant — timeline, eligibility, transitional protection calculator. SDP/SEAP transition guidance. Migration notice portal. Claim completion tracker. TP erode calculator. Legacy benefit interaction checker. Welfare rights adviser integration. Target: 100% managed migration completion rate, zero TP errors, migration support satisfaction above 80%.
Real-time JSA dashboard — claimant numbers, sanctions, duration, outcomes, regional breakdown. Automated W&P Committee reporting. PQ evidence generator — caseload stats, Restart outcomes, youth employment. Sanctions scrutiny pack. UC migration progress report. Target: Monthly automated parliamentary briefing on JSA/employment support performance.
NI contribution verification via HMRC RTI. Class 1 contribution check — 26 weeks at/above LEL in last 2 tax years. Age/residency/right-to-work validation. Income-based vs New Style routing. UC gateway condition check. Capital limits. Partner income assessment. SDP/SEAP eligibility. Habitual residence test. Full-time education exclusion.
Work search activity tracking — 35hr/week log. Job matching engine — skills, location, salary, hours. CV builder and application tracker. Vacancy recommendation from employer data. Skills gap analysis. Interview scheduling. Work search review automation. Universal Jobmatch integration. Employer contact verification. Sector-based work academy referral.
Sanction risk scoring — appointment attendance, journal completion, work search compliance. Breach notification workflow. Low/medium/high-level sanction determination. Hardship payment eligibility check. MR request processing. Appeal bundle preparation. Sanction duration calculator. Demographic fairness audit. Voluntary disclosure processing. Recovery tracking.
JSA payment calculation — under-25/25+ rates. Fortnightly payment scheduling. UC interaction — simultaneous claim prevention. Overpayment detection via RTI matching. Recovery from ongoing benefit. Bank account verification. Payment exception handling. Advance payment processing. Hardship payment calculation. UC standard allowance comparison.
Restart referral eligibility — 12+ months unemployed check. Provider selection and allocation. Claimant placement history review. Skills assessment workflow. Work experience placement matching. Employer engagement tracking. Provider performance monitoring — job outcomes, sustainment rates. Cost-per-outcome analysis. Claimant feedback collection. Cross-provider benchmarking.
JSA caseload dashboard — claimant numbers, duration, off-flows. Sanctions rate monitoring. Restart Scheme outcome tracking. Youth employment pipeline metrics. Over-50s employment rates. UC migration progress. Regional employment disparities. Vacancy ratio analysis. Provider performance comparison. Parliamentary reporting pipeline. FOI response generation.