Client needs for coherent information, advice and guidance services ...

558 On-going contact with an adviser provides a central point to which the client can
keep returning to get help with assimilating/interpreting new information or to get
ideas/suggestions about next steps. We note here that these points apply equally to
an adviser who is making referrals to external agencies, whilst still maintaining a
watching brief and providing continuity.
559 On a similar point, it does not seem to matter to clients that they may have to seek
information from a variety of sources; indeed, many clients do not think of research
activities as using a separate service. By and large, clients do not expect one person
to be able to provide them with all the help they need, but they do value being able
to return to someone who is aware of both their needs and the action they have
already taken to address those needs.
560 Whilst continuity was seen as positive in by far the majority of instances, there were
a few examples where the same scenario was presented negatively. Clients portray
this as a particular organisation ‘getting a grip on you’ and ‘not letting you go’ - the
inference being that providers are more interested in client volumes than
researching individual need and making referrals to the most appropriate provider.
It did appear that (in two cases at least) clients had become ‘institutionalised’ and
had ceased to question whether they were making progress or even on the right
path.
Coherence with wider networks
561 For many clients – both young people and adults - perceptions of coherence are
influenced by wider needs that go beyond IAG interpreted narrowly. Providers which
address client needs for, say, benefits advice, housing advice, language training or
the development if ICT (whether internally or through referral) are described by
clients as “interested in the person as a whole”.
562 This contributes to the extent to which the service is seen as coherent in relation to
the needs of the individual. We return to the issue of providers’ links with wider
(non-IAG) networks in Chapter VI.
On-going use of IAG
563 Clients were asked about whether they perceived a need for IAG in the future. Many
intended to continue to use their current IAG provider until achieving their goal of
obtaining work. Others reported that they would return to the same provider,
following completion of a learning episode. The degree to which clients expected to
return to the same provider, irrespective of the type of future need, was striking.
However, comparatively few anticipated any future need for IAG services, once the
present issue had been resolved. Indeed, many indicated that they hoped they
would not have cause to use services in future – suggesting that many clients see
IAG services as relevant only in a crisis.
564 Employers were not seen by clients as a source of future IAG and no-one mentioned
unions or other work-based support, unless raised by the facilitator. It is clear that
users perceive IAG providers as completely distinct from, rather than having
continuity with, in-work development and progression. None of the clients in our
sample expected to seek external IAG in relation to progression within a job; nor
were in-work activities such as appraisal and development reviews raised as a
possible context for IAG.
565 Only one client reported that she had received IAG through her employer. Her view
was that, in a work context, IAG provision can be equated with good human
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