The plan to merge the Benefits Agency - the benefit paying arm of the Department of Social Security - with Employment Services, the job agency of the Department for Education and Employment, will be put into action in October 2001. The new Working Age Agency will provide a single gateway to job hunting and welfare support.The plan puts into effect the principle of customer focus by providing all the services needed for a specific life event, in this case, loss of a job. 

Warwick University has set up the Institute of Governance and Public Management, on the model of the Kennedy School of Government in the USA. The Institute’s Advisory Board is chaired by Sir John Harman, who also heads the Environment Agency, Health Development Agency, and the National Youth Agency.Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett speaking at the launching ceremony challenged public servants to transform the way they work and deliver services.