Unmanageable, untrustworthy, unemployable and feckless: these are the words that often come up to describe the “untapped talent pool” of people who are not working when they could (or should) be.

Yet, according to CIPD employment adviser John McGurk, most of the people in question want to work – and most employers are, theoretically, willing to employ them. A 2005 CIPD survey found that 87 per cent of ex-offenders are at least as productive as other employees, while the DWP’s Freud Report found that 80 per cent of lone parents would prefer to work, though only 56 per cent do so.