It could be the start of something big – very big. But “the dollars are less than we hoped for”, said a senior vice-president of one of the potential US bidders for Britain’s welfare-to-work market, as it became clear that the first round of contracting in this brave new world would involve no real extra money.

His qualified reaction was echoed by others. “The language and the vision are fine,” said Neil Bentley, the CBI employers’ organisation’s director of public services, of the government’s new commissioning framework for such services. “But we haven’t got there yet.”