A digest of comments on the new governement rules on job seeking and sanctions etc...
Government's Help to Work scheme launches
A new government scheme to help the long-term unemployed get jobs comes into effect on Monday. Those who have not found work after two years on the existing Work Programme, will have to enrol on the Help to Work scheme or face reduced benefits. Participants will have to go to the job centre every day, some will be offered community work placements and others will receive intensive coaching. Those who fail to take part could lose jobless benefits for four weeks. Labour says that the government has mis-diagnosed the problem. BBC social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan said the government had signed up more than 70 organisations to provide work experience under the scheme. However, our correspondent added that the Salvation Army is not taking part, because it believes if someone has not found a job after two years of intensive support, their lack of work experience is not their only barrier to employment. Also on Monday, those wanting to claim Jobseeker's Allowance will have to prove they are ready for work, before they can apply.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27177767
Long-term jobless to have to scrub war memorials and historic monuments
Long-term unemployed will have to report daily to local job centres to discuss how to get back to work and may be told to clean war memorials and restore historic monuments
Long-term unemployed people will have to clean war memorials, restore historic monuments and look after animals at city farms to keep their benefits from today. The Government is unveiling its Help to Work scheme aimed specifically at 200,000 people who have been unemployed, or unable to hold down a job, for three years. Under the scheme, these long-term unemployed will have to report daily to local job centres to discuss how to get back to work. If they are judged not to have enough work experience they will be allocated volunteering roles with charities and other providers. Typical examples include scrubbing war memorials, helping to clean up historic monuments and working in local cafés run by volunteers. Other work includes helping out at community and city farms, cleaning and restoring river and canal banks and even sorting through second hand clothes in charity warehouses. Failure to cooperate could see them losing work-related benefits, such as the £72-a-week job seekers' allowance. Government sources said the placements – which will last for up to six months each – were focused on the voluntary sector to avoid taking jobs from other people (!!!)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10791475/Long-term-jobless-to-have-to-scrub-war-memorials-and-historic-monuments.html
Liverpool council boycotts the government's 'Help to Work' scheme
Nick Small cabinet member for Employment, Enterprise & Skills, described the scheme as "immoral and unworkable"
Liverpool City Council has become the first council in the country to boycott the government's new 'Help to Work' scheme which launched this morning. Under new rules jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than two years will have to either sign on everyday, undergo intensive training or take unpaid work. The work placements include six months of 30 hour weeks and may include activities such as gardening, running community cafes or restoring historical sites and war memorials. The Department for Work and Pensions announced that more than 70 organisations have signed up to participate in the scheme. But a number of charities, including Oxfam, the YMCA and the Salvation Army, made it clear that they would not be taking part. "Imposing slave labour schemes on the charity sector, while slashing budgets, will only encourage a reduction in the skilled voluntary and community work force." The move also ignored the good practice established in the sector, replacing experienced paid workers and genuine volunteers, Mr Prentis added.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-council-boycotts-governments-help-7043867
Union condemns slave labour community scheme
UNISON has joined a number of charities to condemn the government community work placements in its new Help to Work scheme, which began this week. The new rules makes it compulsory for a long-term claimant to either do "intensive" coaching, meet an adviser every day, or carry out a community work placement for up to six months. The community programme requires people to take on unpaid, community-based work experience of up to 30 hours each week. "It is wrong for the government to use the voluntary and community sector to implement its punitive benefits regime," commented UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.
http://www.unison.org.uk/content/conNewsArticle/5001
Let's call Help to Work what it really is: punishment of the undeserving poor
The government's scheme undermines the very idea of unemployment benefit and demonises the vulnerable people it should be assisting
Has Iain Duncan Smith ever met uber-troll Katie Hopkins? It's a serious worry, because they could meld. Her latest "idea" – "It's time we issued an unemployed person's uniform" – would doubtless appeal to him and George Osborne with their penchant for tramping on the faces of the poor. Hopkins may or may not mean what she says; she is simply an entrepreneur whose commodity is venom that she markets as "telling it like it is" – an increasingly common tactic for the right. Suggesting this is a prelude to rounding people up and putting them in camps will not bother her. Way more horrific is that a fundamentally cruel attitude to unemployed people is actually government policy. Worklessness no longer means not having a job; it means that you can be treated as if you were a prisoner. You can be made to work for no money or forced to "volunteer".
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/help-to-work-is-really-punishment-unemployed-people
Keep Volunteering Voluntary
NAVCA has signed up to the 'Keep Volunteering Voluntary' campaign. We are committed to the principle that people who volunteer give their time freely and without coercion. Joe Irvin, Chief Executive of NAVCA, said: "People volunteer for a whole host of reasons and NAVCA members are there to support them in whatever activity they choose. But it ceases to be volunteering when people have no choice. Our sector has a proud record of supporting unemployed people into work through volunteering and this latest DWP scheme undermines that. That is why NAVCA is opposed to any form of compulsory unpaid 'voluntary' work in return for benefits. And it is why we have offered our support to the 'Keep Volunteering Voluntary' campaign." We encourage others to sign up to support the 'Keep Volunteering Voluntary' campaign on the campaign website
http://www.kvv.org.uk/
A new government scheme to help the long-term unemployed get jobs comes into effect on Monday. Those who have not found work after two years on the existing Work Programme, will have to enrol on the Help to Work scheme or face reduced benefits. Participants will have to go to the job centre every day, some will be offered community work placements and others will receive intensive coaching. Those who fail to take part could lose jobless benefits for four weeks. Labour says that the government has mis-diagnosed the problem. BBC social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan said the government had signed up more than 70 organisations to provide work experience under the scheme. However, our correspondent added that the Salvation Army is not taking part, because it believes if someone has not found a job after two years of intensive support, their lack of work experience is not their only barrier to employment. Also on Monday, those wanting to claim Jobseeker's Allowance will have to prove they are ready for work, before they can apply.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27177767
Long-term jobless to have to scrub war memorials and historic monuments
Long-term unemployed will have to report daily to local job centres to discuss how to get back to work and may be told to clean war memorials and restore historic monuments
Long-term unemployed people will have to clean war memorials, restore historic monuments and look after animals at city farms to keep their benefits from today. The Government is unveiling its Help to Work scheme aimed specifically at 200,000 people who have been unemployed, or unable to hold down a job, for three years. Under the scheme, these long-term unemployed will have to report daily to local job centres to discuss how to get back to work. If they are judged not to have enough work experience they will be allocated volunteering roles with charities and other providers. Typical examples include scrubbing war memorials, helping to clean up historic monuments and working in local cafés run by volunteers. Other work includes helping out at community and city farms, cleaning and restoring river and canal banks and even sorting through second hand clothes in charity warehouses. Failure to cooperate could see them losing work-related benefits, such as the £72-a-week job seekers' allowance. Government sources said the placements – which will last for up to six months each – were focused on the voluntary sector to avoid taking jobs from other people (!!!)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10791475/Long-term-jobless-to-have-to-scrub-war-memorials-and-historic-monuments.html
Liverpool council boycotts the government's 'Help to Work' scheme
Nick Small cabinet member for Employment, Enterprise & Skills, described the scheme as "immoral and unworkable"
Liverpool City Council has become the first council in the country to boycott the government's new 'Help to Work' scheme which launched this morning. Under new rules jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than two years will have to either sign on everyday, undergo intensive training or take unpaid work. The work placements include six months of 30 hour weeks and may include activities such as gardening, running community cafes or restoring historical sites and war memorials. The Department for Work and Pensions announced that more than 70 organisations have signed up to participate in the scheme. But a number of charities, including Oxfam, the YMCA and the Salvation Army, made it clear that they would not be taking part. "Imposing slave labour schemes on the charity sector, while slashing budgets, will only encourage a reduction in the skilled voluntary and community work force." The move also ignored the good practice established in the sector, replacing experienced paid workers and genuine volunteers, Mr Prentis added.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-council-boycotts-governments-help-7043867
Union condemns slave labour community scheme
UNISON has joined a number of charities to condemn the government community work placements in its new Help to Work scheme, which began this week. The new rules makes it compulsory for a long-term claimant to either do "intensive" coaching, meet an adviser every day, or carry out a community work placement for up to six months. The community programme requires people to take on unpaid, community-based work experience of up to 30 hours each week. "It is wrong for the government to use the voluntary and community sector to implement its punitive benefits regime," commented UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.
http://www.unison.org.uk/content/conNewsArticle/5001
Let's call Help to Work what it really is: punishment of the undeserving poor
The government's scheme undermines the very idea of unemployment benefit and demonises the vulnerable people it should be assisting
Has Iain Duncan Smith ever met uber-troll Katie Hopkins? It's a serious worry, because they could meld. Her latest "idea" – "It's time we issued an unemployed person's uniform" – would doubtless appeal to him and George Osborne with their penchant for tramping on the faces of the poor. Hopkins may or may not mean what she says; she is simply an entrepreneur whose commodity is venom that she markets as "telling it like it is" – an increasingly common tactic for the right. Suggesting this is a prelude to rounding people up and putting them in camps will not bother her. Way more horrific is that a fundamentally cruel attitude to unemployed people is actually government policy. Worklessness no longer means not having a job; it means that you can be treated as if you were a prisoner. You can be made to work for no money or forced to "volunteer".
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/help-to-work-is-really-punishment-unemployed-people
Keep Volunteering Voluntary
NAVCA has signed up to the 'Keep Volunteering Voluntary' campaign. We are committed to the principle that people who volunteer give their time freely and without coercion. Joe Irvin, Chief Executive of NAVCA, said: "People volunteer for a whole host of reasons and NAVCA members are there to support them in whatever activity they choose. But it ceases to be volunteering when people have no choice. Our sector has a proud record of supporting unemployed people into work through volunteering and this latest DWP scheme undermines that. That is why NAVCA is opposed to any form of compulsory unpaid 'voluntary' work in return for benefits. And it is why we have offered our support to the 'Keep Volunteering Voluntary' campaign." We encourage others to sign up to support the 'Keep Volunteering Voluntary' campaign on the campaign website
http://www.kvv.org.uk/
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