Financial News
- 28 November 2012, 10:01
Welfare-to-Work Scheme Misses Its Target
The Government has defended its flagship employment scheme after new figures showed the programme has missed its target.
Only 3.5% of the long-term unemployed helped by the scheme were still employed six months later, according to data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Figures showed that 800,000 people had started the Work Programme since it was launched last year, but that only 31,000 stayed in a job for six months.
A target of 5.5% was set for finding sustainable jobs.
But employment minister Mark Hoban defended the scheme, saying the programme is succeeding in getting people off benefits and into work.
He said that 56% of people who joined the scheme were no longer receiving benefits, with one in five of the earliest participants spending at least six months without them.
Mr Hoban also revealed that notices had been sent to a number of organisations involved in the programme, asking them to come up with plans to improve their performance
But Labour leader Ed Miliband criticised the programme and said it was on course to be a "miserable failure".
During a visit to Stevenage, he said: "It is just not working. What we've seen from the Government is a failure to reform welfare."
The initiative, which was launched in June 2011 to help the long-term unemployed find work, divides the country into regions, with each comprising a range of private, public and voluntary sector organisations.
It is a two-year scheme which supports some of the hardest-to-help claimants, including the long-term unemployed, disabled and ex-offenders.
Employers are paid by results to get people into work, and providers can earn between £3,700 and £13,700 per person, depending how hard it is to help an individual.
The DWP says the scheme so far has cost just over £2,097 for every participant.
The statistics were expected to be poor after various leaks showed the programme slowly "descending into chaos" as one source put it.
Unemployment is now slowly falling despite a stagnation in GDP, a phenomenon that has become known as the "productivity puzzle".
The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the trade body for the welfare-to-work industry, said criticism of the scheme was unfair, predicting that an increasing number of people will be helped into a sustained job.
what do you think?
Ben Ralph
Surprise surprise! Back to work claimants realise there's no point working for rubbish money in a job you hate when you can get a little less for doing nothing. Welcome to 21st century England.
blue side
Ben whilst there are those who adopt the philosophy (I know of at least two who have adopted this stand) it is not a total representation.
Louisa Gieldon
Most people are mortified and stressed by the experience. And then your fellow citizens call you scroungers and leeches. Och, it's a dawdle being unemployed-expensive holidays, thousands of pounds to spend on xmas presents for your kids, big fancy car and a wee job on the side. Fantastic!
blue side
Could the failure of the scheme be to do with the number of job vacancies ? and how the scheme works - I think maybe
peter
Whoever devised this scheme shoud visit a job centre plus and see how they get on. Best of luck if they do because I have had none.
blue side
peter agree it is an eye opener been there and got the T shirt. Long term then get outsourced in my case it was Pertemps - what a farce. Also got a look at the statistics for age versus period of unemployment that was an eye opener as it rises exponentially after about 35 - 40
Louisa Gieldon
Absolutely. You get no help there, just patronised and threatened with sanction if you don't go silently accept that you are of absolutely no importance. A horrible experience
Grant Berry
The Benefit state is exploding and poverty isn't decreasing. Why? Because Benefits doesn't end poverty. If anything, it creates more of it. If the goal really was a "war on poverty", we'd focus on ways to allow the market to create jobs -- not the so-called "redistribution of wealth". The Benefit state doesn't need to be slightly modified. It doesn't need to be expanded. It should be cut dramatically.
Michael Hawkins
Grant This depend on how you defend poverty. The official definition is a household that is 60% of the average household income. This does not mean that those who fall within this criteria are hard up, cost of living in the area where you live is likely to be a key factor as to how hard up you are?
Martin Peacock
Permit me to bore you senseless with my tale of unemployment, in the hope that it might cast light on some of the problems others are having. I am now 64. I was made redundant from being UK Manager of a US company when 1 was 40, and despite making about 8000 applications up to age 60 when a personal pension started, no job offers were forthcoming. Luckily I had sufficient investment income, so I did not need to claim benefits. I RESENT THE FACT THAT AGEISM BIAS PREVENTED ME FROM GETTING A JOB.
Louisa Gieldon
Martin as we age we see other people's prejudices don't we. We have all this experience and a wider perspective than younger people. Over 40 and you are seen as ancient. It is utterly ridiculous
bjnk
Why do these jobs not last? I realy dont think we can blame all the unemployed who thought they were going into 'proper' work. Could it be that once this taxpayers giveaway to private enterprise for placing a person expires so does the none job.
Peter Edwardson
From experience some of these provider companies which are paid tax payer's money to find jobs. Many are just collecting money and don't have the inclination or the skills to find real jobs. The government's management of the scheme is so poor that most of them can get away with anything. If you couple this with the attitude and economics of some of the unemployed the results are not surprising. In fact the percentage who achieved worthwhile jobs would have been higher without throwing away so much public money on this scheme and others. As I look around the country there is no shortage of work in fact there is more work than we can cope with. This is illustrated by the number of immigrants employed and many other things. This problem will continue until the gap between employment income and state income is much wider.
El Bubsio
Hmmm, half a million jobs to two and a half million jobless. Yup, plenty of work about isn't there.
Grant Berry
Dumping government handouts onto the poor won't end poverty. That's why 70% of lottery winners go broke within a few years of winning the lottery. If giving people MILLIONS won't keep them successful, then giving people THOUSANDS definitely won't. Until people understand this, we'll keep inflating the welfare state -- and poverty will keep existing just like it always has.
hollywoodbowden
1:25pm on 27/11/2012
With tax rises and bills going up all the time is it really worth working anymore when you can sit in heating on full watch tele. And have your rent payed all for free why get up at 6 in the mkrning in the cold to work in a depressing place for a few pound an hour
stephen
1:54pm on 27/11/2012
you are in for a big shock . if you ever end up on the dole £70 pw
hollywoodbowden
2:27pm on 27/11/2012
Not when all your bills are payed millions seem to well on it and go on holidays
Daniel Hancock
5:26pm on 27/11/2012
What bills paid? Electric no, gas no, water no.... If you are on pre paid meter as most of us looking for work are, look at 20% extra per unit. £70 per week doesn't go too far.
bjnk
5:31pm on 27/11/2012
I'll not disillusion you holly,you get all those things plus free car,petrol, tax,as much food as you can eat,clothes,and as bonus you may even meet scarecrow tin man and Lion while living in emerald city. I'll leave it to stephen to tell it as it is.
Louisa Gieldon
12:37pm on 28/11/2012
hollywood, no one on benefits gets their bills paid. The only benefit that would help in that way is Housing Ben and Council Tax ben. Electricity, gas, food, clothes, toiletries, cleaning products, petrol I if you can still hold onto your car), car tax. car repairs, family outings, school trips, school uniforms, extra curricular activities for the kids, cable tv, feeding non dependant children that you don't get money for, water and seage charges, etc etc etc. Most of these ordinary things have to go as they are not affordable. And then things break doen or wear out and you can't afford to replace them and existing debts that you took on when you were working still need to be paid. Not as easy as you make out