Welfare-to-Work

The background The government launched the Work Programme in June last year, calling it the biggest welfare-to-work initiative in UK history. Is it working? With more than 2.5 million people unemployed, there’s a huge amount riding on that question. And the government now says it wants to export the same kind of model – outsourcing…

“You essentially recruit the best people for your own organisation but instead of paying for the cost of vetting, interviewing, training and trialling them yourself, the taxpayer picks up the bill because those things are covered by the 2012 contract. You then collect from the taxpayer a second time because the people you recruited were on the Work Programme and you got them off the dole queue.”

Even if the government did absolutely nothing to help them, a certain percentage of people would find work off their own bat. The Work Programme can only be said to be “working” – or having any effect at all – if providers are doing better than this “non-intervention” rate.

“Confusion reigns, and despite repeated phone calls and several days to think about it, DWP has declined to clarify the situation.”

“There’s currently no legal mechanism for forcing offenders to agree to meet their victims. If the rioters don’t feel like a face-to-face showdown then, as things stand, they won’t have to do it.”