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DWP Flexible new deal scheme

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  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,925 Forumite
    red_devil wrote: »
    The scheme does nothing you cant arrange for yourself. You can jobsearch at home or the library anyone can do courses and voluntary work.

    There is a stigma to being on the programme and its only to bully you into attending one of their centres by saying no show no money!

    There is nothing they can do you cant do. They are often understaffed also.

    So why haven't you arranged it yourself? Clearly your efforts are inadequate if you are still without a job.
    Gone ... or have I?
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
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    book12 wrote: »
    Do you find seeing the advisor once a month at the JC useful? What kind of stuff do they do to help?

    no, he is a waste of space. he keeps asking what do you think you could do to improve your situation. this just makes me think if i knew that i wouldnt be sat in front of you would i. basically his job is to get people to go for the jobs no-one wants. i think i have mentioned how he wiped the stuff on the hours section of my jobseekers agreement. he is also constantly saying i should change the 3 jobs in it. i bet whatever jobs people have listed they will always say you should change them. he has refered me to an organisation called next step were they are expected to persuade me to go for the jobs no-one wants. he didnt word it like that but that is what he meant. he keeps calling me negative. i say i am just seeing things as they are. he then says well we are trying to be positive here. i think(and dont say) there is nothing to be positive about.
    i hope you get someone better.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
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    book12 wrote: »
    I hope they offer that as part of my 13 week review, as I will find it useful. Hopefully, they will be as useful as the CV books/websites. Just need a second opinion from a person. I've been using CV books/websites for advice so far.

    If they don't offer it, I will ask for it.

    Do they do the CV writing thing 1-to-1?


    dont get your hopes up. my experience of 13 week reviews is it is just an extended version of what you do when you sign on. they will do a jobsearch, ask you what you have done to find work and review your jobseekers agreement. i would still ask them about the extra help you need.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
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    Jowo wrote: »
    When some US states introduced conditions in the benefits system to mirror employment practices (full time supervised job searches or community work placements), they were not interested in providing any training or education. They cite studies which show that after huge cost in investing in skills and training for people, there was either no or low benefit in terms of them getting a better paid job (some got a few cents extra but most didn't). They do not believe that providing training results in any greater employability in the applicants.

    The philosophy in the US is that people must work, take any job, and if they want qualifications and skills, this is something the individual has to arrange and invest in, not the state. Their attitude is that those who are out of work must stop being fussy and just get the type of job they can with their current skills and experiences rather than further delay their entry into the workplace.

    well i think part of what holds people back is the lack of skills and qualifications. the usa is a country were the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. do we really want to be like them?
    ps if qualifications dont help then why do so many people bother to go to college and university?
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,925 Forumite
    well i think part of what holds people back is the lack of skills and qualifications. the usa is a country were the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. do we really want to be like them?
    ps if qualifications dont help then why do so many people bother to go to college and university?

    Care to back this up with some facts donnajunkie, or are you just making things up again? :rolleyes:
    Gone ... or have I?
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
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    red_devil wrote: »
    good post. I think they should be scrapped. Its a well known fact they dont help many people back into work. Its merely done to make it look like there are less people signing on than there are! You shouldnt be threatened with loss of benefits either if you dont attend!

    The charity shop work is slave labour as well as does not get you a job!

    they also exist to keep the middle class voters happy who think the unemployed live the life of riley and should be made to work for their benefit.
    on the charity shop point, i do agree that it doesnt get you a job but i wouldnt call it slave labour. having to work for a private company who would otherwise employ someone. that is slave labour.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
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    cit_k wrote: »
    The problem is the legislators assume *all* eligible people are sitting doing nothing.
    Whereas, some will be, some wont be...

    Last time I was claiming unemployment benefit, when not applying for jobs, I was brushing up on my programming skills, something far, far more valuable than sitting around making paper brigdges at a4e, or a short term placement at a high street store.

    When I was sent on a course (back in the days when they were useful, and not a excercise in making the rich richer, and slave labour) the time I had spent brushing up on programming landed me a nice job.

    The current scheme would have ruined any chance I had of a decent career back then, and at best would have landed me in a dead end job, with no chance of getting out of it, due to not having time to keep up to date with required skills.

    the last time i was on the course there was a lad who was going to start his own business. he needed funding from the princes trust i think. he was told he couldnt get funding while he was on new deal. so he had to waste 6 months stuck on new deal before he could finally get the ball rolling with his business.
  • donnajunkie
    donnajunkie Posts: 32,412 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    dmg24 wrote: »
    Care to back this up with some facts donnajunkie, or are you just making things up again? :rolleyes:

    i cant give you links or anything like that. i get that from watching various news stories and documentaries over the years. i am sure someone here will know were there is info on the net to back up this view.
    i am sure there was a news story not too long ago about the number of kids in the usa living below the poverty line. i cant remember the number it said but it was very high.
  • Jowo_2
    Jowo_2 Posts: 8,308 Forumite
    well i think part of what holds people back is the lack of skills and qualifications. the usa is a country were the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. do we really want to be like them?
    ps if qualifications dont help then why do so many people bother to go to college and university?

    I agree with you that part of what holds people back is having little to offer employers and I'm not a fan of many aspects of the USAs domestic policies. After all, you can work like a dog over there and not afford simple healthcare or housing.

    The requirement for those US states that implemented conditionality into their welfare system ( benefit claimants undertaking structured activities on a full time basis to qualify for it) meant welfare rolls dropped by 80+%. I don't think they'd have been so 'successful' if they allowed claimants greater discretion over their activities and offered training courses - it's only the compulsory nature of the participation that drives down numbers.

    But it does tackle the fact that one of the main causes of long-term unemployment is the fact that the longer a person is excluded from the workplace, the higher the likelihood that they'll never return to it - the loss of confidence, motivation and routine, the cushion of benefits, etc, all conspire to make the person unemployable as time progresses.

    But I also think part of what holds some people back is also that those who lack skills, experience and qualifications have unrealistic aspirations about the type of job and salary they can get. An academic analysed some IB claimants in Wales, found most had little or no qualifications, skills and experience, but that generally they were only interested in returning to work at twice the rate of the minimum wage, around £11 per hour then, which tends to be paid to the semi skilled, graduates and managers. They'd set themselves an entry criteria to re-entering the workforce that virtually none were likely to meet.

    Apologies to OP for going off thread, into policies, rather than specifically addressing their queries.
  • Jowo_2
    Jowo_2 Posts: 8,308 Forumite
    the last time i was on the course there was a lad who was going to start his own business. he needed funding from the princes trust i think. he was told he couldnt get funding while he was on new deal. so he had to waste 6 months stuck on new deal before he could finally get the ball rolling with his business.

    A more positive interpretation is that he could use his spare time in that period to undertake further business planning to give his business even greater chance of succeeding and that it introduced him to the reality of being self-employed - being exposed to risks without much state support. If he was confident about his business model, then he could have forgone the benefits and launched it once he got the funding.
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