Interview regarding Work Programme (help)

t0rt0ise

saintjammyswine wrote: »

The people these projects are aimed at are those that are struggling because of various problems, not those who are 'ready' to work or have the necessary skillsets to do the work.

And yet, according to the web, everyone has to go on it whether they are the target group you describe or not.

dandelionclock30

The key problem is that the proposed solution does not address the main problem which is with the economy.There may be a few people who get back to work but there will not be a sustained large improvement under the present proposals.
I bet my JSA on that!
Anyone who can analyse a problem will see this.

saintjammyswine

t0rt0ise wrote: »

And yet, according to the web, everyone has to go on it whether they are the target group you describe or not.

Yes, why not? The providers (main contractors) will have a programme tailored as far as possible for each client and their needs.

saintjammyswine

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

The key problem is that the proposed solution does not address the main problem which is with the economy.There may be a few people who get back to work but there will not be a sustained large improvement under the present proposals.
I bet my JSA on that!
Anyone who can analyse a problem will see this.

Of course the projects do not singlehandedly reverse the recession we are in but the work we are doing will and indeed IS helping people who have not been able to get the help previously that they need. The ways in which these projects are run compared to a year ago have changed dramatically. Pilot projects that have shown success are being rolled out from local to regional and national levels. I will not claim that I am finding everyone on JSA jobs but I am proud of the work I and people I work with do to help the people we can. Surely helping some is better than simply allowing all to fester on JSA without any intervention?

dandelionclock30

Absolutley people should be helped not allowed to fester,with access to decent high quality training and high quality placements if they need this.
But without addressing the Key problem the solution will never be more than tokenistic.
Its like saying a when there are large scale floods we should deal with it by providing a few buckets!

saintjammyswine

Except its not, is it. Helping people who need it is surely a good thing?

As I said previously, we cant reverse the recession, sorry.

"access to decent high quality training and high quality placements if they need this." - this is one of the biggest changes. Funding to the main contractors now is heavily weighted to a sustained employment outcome. Previously, it was simply here are 1000 people, get them through a training course (loose description as you probably know) and we will pay you handsomely. Now it is a small payment on referral, large payment when they are employed and further payment on completion of 2 years sustained employment.

dandelionclock30

Looks like the providers will not be getting paid much considering there are hardly any jobs to get anybody into. It will not impact on unemployment numbers apart from fiddled figures when people are on the schemes.

People will not be helped into long term sustainable employment in large numbers through this scheme due to it not addressing the structural cause of the problem.

If you dont understand this then I feel sorry for you.

saintjammyswine

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

Looks like the providers will not be getting paid much considering there are hardly any jobs to get anybody into. It will not impact on unemployment numbers apart from fiddled figures when people are on the schemes. - They are still on JSA while on the scemes.

People will not be helped into long term sustainable employment in large numbers through this scheme due to it not addressing the structural cause of the problem. But a project where some people are helped into employment where they previously would have been left on JSA is better surely? If there was a magic solution to end unemployment it would be wonderful, there isn't we can only do so much.

If you dont understand this then I feel sorry for you. Thanks for that barbed comment, no real need, simply defending the work I and others I work with do. If there was more we could do, it would be done, I can assure you.

............

DebiT

Basically all these schemes will do is to allow employers to replace the staff they were paying a minimum wage to, with free labour via the work programme.
If you disagree with such exploitation, it might be worth giving this site a look at. www.workprogramme.org.uk

There is a lot of information regarding how these so called providers do "business" and the people behind them.

saintjammyswine

DebiT wrote: »

Actually this is completely untrue. I wrote to ask the DWP for all the information the WP had on me, (before even speaking to me), and they presented me with two pages of information including the following:
Name, NI NO, telephone no, address, disability status, signing day, claim cycle, child care requirements, what kind of work I was looking for, how many years experience I had, aims, previous job information including dates, driving licence endorsements, qualifications.

The jobcentre tells you they dont give out more than your phone number and address because of data protection. The reality is that they send them a hell of a lot of information.

As a subcontracted provider and someone involved in the programme, the JCP tell me that before anything is released to us through the main contractor the client must sign a form allowing this to happen. We dont get any information until this is done. If its not signed we dont get the referral, dont know what happens then you would need to ask a JCP advisor.