Work Programme... Need advice please

dandelionclock30

It said on the news the other night that people on this if they cant find work will be doing 30 weeks charity work!.I read an article though saying that charities were pulling out and were fed up with being messed around by these providers.
There was also 2 clients of the work programme highlighted, one lad who could nt get a job because he had a conviction for drug dealing and a lady who hadnt worked for 10 years due to anxiety and lack of confidence.There was a discussion about barriers and it said that the government would be getting a million people back to work through this. I found it interesting because it blamed the individual not the economic circumstances of the country.It was like an extention of a Tory political broadcast but thats the BBC for you.
What I think they will do is not count people on the work programme as being unemployed and god alone knows where they will be getting all these placements from.
Also the charity sector wont be taking on people after a placement because they have all had massive budget cuts.Its all a real load of crap.

dseventy

I posted this on another thread posted by Chris/Matt...

As you have a new job, you can't do the work programme so I would just ring and explain. Say you are not going on the programme and hence will not be doing paperwork.

If you sign back onto JSA in the next 2 years, you will have to do it as if you were still on it now (if that makes sense).

D70

dseventy

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

It said on the news the other night that people on this if they cant find work will be doing 30 weeks charity work!

.

Why is doing some work for your JSA a problem?

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

.I read an article though saying that charities were pulling out and were fed up with being messed around by these providers.

.

Can you quote the article please? A link?

Just aksing because where I live all the charities are falling over themselves for this scheme.

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

There was also 2 clients of the work programme highlighted, one lad who could nt get a job because he had a conviction for drug dealing and a lady who hadnt worked for 10 years due to anxiety and lack of confidence.
.

Perhaps a bit of charity work, some experience, a reference might these 2 people?

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

There was a discussion about barriers and it said that the government would be getting a million people back to work through this. I found it interesting because it blamed the individual not the economic circumstances of the country.It was like an extention of a Tory political broadcast but thats the BBC for you.
What I think they will do is not count people on the work programme as being unemployed and god alone knows where they will be getting all these placements from.
Also the charity sector wont be taking on people after a placement because they have all had massive budget cuts.Its all a real load of crap
.

The rest does not really make sense.

D70

bobajob_1966

Chrisw123 wrote: »

If I lose my job I am more than happy to get help from them to find work, but I cannot afford to have sanctions placed on me, for example, if I refused to take a job as a littler picker or toilet cleaner at macdonalds. Sanctions would mean I could not afford rent and living costs, without JSA I would lose my flat and ultimately my life.

Thanks in advance
Chris

If you claim that you cannot live without your JSA, you cannot be picky about the work you are offered.

swabaxter

I started on the Work Programme in the last 2 weeks. I chose to go to
Ingeus because I believe that are one of the best companies that have
the contract.
It's early days but I know this is much better than a variety of smaller
companies and charities who were much less professional.

LadyMissA

swabaxter wrote: »

I started on the Work Programme in the last 2 weeks. I chose to go to
Ingeus because I believe that are one of the best companies that have
the contract.
It's early days but I know this is much better than a variety of smaller
companies and charities who were much less professional.

How did you chose the provider? The provider is given to you by the job centre

bobajob_1966

LadyMissA wrote: »

How did you chose the provider? The provider is given to you by the job centre

Some areas have overlapping coverage.

Seabadger

All areas have overlapping coverage (two or three Primes per CPA) but it's not possible to choose - referrals are allocated by JCP equally. The inability to choose, or at least for one Prime to re-refer to another when one of them has a more suitable supply chain is a potential problem (one of many) with the programme.

Just aksing because where I live all the charities are falling over themselves for this scheme.

Engagement of the voluntary sector is a bit of a thorny issue - DWP estimate 46%, but the reality is likely to be below 20%. The funding of the programme is difficult for the voluntary sector to cope with (relies on being comfortable with high levels of risk and having access to significant reserves / working capital) so whilst many charities are delivering, there is less engagement than had been hoped for, and the concerns about Primes using the voluntary sector as window dressing (or "bid candy") are entirely real.

The most recent news this week has been about Primes making use of "free" services to provide training or work experience. Chris Grayling's response was that Primes shouldn't do that, although contractually, there's nothing to prevent them, and like an individual, they're reluctant to pay for something they can get for free.

Finally, the 6 months / 30 hours compulsory work is described as community service; I suspect this is one of those things that will be quietly dropped, but either way, it's unlikely to involve charity work per se.

dandelionclock30

So what exactly will people be doing on the work programme? will it be hours of jobsearch for weeks on end and then litter picking in the community/working at Poundland for free? I dont know anybody who has got a job from Government schemes.

Seabadger

Job search, job brokering, job preparation, training and specialist support (in theory) - it's "black box" so each prime contractor is free to offer whatever they want rather than delivering a specific programme or set of interventions. With regard to the Poundland thing, the Work Programme is separate from Mandatory Work Activity, which people are referred to at the discretion of JCP.

Interesting thing about the compulsory community service at the end of the 2 year programme is that it's described as a pilot, although Cameron has already stated that it will be rolled out nationally - so in what sense it's piloting anything is beyond me.