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Forgive my ignorance, but didn't it used to be like this?
When I left school at 16, I remember being put on a program that was run by a third party that ultimately ended with me being paid below minimum wage to work in a charity shop for six months (4 days a week, with one day for reporting to the job center).
Not saying it's a good system, because it's not, but I'm absolutely sure they've (Labour included) have tried this before.
Yes, they tried it before, more than once, but it turned into a complete clusterfuck. The placements were meant to teach people new skills to help them find work. But most placements ended up being stocking shelves and other completely unskilled jobs. Employers also didn't particularly want to be supervising people who clearly didn't want to be there, let alone spend time teaching them new skills. So these placements just provided cheap labour, since the government paid employers to take them on. It also led to people being fired under spurious reasons only to find themselves being placed themselves at their previous employer.
From what I remember there was a “work experience” placement scheme during the coalition years, that had claimants doing 2-4 weeks unpaid in mostly retail work. The pitch was that would give a defence, or job offer from the business giving the placement.
In reality the participating businesses just used it as a revolving pool of free labour.
Benefit claimants who fail to find work for more than 18 months will have to undertake work experience placements,
18 months! 😶
Very few people are unemployed for that long. This will primarily punish people who have been put on JSA when they should be on ESA because they're too sick to work. Many because the NHS waiting lists have been allowed to explode.
Pure cruelty. Which is the point, of course.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Under its Back to Work plan - which is part of next week's Autumn Statement - the government says it will expand and reform existing career help schemes for people with disabilities, health conditions or the long-term unemployed, as well as launch new ones.
Under a plan that would need parliamentary approval, those solely eligible for the standard Universal Credit allowance who refuse to engage with job centre staff or accept work offered to them after six months will have their claims closed.
That means they will have to go through the application process again if they want to keep receiving benefits and lose access to extras such as free prescriptions and legal aid during that time.
Under the current sanctions regime, such claimants only have a deduction applied to their benefits until they re-comply with their requirement to meet with a work coach and establish a personalised job-seeking plan.
From late 2024 mandatory work placement trials will also be rolled out for people unemployed longer than 18 months, and benefits will be removed from those who refuse to take part.
"We will put that money into creating every year an additional two million appointments, scans and operations in our National Health Service so that we can get those waiting lists down, get people the treatment they need, and get them in many cases back into work."
The original article contains 628 words, the summary contains 227 words. Saved 64%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Whilst I have no faith in any scheme this government comes up with, what are we supposed to do with people that just don't want to work? Is it right that some people can claim benefits for ever if they are capable of working?