New Government Proposals on Welfare

This is taken directly from ‘The Coalition: our programme for government’ paper. It is still lacking a lot of details which need filling out, so a proper analysis can’t be made of it just yet. But it does show there are some major changes coming, which seem to be aimed at continuing to force people off incapacity benefits or training people on pointless courses for non-existent jobs through private companies. We should also note that there are massive plans to cut public spending and I think its safe to say, this is one area the government will be targetting.

The Government believes that we need to encourage responsibility and fairness in the welfare system. That means providing help for those who cannot work, training and targeted support for those looking for work, but sanctions for those who turn down reasonable offers of work or training.

• We will end all existing welfare to work programmes and create a single welfare to work programme to help all unemployed people get back into work.
• We will ensure that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants facing the most significant barriers to work are referred to the new welfare to work programme immediately, not after 12 months as is currently the case. We will ensure that Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants aged under 25 are referred to the programme after a maximum of six months.
• We will realign contracts with welfare to work service providers to reflect more closely the results they achieve in getting people back into work.
• We will reform the funding mechanism used by government to finance welfare to work programmes to reflect the fact that initial investment delivers later savings through lower benefit expenditure, including creating an integrated work programme with outcome funding based upon the DEL/AME switch.
• We will ensure that receipt of benefits for those able to work is conditional on their willingness to work.
• We support the National Minimum Wage because of the protection it gives low-income workers and the incentives to work it provides.
• We will re-assess all current claimants of Incapacity Benefit for their readiness to work. Those assessed as fully capable for work will be moved onto Jobseeker’s Allowance.
• We will support would-be entrepreneurs through a new programme – Work for Yourself – which will give the unemployed access to business mentors and start-up loans.
• We will draw on a range of Service Academies to offer pre-employment training and work placements for unemployed people.
• We will develop local Work Clubs – places where unemployed people can gather to exchange skills, find opportunities, make contacts and provide mutual support.
• We will investigate how to simplify the benefit system in order to improve incentives to work.

Taken from HM Government website

The Unemployment Business

The latest edition of Corporate Watch

It has almost become a self-evident truth that unemployment has been growing progressively over the last two decades, both in scale and in its significance for social and economic policy. How and why are often ignored but a vast industry to ‘manage’ this ‘crisis’ has developed. From flourishing private companies, such as A4e, contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions to deliver what Jobcentre Plus has apparently failed to achieve, through tens of subcontracted employment services providers, to a growing sector of so-called voluntary organisations that depend on this reserve army of unemployed people to source their ‘slave’ workforce. This double issue of the Corporate Watch Newsletter takes a look at this relatively new ‘unemployment business’; its protagonists, ideological, political and economic premises and how it is being utilised by the New Labour government to dismantle what’s left of the welfare state.

The ‘unemployment crisis’ has certainly been exacerbated by the recent economic downturn, with many employers going bust, but that’s not the whole story. Many big businesses have also exploited the current climate to push for compulsory redundancies. More importantly, the recession and the rising number of jobless people have been skilfully employed by politicians and government officials. By introducing new schemes and increasingly coercive measures to ‘help’ the unemployed get back into the job market, they have put yet another nail in the welfare state’s coffin.

The first article, The Welfare Crisis, discusses these deployments in more detail, providing some historical background on New Labour’s welfare reforms. Two other articles take an in-depth look at the New Deal programmes, both old and new, which have been at the core of these reforms, providing some new details and figures about the winners and losers, or the private contractors and their victims. The voluntarism business is discussed in depth in a separate article, again with some interesting details and figures. These are complemented by a shorter article on prison slave labour, which bears striking similarities to the increasingly coercive benefits and employment system, both in how it is working out and in the reasoning behind it.

Readers may notice, or be annoyed by, the rather excessive use of inverted commas in most of the articles. This is because one of the aims of this issue is not only to demystify the business jargon used to talk about employment and benefits, but also to pause and question the official terms and euphemisms that have come to be used by almost everyone without much questioning. To that end, we have included a list of the most common words and terms in this ‘benefits newspeak’, along with their real meanings.

Our other aim of this issue is to highlight how the reformed welfare system is being used by the state and the market for social control. During interviews conducted for the purpose of producing this newsletter, one of the “Jobcentre victims,” as he described himself, commented: “If they gave the money they spend on finding work for people to those people [on the dole], there wouldn’t be a crisis, would there?” No, there probably wouldn’t but, of course, it’s not only about money. Keeping people busy with work or looking for work also serves another political agenda: preventing time for politics, uninstitutionalised creativity and other ‘dangerous’ activities.

With all the talk about ‘flexibility’, people nowadays appear to have less freedom to choose what they really want to do, particularly those with less marketable skills. Forcing people to do whatever is available on the job market to survive means subjecting them to ruthless market mechanisms (everyone seems to accept terms like the ‘labour market’ as normal!). We have included an article about the rather small-scale acts of resistance by the unemployed and benefit claimants, but we are aware that much more could, and should, be done. We hope this issue is a useful contribution to this growing movement.

The rest of the magazine can be found online here and a full PDF here

Housing charity Shelter targets councils

Housing charity Shelter and trade unionists have lambasted councils up and down the country for failing to provide adequate social housing.

Releasing a league table ranking the performance of local councils in social housing delivery, Shelter found that 98 per cent had failed to provide the affordable housing needed in the area.

In addition 90 per cent of councils had provided fewer than half of the homes they said were needed in their area during the year, the charity found.

Shelter said only eight out of the 323 local authorities in England had managed to provide enough affordable homes to meet demand during 2008-9.

The Local Government Association was quick to rubbish the charity’s claims, citing “flawed research.”

But Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said: “We know that the recession has created a difficult climate for housebuilding, but these figures clearly show that councils must work far harder to ensure more desperately needed affordable homes are provided if they ever hope to meet the housing needs of their local population.”

He said that with council budgets set to be slashed, it was important that all parties made the provision of affordable housing a top priority.

Unite assistant general secretary Jack Dromey blamed Tory councils for creating much of the pain for families trying to get on the social housing ladder.

Citing the Tory-run Hammersmith and Fulham council, which ranks 211th out of 323 councils surveyed, Mr Dromey said: “David Cameron’s flagship council Hammersmith and Fulham has drawn up plans to demolish 3,400 council homes, end security of tenure and hike up social housing rents to market levels.

“Knocking down council homes, ending security of tenure and hiking up rents to gerrymander votes is the politics of the discredited Dame Shirley Porter of Westminster past.”

Mr Dromey will also be speaking at the Defend Council Housing national conference today at TUC Congress House in London.

Taken from Morning Star

MPs attack £5bn government bill for ‘grotty’ new housing

The government risks repeating the mistakes of the postwar housing boom by wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on funding “grotty” new homes, say MPs.

The Homes and Communities Agency, the national housing and regeneration body for England, which has an annual investment budget of more than £5bn, has admitted that 27 of the private-sector projects it has bailed out scored five or less out of 20 on the industry’s Building for Life benchmark, with two scoring just 1.5.

Homes failed on a range of basic measures, including poor space standards and over-reliance on single-aspect dwellings; inflexibility; low sustainability standards; and poor compatibility with neighbouring properties.

The HCA insists it is providing much-needed homes and helping the stricken building industry, but Alan Howarth, a Labour peer and former architecture minister, told Building Design magazine it had ignored its statutory duty to promote high-quality design. Howarth, who helped draw up the legislation that gave birth to the agency, promised to hold it to account by raising the matter in the Lords next month. “I don’t think there can be any excuse at all for the HCA sanctioning a new wave of grotty housing,” he said.

His worries were echoed by two members of the communities and local government select committee, Labour MP Clive Betts and Tory Paul Beresford, who called on the committee to carry out its own investigation.

The HCA’s chief executive, Bob Kerslake, said the agency had to balance its “commitment” to design with the urgent need to stimulate the economy. The Building for Life assessment was important, he said, but the HCA attached equal significance to the work of its local teams with on-the-ground knowledge.

Taken from guardian.co.uk

Defending the Welfare State and Public Services

March and Rally 10 April 2010

The pensioner, trade union and other welfare movements are planning a major demonstration in central London next April, in defence of the welfare state and public services.

The National Pensioners Convention is leading the event and the TUC is giving its full support, along with ASLEF, BECTU, CWU, FBU, GMB, NUJ, NUT, PCS, POA, RMT, TSSA, UCATT, UCU, UNISON, UNITE and USDAW. In addition the BMA, RADAR and the Carers Poverty Alliance are also taking part.

In the New Year we will have a special website advertising the event at www.10410demo.com along with a flyer (attached) which you can order for distribution and a petition.

This will be a major event either just before or just after the general election. Either way it will put down a marker to the next government that the welfare state and public services are important to all of us and must not become a casualty of the economic crisis. Every effort must therefore be used to maximise attendance.

Defend Welfare Rights – Lobby of Nick Brown

Allendale Community Centre, Allendale Road, Walker, Newcastle

Saturday 10th October, 9.30am

Lobbying Nick Brown, the Minister of the North, outside his surgery to stop the implentation of the Welfare Reform Bill.
Also present at this lobby will be a Keep the Metro Public group, who will be lobbying for a U-turn of the decision to privatise the Metro system.

Posties to strike

Postal workers will continue regional walkouts today after a strike ballot found overwhelming support for national action.

Staff in Carlisle, Coventry, Chelmsford, Hatfield, Kilmarnock, Leeds, London, Nottingham, Swindon and Warrington will be involved.

The Communication Workers Union yesterday revealed that members backed a nationwide walkout by 3-1 in protest at the “imposition” of changes to working practices, as well as cuts in their pay and job losses.

Deputy general secretary Dave Ward said it was “a huge vote of no confidence in Royal Mail management.

He said the union’s leadership would meet on Monday to decide their next move, giving a “window of opportunity” for talks to head off a strike.

Royal Mail condemned the CWU’s plan for a national strike as “deplorable and irresponsible” and said the union’s action would drive customers away from the business and undermine confidence in the entire postal services industry.

Taken from Sunderland Echo

Tory benefit cuts ‘not the answer’

Conservative leader David Cameron outlined plans on Monday for benefit cuts that would plunge more than half a million disabled and mentally ill people into deeper poverty.

If elected his party would retest all 2.6 million people on £90-a-week incapacity benefit and switch them to the £64-a-week jobseeker’s allowance if found fit to work, he said.

The Tory claimed that the proposal – which he expected would hit one in five incapacity claimants – would save £1 billion over five years.

However it would also mark a multimillion-pound bonanza for the private sector.

Mr Cameron revealed that some of the cash saved in benefit bills would be channelled into firms paid for getting people back into work.

His announcement was swiftly condemned by left economists.

Left Economics Advisory Panel co-ordinator Andrew Fisher dismissed the Tory proposals and called for the creation of new jobs specifically tailored for those who could make an economic contribution to society.

He said: “A more ambitious scheme would be to invest in secure and supported working environments with decent pay and pensions – on the Remploy model – to support people back into work if they are able.

“In the long term, the only cost-effective model of reducing welfare costs is to create jobs for those who need them.”

Mr Fisher added that the Tory proposals were not cost-effective and would not tackle the underlying discrimination that disabled people face.

“Cameron’s scheme will cost more to implement than it saves and will not create a single job, raise a single income or do anything to tackle the discrimination faced by people with disabilities from employers,” he said.

“This mean approach has obviously earned David Cameron the Sun’s support, but it will hopefully cost him some votes.”

The government claims that a recent pilot scheme showed that one in five people on incapacity benefit could work – figures which the Conservatives twisted to argue for their own proposals which would hit all claimants.

Employment Minister Jim Knight labelled the Tory plans “callous.”

“This is unfair on the genuinely sick, who should not suffer a £25-a-week cut in benefit,” he said.

Taken from Morning Star

Two bidders in running for Metro contract

Transport chiefs have shortlisted the final two bidders for the contract to operate the Metro system.

Metro’s own in-house bid and German firm DB Regio are the only two bidders left in the running as transport authority Nexus decides which organisation can offer the best value and service to passengers.

Nexus said both bidders could provide an excellent public service and the agency will now seek to establish the “best of the best” by asking each to revise and confirm their proposals over the next two months.

The organisation invited private firms to bid for the contract to operate Metro trains earlier this year, which it says is the only way to ensure taxpayers and passengers are getting the best value for money from the service.

The move also allows Nexus to unlock more than £300million of Government funding to upgrade the Metro system.

But campaigners are furious with the plans, which they have condemned as “privatisation by the back door.”

Protestors from Keep Metro Public say private firms must make a profit, which will lead to fare rises, poorer service and worse pay and conditions for staff.

Nexus has refuted the claims.

Nexus will make its final decision in January and the winning bidder will take over the concession in April.

Taken from Sunderland Echo

Transport chiefs have shortlisted the final two bidders for the contract to operate the Metro system.

Metro’s own in-house bid and German firm DB Regio are the only two bidders left in the running as transport authority Nexus decides which organisation can offer the best value and service to passengers.

Nexus said both bidders could provide an exc

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ellent public service and the agency will now seek to establish the “best of the best” by asking each to revise and confirm their proposals over the next two months.

The organisation invited private firms to bid for the contract to operate Metro trains earlier this year, which it says is the only way to ensure taxpayers and passengers are getting the best value for money from the service.

The move also allows Nexus to unlock more than £300million of Government funding to upgrade the Metro system.

But campaigners are furious with the plans, which they have condemned as “privatisation by the back door.”

Protestors from Keep Metro Public say private firms must make a profit, which will lead to fare rises, poorer service and worse pay and conditions for staff.

Nexus has refuted the claims.

Nexus will make its final decision in January and the winning bidder will take over the concession in April.

Solidarity with Striking Postal Workers – Public Meeting

Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle (Near Central Station)
Thursday 15th October, 7.30pm

Postal workers across the country are set to take strike action in defence of their conditions and a vital public service. Solidarity from every trade unionist and service user is vital. Civil service workers, teachers, council workers and others face similar attacks on pay, jobs and conditions. All of us face widespread cuts in public services and the threat of privatisation as we are meant to pay for an economic crisis not of our making. There has never been a more urgent need for unity and solidarity.

Come to the meeting to show you support and find out more – there will be plenty of time for discussion and contributions from the floor.

Speakers from CWU, UCU, RMT, PCS and Unison.

Email publicnotprivate@yahoo.co.uk