Skewing the balance between reporting fraud by Work Programme companies and claimants gives the general public the skewed impression that fraud committed by benefit claimants is the general rule rather than the exception. That minimises the public outcry at the lack of regulation of the Work Programme companies into whose clutches are placed economically vulnerable Jobseekers Allowance and Employment & Support Allowance (Work Related Activities Group) claimants — at taxpayers’ expense! These claimants experience overcrowding and lack of vital jobsearch equipment on Work Programme company premises.
They are also in the firing line for benefit sanctions while Work Programme client advisers have reported caseloads as high as 250 per ‘adviser’!* In the case of ‘clients’ with mental health conditions regarded as ‘workshy’, say, is not this a vile human rights abuse, with 8.5% of Work Programme participants are in the ESA WRAG?**
‘Raymondo of KUWG’
Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group
Rev Paul Nicolson
Taxpayers Against Poverty
http://www.taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk
www.z2k.org
Dan Morton
Social Work Action Network
https://www.socialworkfuture.org/
and http://swanlondon.wordpress.com/
Notes
* Welfare to Work industry website forum entries report caseloads that high on account of the companies not having planned carefully to support jobseekers and ‘non-traditional jobseekers’.
Eg, http://indusdelta.co.uk/discussion/work_programme_case_loads/6453
** 8.5% of people on the Work Programme are in the ESA WRAG [PDF]
Work Programme Statistical Release may12
Adobe PDF
DWP WORK PROGRAMME STATISTICAL RELEASE This document contains official … Claimants in the ESA payment groups made up 48 thousand (8.5%) of all referrals to
research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/work_programme/wp_release
