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TEN WELFARE REFORMS IN TWO YEARS DEMONSTRATES FAILURE
Commenting on the Government’s latest re-announced welfare ‘crackdown’, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Mark Versallion, said "Ten welfare reform strategies in two years is surely a demonstration of the failure of Government policy."
“This announcement was first made last July when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister. It’s also very similar to what happens now under the New Deal. If ever there was a sign of the failure of the Government’s policies it’s the fact they feel the need to announce the same thing again and again."
Mr Versallion added "Britain spent approximately £140 billion on social security last year, the highest spending area of government activity and a great deal more than the next biggest spender, the NHS, which received around £90 billion." With so much of tax payers money at stake, you would think the Government would really get to grips with this leviathan of spend, and no doubt in some areas, untargeted waste - starting with the number of announcements."
The people have heard it all before
= Flexible New Deal was first announced last July in the Government’s green paper, In Work, Better off, next steps to full employment.
= Four weeks of mandatory activity is not new, and it was announced last year: “Customers still on benefit after a defined period, having failed to find work through a specialist provider, would be required to undertake a period of full-time work experience.” (DWP, In Work, Better off, next steps to full employment, July 2007 p.50).
= There is “an underpinning requirement to participate in full-time activity, such as work experience or work in the community... Providers will therefore ensure that every claimant who fails to find work earlier in Stage 4 will be mandated to participate in a period of full-time activity” (DWP, Annex A of In Work, Better off, next steps to full employment, July 2007, p.83)
= “Throughout this new, flexible regime, the offer of increased help would be balanced with the responsibility on individuals to make the best use of that support or face a loss of benefit”, (DWP, Annex A of In Work, Better off, next steps to full employment, July 2007, p.84).
Ten strategies in two years and 28 announcements since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister
Since January 2006 the Government has published ten major documents on welfare reform. They largely say the same thing.
- Ready to Work, Skilled
for Work: unlocking Britain’s talent – January 2008
- Transforming Britain's labour market - Ten years of the New Deal – January
2008
- Ready for work: full employment in our generation’ – December 2007
- DWP Commissioning Strategy – interim report – November 2007
- Opportunity, Employment and Progression: making skills work – November 2007
- In work, better off – July 2007
- Welfare Reform Act 2007
- Reducing dependency, increasing opportunity: options for the future of welfare
to work – March 2007
- The Welfare State: the next 10 years seminars – January/February 2007
- A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work – January 2006