With ten years experience in developing back to work programmes for the harder to reach and constantly looking for localised answers to localised problems, we find it very concerning that the framework agreement will only be tendering to organisations that can deliver across full government regions. Our government region is “Wales” yes all of it. Therefore a unit value will be set to get people into work in Cardiff and Swansea as in Anglesey and Gwynedd. This potentially will incentivise prime contractors to get as many people into work in the cities whilst ignoring the less populated areas, maybe Ian Duncan Smith wants to empty the rural areas and cram us all into towns creating havens for the rich where there are no unemployed. This is very bad for Wales on the whole and disastrous for North Wales and other less populated areas in the UK.
Currently there are 5-15 (depending where you live) per person just on JSA for every vacancy in the job centre (this does not include other benefits) with a planned 1 million jobless by 2015.
So a one size fits all programme with fewer larger contractors and a performance based payment structure potentially based on a reward system of how much benefits are saved by DWP. Does this not look like a risk minimising process for the government who are going to make the labour market a very tough place to survive and keep in gainful employment over the next 5 years?
I am trying to be positive honest, just finding it difficult at the moment!!!
With ten years experience in developing back to work programmes for the harder to reach and constantly looking for localised answers to localised problems, we find it very concerning that the framework agreement will only be tendering to organisations that can deliver across full government regions. Our government region is “Wales” yes all of it. Therefore a unit value will be set to get people into work in Cardiff and Swansea as in Anglesey and Gwynedd. This potentially will incentivise prime contractors to get as many people into work in the cities whilst ignoring the less populated areas, maybe Ian Duncan Smith wants to empty the rural areas and cram us all into towns creating havens for the rich where there are no unemployed. This is very bad for Wales on the whole and disastrous for North Wales and other less populated areas in the UK.
Currently there are 5-15 (depending where you live) per person just on JSA for every vacancy in the job centre (this does not include other benefits) with a planned 1 million jobless by 2015.
So a one size fits all programme with fewer larger contractors and a performance based payment structure potentially based on a reward system of how much benefits are saved by DWP. Does this not look like a risk minimising process for the government who are going to make the labour market a very tough place to survive and keep in gainful employment over the next 5 years?
I am trying to be positive honest, just finding it difficult at the moment!!!