There’s little doubt but that Frank Field is one of the most
respected MPs in any party. This article, which cuts through the
cant and the spin, shows why.
There’s just common sense in this article and there’s no trimming of
sails to gain electoral advantage. The plain fact for anyone to see
is that the vastly expensive gimmickry which passes for an employment
policty isn’t working. It never did in the good times, so now it
hasn’t a chance. So tear it up and start again.
xxxxxxxxxxx cs
===============================
THE TIMES 19.2.08
Tear it up. Labour's New Deal isn't working
A new generation are growing up jobless. If they haven't worked, they
should receive less benefit than those who have
Frank Field
The main force of the recession is yet to hit us but unemployment is
surging. In its Pre-Budget Report the Government predicted that at
the end of 2010 the number of unemployed on benefits would have
reached 1.55 million. That total looks as if it will be passed a year
and a half early.
The recession calls for a totally new, two-stage programme of welfare
reform. But first we must acknowledge that the Government's New Deal
and “making work pay” strategies have failed to get many unemployed
people into work, even at the height of the boom. It has been an
expensive failure - various tax credit schemes and New Deal projects
have cost the taxpayer £75billion since 1997.
The results are derisory. In ten years, the number of jobless people
of working age has fallen by only 400,000, down from 5.7 million. The
record of each of the New Deals is depressing, in particular the
Government's flagship New Deal to end youth unemployment. In the
early years more than half of those on the New Deal for Young People
landed a sustainable job (one that is held-down paid employment for
13 weeks or more). But at the top of the boom two thirds of New
Dealers - 30 per cent of them “retreads” of the scheme - failed to
find such a job.
This failure can be seen in the increased number of Neets (“those not
in education employment or training”). There are now 1.1 million in
Britain, more than when Labour took power in 1997.
There are many young people in my Birkenhead constituency anxious to
work. But others have never worked and tell me that, as they are
given £100 a week or more (with housing benefit) as a right, they
wouldn't take a job for less than £300. When I suggest to them that
no employer will offer them that kind of money because they can
barely read or write, they tell me to take it or leave it.
It is terrible that we have abandoned a generation who believe they
have got a pension for life. I once interviewed a group of unemployed
youngsters who were anxious to work. Their contempt for the New Deal
surprised me. Little wonder - it does not lead to work, it does not
teach the skills that they need, and for many it is just an excuse to
mess around.
After six months on benefit all those under 25 are enrolled on the
New Deal. First, they must negotiate what is called a gateway. Up to
four months are spent getting claimants ready for the world of work.
If no job is forthcoming, they must choose one of four options:
employment, membership of an environmental task force, voluntary
placements or full-time training
All the New Dealers I spoke to had, through lack of choice, to take
training. Whether it was suitable or not, the only training was for
IT work. But there were not enough workstations to go round, making a
mockery of the exercise.
Sanctions against bad behaviour or not turning up were conspicuously
absent. Certainly there was no incentive for trainers to take a tough
line; they risked losing their fees if they sent recalcitrant new
dealers back to the Jobcentre. A key change that the Government wants
to make is to pay New Deal contractors by results. But with
programmes failing in the boom years, it is understandable that
providers are squealing at such an idea. With unemployment rising,
they want more of the old New Deal that gives them their fees upfront.
So what should be done? First, scrap the New Deal for Young People
and recycle the money saved into green community programmes that lead
to actual jobs.
These locally run projects would take young people who cannot find
work and offer them training. It could be fairly simple: learning how
to be a park warden or to insulate the roofs of pensioners. It should
also teach new skills: the chance to earn plumbing qualifications by
working for companies installing new, more efficient central heating.
When they are trained, they could become full-time workers, paid the
minimum wage, on these green projects
One of the biggest lessons the Government has yet to learn is that
these schemes must be run locally. It is still drawing up mega-
contracts with big companies for large-scale New Deal schemes like
the ones that the disgruntled New Dealers described. Mega-contractors
are replacing the sort of local providers I have met who were
brilliant at tailor-making schemes that were relevant to New Dealers'
needs. We need more schemes run by them.
The second prong of a new strategy must be directed at those now
joining the dole queues. Many registering at Jobcentres for perhaps
the first time in their lives are shocked that, after decades of
making national insurance contributions, they are entitled to a mere
£60.50 a week. This is the same sum that would be paid to someone who
has never worked. It hardly reinforces the culture of work.
The jobseeker's allowance ought to be graded according to the number
of years that a claimant has worked. It could be doubled to £121 for
those with, say, ten years' of NI contributions and increased to
£181.50 for those with 15 years. Work is part of their DNA - a more
generous benefit payment will not stop them returning to work as soon
as they can.
But more can be done to help these workers. Last year more than
120,000 skilled foreign workers came to work in Britain filling jobs
that were not first advertised locally. Employers should register all
skilled vacancies at Jobcentre Plus. Only then, when it is clear that
a company cannot find suitable local labour, should permits be
granted for non-EU skilled workers. The Government must seize the
initiative now. If it doesn't, joblessness could become permanent for
this older generation and the generation to come.
-------------------------------------------------
Frank Field is Labour MP for Birkenhead and the former Minister for
Welfare Reform
respected MPs in any party. This article, which cuts through the
cant and the spin, shows why.
There’s just common sense in this article and there’s no trimming of
sails to gain electoral advantage. The plain fact for anyone to see
is that the vastly expensive gimmickry which passes for an employment
policty isn’t working. It never did in the good times, so now it
hasn’t a chance. So tear it up and start again.
xxxxxxxxxxx cs
===============================
THE TIMES 19.2.08
Tear it up. Labour's New Deal isn't working
A new generation are growing up jobless. If they haven't worked, they
should receive less benefit than those who have
Frank Field
The main force of the recession is yet to hit us but unemployment is
surging. In its Pre-Budget Report the Government predicted that at
the end of 2010 the number of unemployed on benefits would have
reached 1.55 million. That total looks as if it will be passed a year
and a half early.
The recession calls for a totally new, two-stage programme of welfare
reform. But first we must acknowledge that the Government's New Deal
and “making work pay” strategies have failed to get many unemployed
people into work, even at the height of the boom. It has been an
expensive failure - various tax credit schemes and New Deal projects
have cost the taxpayer £75billion since 1997.
The results are derisory. In ten years, the number of jobless people
of working age has fallen by only 400,000, down from 5.7 million. The
record of each of the New Deals is depressing, in particular the
Government's flagship New Deal to end youth unemployment. In the
early years more than half of those on the New Deal for Young People
landed a sustainable job (one that is held-down paid employment for
13 weeks or more). But at the top of the boom two thirds of New
Dealers - 30 per cent of them “retreads” of the scheme - failed to
find such a job.
This failure can be seen in the increased number of Neets (“those not
in education employment or training”). There are now 1.1 million in
Britain, more than when Labour took power in 1997.
There are many young people in my Birkenhead constituency anxious to
work. But others have never worked and tell me that, as they are
given £100 a week or more (with housing benefit) as a right, they
wouldn't take a job for less than £300. When I suggest to them that
no employer will offer them that kind of money because they can
barely read or write, they tell me to take it or leave it.
It is terrible that we have abandoned a generation who believe they
have got a pension for life. I once interviewed a group of unemployed
youngsters who were anxious to work. Their contempt for the New Deal
surprised me. Little wonder - it does not lead to work, it does not
teach the skills that they need, and for many it is just an excuse to
mess around.
After six months on benefit all those under 25 are enrolled on the
New Deal. First, they must negotiate what is called a gateway. Up to
four months are spent getting claimants ready for the world of work.
If no job is forthcoming, they must choose one of four options:
employment, membership of an environmental task force, voluntary
placements or full-time training
All the New Dealers I spoke to had, through lack of choice, to take
training. Whether it was suitable or not, the only training was for
IT work. But there were not enough workstations to go round, making a
mockery of the exercise.
Sanctions against bad behaviour or not turning up were conspicuously
absent. Certainly there was no incentive for trainers to take a tough
line; they risked losing their fees if they sent recalcitrant new
dealers back to the Jobcentre. A key change that the Government wants
to make is to pay New Deal contractors by results. But with
programmes failing in the boom years, it is understandable that
providers are squealing at such an idea. With unemployment rising,
they want more of the old New Deal that gives them their fees upfront.
So what should be done? First, scrap the New Deal for Young People
and recycle the money saved into green community programmes that lead
to actual jobs.
These locally run projects would take young people who cannot find
work and offer them training. It could be fairly simple: learning how
to be a park warden or to insulate the roofs of pensioners. It should
also teach new skills: the chance to earn plumbing qualifications by
working for companies installing new, more efficient central heating.
When they are trained, they could become full-time workers, paid the
minimum wage, on these green projects
One of the biggest lessons the Government has yet to learn is that
these schemes must be run locally. It is still drawing up mega-
contracts with big companies for large-scale New Deal schemes like
the ones that the disgruntled New Dealers described. Mega-contractors
are replacing the sort of local providers I have met who were
brilliant at tailor-making schemes that were relevant to New Dealers'
needs. We need more schemes run by them.
The second prong of a new strategy must be directed at those now
joining the dole queues. Many registering at Jobcentres for perhaps
the first time in their lives are shocked that, after decades of
making national insurance contributions, they are entitled to a mere
£60.50 a week. This is the same sum that would be paid to someone who
has never worked. It hardly reinforces the culture of work.
The jobseeker's allowance ought to be graded according to the number
of years that a claimant has worked. It could be doubled to £121 for
those with, say, ten years' of NI contributions and increased to
£181.50 for those with 15 years. Work is part of their DNA - a more
generous benefit payment will not stop them returning to work as soon
as they can.
But more can be done to help these workers. Last year more than
120,000 skilled foreign workers came to work in Britain filling jobs
that were not first advertised locally. Employers should register all
skilled vacancies at Jobcentre Plus. Only then, when it is clear that
a company cannot find suitable local labour, should permits be
granted for non-EU skilled workers. The Government must seize the
initiative now. If it doesn't, joblessness could become permanent for
this older generation and the generation to come.
-------------------------------------------------
Frank Field is Labour MP for Birkenhead and the former Minister for
Welfare Reform
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