From Colin Revell, East Riding of Yorkshire.... Who's off on the orgainised
protests on Saturday(4/2/06) by the Sheffield Welfare Action Network(SWAN)
and UK Disabled People's Movement across the UK? I will be at the one in
Sheffield to join others to voice our concerns to the Government about these
Incapacity benefits reforms that are targetting some of the most
disadvantage and vulnerable people in our Society?... See article below for
further 'insight'....
Article from PersonnelToday.com magazine on 31/1/06 at:-
http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2006/01/31/33664/Who+will+benefit+from+reform.htm
With problems continuing in Iraq, discontent rumbling over education reforms
and the NHS under fire, Tony Blair could have been forgiven for putting
controversial proposals on overhauling incapacity benefits on the back
burner.
But the government's own figures show that the 2.7 million people currently
claiming incapacity benefit are more likely to give up looking for a job or
die after drawing the benefit for more than two years, so ignoring the issue
was simply not an option.
Last week's Green Paper on welfare reform, unveiled by work and pensions
secretary John Hutton, proposes to replace the current incapacity benefit
system with an 'Employment and Support Allowance', to be paid to people for
undertaking work-related activity.
Pathway programme
The plans include rolling out a 360m 'Pathways to Work' programme across the
UK by 2008 - introducing mandatory work-focused interviews, working with
employers to develop work-taster programmes for single parents and to extend
flexible working arrangements for older workers.
The plan is to cut one million of the 2.7 million claimants over a 10-year
period, resulting in a substantial reduction to the annual 12.5bn cost of
the benefit.
Laudable aims, but most employers are reluctant to recruit people who have
been claiming incapacity benefit for a long time, according to research from
the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Just 3% of 750 companies questioned by the CIPD said they actively targeted
incapacity benefit claimants as part of their recruitment strategy, and one
in three said they deliberately excluded these people.
More than half the employers thought long-term claimants would be more prone
to absence and 45% said they would be less reliable.
"Such low expectations may or may not be unfair," said John Philpott, chief
economist at the CIPD. "But either way, they pose a problem for the
government."
TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, agreed.
"The reforms should recognise that employer prejudice is a key obstacle in
the way of many claimants moving back to work," he said.
The government aims to use the reforms to raise national employment to 80%
from 75% and help 300,000 lone parents into work.
But mental health charity Rethink estimates that 80% of people with severe
mental health illnesses are long-term unemployed, and said there was still a
long way to go to change this.
"The government package will go a little way to addressing some of these
barriers, but it is only half the story," said chief executive Cliff Prior.
"These plans would be greatly strengthened by government action to end
labour market discrimination by employers."
The National Autistic Society also expressed concern about the proposals.
Its policy officer for adults, Mia Rosenblatt, said that many autistic
people had difficulties with social interaction.
"We are concerned that individuals with autism may be penalised for not
appearing to be fully 'engaged' in the proposed work preparation process,
when their behaviour is a consequence of their disability," she said.
But we should not be too quick to write off employers, according to CBI
deputy director-general John Cridland. "With skills shortages in many parts
of the economy, employers strongly support the government's goal of helping
more people back into work," he said.
Government funding
Employers need the backing of the government, Cridland warned. "The
government must support companies in reskilling those who have been out of
work for some time, and by contributing to the consequential costs of
special equipment, transport or mentoring," he said.
Under the government's proposals, GPs will be given a key role in getting
people off incapacity benefit, with employment advisers to work alongside
them and advise sicknote claimants of job opportunities. GPs could be
offered financial incentives to reduce the number of sicknotes they issue.
Hutton said he hoped to pilot the idea in a number of cities across the
country over the next year.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the GP committee at the British Medical
Association (BMA), wanted further clarification on how the proposals would
work.
"If these people [employment advisers] are able to offer helpful and
sensitive advice to patients, they may prove a positive addition to the
services available in a GP practice," he said. "They will only be effective
if they are supportive in helping patients to return to work rather than
acting as an enforcement arm of the Department for Work and Pensions with
the sole purpose of getting people off benefit."
The Green Paper's proposals on older workers also support forthcoming age
discrimination legislation, due to come into force in October 2006.
The plans include aligning employment support for long-term unemployed
people aged between 50 to 59 with people in their 30s and 40s and improving
back-to-work initiatives for jobseekers who are over the age of 50 and their
partners.
The Third Age Employment Network, which supports older people in the job
market, said the reforms are a vital part of the response to demographic
change and increased life expectancy.
Chief executive, Patrick Grattan, said: "We can no longer use incapacity
benefit as a surrogate form of early retirement."
Opinions on the Green Paper are clearly divided. While employers seem to be
in favour of the principle of getting people back to work, many remain
cautious. It is clear the government will need to clarify its guidelines and
provide extensive support to employers if the proposals are to be a success.
Asda employs long-term strategy
One employer including the long-term unemployed in its recruitment strategy
is Asda. At its Breck Road store in Liverpool, which opened in November,
more than 60% of the 277 jobs created went to the long-term unemployed. It's
a similar picture at Asda's stores in both Gwent and Barrow - John Hutton's
constituency where the pilot for the Pathways to Work Scheme has been taking
place.
An Asda spokeswoman said: "We employ people based more on personality than
skills or experience - we believe that a person with the right attitude and
personality, can easily learn the skills required 'on the job'."
Author: Georgina Fuller
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