Work Programme results(sic)

[Mr.P]

ERSA have recently (20th June) published a report highlighting their success in getting the long term unemployed back in to work. Headline claim is 321,000 people starting work. Further on, the report also claims that:

there have been a further 92,000 subsequent Job Starts across those 321,000 individuals. This means that a total of 413,000 jobs have been filled by participants on the Work Programme between June 2011 and the end of March 2013.

If the providers can only find temporary contracts that last anything from a single day to three months, might as well spin it... Job starts do not equate to sustained employment, nor should people hounded off benefits through sanctions or intimidation be counted.

 

Comparing their figures with the last official report from the DWP wp_release_nov12.pdf, I am really struggling to see any correlation between the two - It will be interesting to see what the DWP has to say on 27th June. If the ERSA figures are to be believed, that means the providers are in line for some £1,250M for their efforts to date (using a £4,000 per participant figure based on Work & Pensions Committee figures).

 

Before either party decide to remove their documents, I'll attach them below (they have, after all, been placed in the public domain).

[estellyn]

That report seriously spins their numbers, which show that performance has been DECREASING, not increasing by these providers.

[san_d]

Well it doesn't matter. The government will give or remove contracts according to how they will help funding their parties and help their careers after politics rather than merit.

[fedupandold]

Well it doesn't matter. The government will give or remove contracts according to how they will help funding their parties and help their careers after politics rather than merit.

 

But then isn't that the case for almost everyone today? There is only one person that you can seriously rely on to look after best interests - yourself!

 

I used to work with a young lady (I helped train her and teach her to get a qualification). Since then and since my retirement, that young lady has looked after number 1 and has done everything possible to get up the ladder. I spent hours and hours with her, mostly in my own free time after work and at lunchtimes. All of that is fine, but what upsets me is when I read about her on LinkedIn she makes it quite clear that she has done everything herself with no help from others - a self made woman. Funny really especially when she started she asked if she needed to put an air mail sticker on a letter that was going from London to Wales!

 

She reminds me of the many MPs/Ministers that I have had the displeasure to talk to.

[jasta11]

Too right. At one time in my naive youth, I'd suggest ways to improve the organisation and be genuinely looking to make the place better, but I soon got rid of that notion - any good ideas staff come up with will, in most cases, suddenly become the boss's new idea.

 

It's nice to ty and help people but eventually you just get worn down and simply stop. As for figures, the transport company I used to work for always claimed '100% of our buses are running'. This was true - but only because they classed a bus as 'running' if it left the depot. If it broke down 2 seconds later this wasn't counted.

 

It ain't what you write, it's what you leave out!

[osdset]

I discovered a long time ago that 'going the extra mile' meant that I would wear out faster and be replaced quicker. Bosses that really appreciate initiative and reward it, are rare animals near extinction.

[Mr.P]

Attached, the "official" results from the DWP. As expected, they have fudged the numbers by covering the full two years and contradicted the ERSA numbers.

 

Over the last two years, some 1.16 million attachments have been made and just 131,920 Job Outcome payments have been made - These are the payments the provider receives when a claimant starts work. Sustainment payments are staged and repeat payments for those (now working) claimants that remain "Off Benefits". So what do these payment figures tell us ?

ERSA claim 321,000 job starts, payments suggest ~132,000 - A big difference. This equates to an 11% success rate, and falls well short of expectations. This may also explain why the WP providers are bleating about insufficient funding and are trying to wrangle more money out of the gravy train.

[Ubiquitious]

I guess the success of this scheme should be judged against what jobs this group of people would get without any input from the Work Programme?

 

For instance I found a job by myself - with no help from A4E.

[san_d]

I guess the success of this scheme should be judged against what jobs this group of people would get without any input from the Work Programme?.

The success of the scheme depends on how much the contractors (Atos, G4s, Ingeus, Remploy) will donate into the ruling parties or affiliated charitable foundations, either here or in the Isle of Man.

[RebeccaPidgeon]

But then isn't that the case for almost everyone today? There is only one person that you can seriously rely on to look after best interests - yourself!

 

I used to work with a young lady (I helped train her and teach her to get a qualification). Since then and since my retirement, that young lady has looked after number 1 and has done everything possible to get up the ladder. I spent hours and hours with her, mostly in my own free time after work and at lunchtimes. All of that is fine, but what upsets me is when I read about her on LinkedIn she makes it quite clear that she has done everything herself with no help from others - a self made woman. Funny really especially when she started she asked if she needed to put an air mail sticker on a letter that was going from London to Wales!

 

She reminds me of the many MPs/Ministers that I have had the displeasure to talk to.

If you are a Professional, Qualified Teacher within this the Secondary School System (or FE/HE), and truly helped the individual, then you have cause to feel agrieved.... however, if conversely, you were simply a Welfare To Work Clerk, could not get a job within a Call Centre, with lucky enough to get a job within the Welfare To Work Sector (selling your soul in the process), and proceeded to "offer help" through (for example) the New Deal, Flexible New Deal or Work Programme, then this type of "help" does not really count, in the scheme of things.