Another charity has had to pull out of the Work Programme, according to an article on the Guardian website. The Creative Society was set up in 2009 and was successful in finding work for young people.
Under the WP it became part of A4e's supply chain. A4e liked their training programme so much that they "used it as a model of good practice". But now they've had to quit because they weren't getting enough referrals to make it sustainable. The work has dried up. The writer, Martin Bright, talks about a "massive, unwieldy private-sector bureaucracy". The charity has survived by working outside the WP, accessing European Social Fund money. But Bright points out the "terrible irony" that charities like his are already having to mop up after the WP, with the Jobcentres sending them people who have finished the Work Programme.
It was widely predicted that this would happen, but the Work Programme contracts contain no way of ensuring that the sub-contractors get referrals.
But let's not be despondent. HR Magazine reports that at a recent conference Mark Hoban said that, "The Work Programme has given hope to those written off by society". Reading on, he is obviously stuck determinedly in the mindset that those who are still out of work have "complex barriers", suggesting that they are ex-offenders or come from "worklessness" areas. In other words, it's their fault, not the result of what few jobs are available going to those who have been out of work for the shortest time.
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