Radical welfare review aims to help thousands back into work

Message from John Hutton, Labour's Work and Pensions Secretary

I wanted to drop you a line about the independent report on the next stage of welfare reform that Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and I published today.

Thanks to Labour's measures like the New Deal, changes to incapacity benefit and tax credits to make work pay, we have made real progress since 1997 — with 2.5 million more people in work, 900,000 fewer on benefits, and 700,000 children helped out of poverty. Compare that to the way Britain suffered under the Tories, when unemployment hit three million twice and one in three children were growing up in poverty.

But we all know there is a lot more to do, so it is vital we now find new ways to support the hardest-to-help into work.

The recommendations in David Freud's report, "Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity", include:

• A central role for Jobcentre Plus with greater use of private and voluntary sector resources and expertise so harder-to-help benefit claimants receive more employment support, with a new focus on long term mentoring once people are in work;
• Greater personalisation of employment support, with higher financial incentives for organisations to target resources at the hardest-to-help;
• And matching increased support with greater obligations on claimants to look for work. In particular placing greater responsibilities on lone parents with older children to look for work once their youngest child reaches 12, rather than the current age of 16.

I think the report sets out a compelling framework for the next stage of welfare reform which we must now carefully consider and discuss. You can download it here — I would really welcome your views on the welfare reform issues he addresses.

Yours

John Hutton MP
Work and Pensions Secretary

Comments

[Robert Stafford]

Here is a very different perspective from The Socialist Party's blogsite
http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com

More "New Labour" welfare reforms were announced on Mon 5th Feb. Given the fact, that these reforms will be dealing with some of the most disadvantaged in society, one would expect that the author of this report would be an expert on poverty.
Perhaps someone from one of the multitude of charities operating in this field? (That Capitalism is claimed to be working for us all), one wonders why there are so many?
Perhaps someone who has an intimate knowledge of poverty and the problems engendered by the same.
In what can only be described as a, "Freudian slip", none of the above were involved.
So who did some of the poorest in Capitalism get to "help them"? Well, would you believe a Financial Times correspondent? A person who is also a Senior Banker with UBS AG and also the Great Grandson of Sigmund Freud.
One wonders what David Freud would know about poverty? and seeing as though the main group under scrutiny are single parents, (mostly mothers) the same question applies.
This group will be required to seek employment when their children reach 11 years of age. As opposed to the present ceiling of 16. An "element of compulsion" will be thrown in for good measure.
A recent survey on the workforce recently claimed, that single mothers had the worst deal of any group in the employment market. Being heavily discriminated against.
Work and Pensions Secretary, ( he can type?) John Hutton was at pains to stress his desire to get these people back to work. Obviously he has never undergone the rigours of the "work" involved in raising the next generation of "wage slaves".
He was not talking however, about work but about employment. A relationship whereby a tiny minority use the vast majority to labour for them and get wealthy by accruing the surplus value they create.
This at least, is something David Freud knows something about. Growing wealthy during the Thatcher years, "working" (another Freudian slip) in the City.
Grown wealthy off the sweat of others, he must be drooling at the chance to get even more of the working class making his class richer.
The most worrying thing about these proposals however, is that other members of the working class are generally in favour of these measures.
In five local newspapers that I have read, straw polls have shown a majority in favour of these draconian measures.
Not only do U.K. Capitalisms Board of Directors feel comfortable enough to introduce these measures, but once again they have the backing of their "slaves".
What the above shows is, that it is more important than ever to spread the message of the alternative to the obscenity that is Capitalism. An alternative to a society wherein a tiny minority live in obscene luxury, whilst the vast majority live in varying degrees of poverty, want, stress and insecurity. Relying on "selling themselves" to these parasites to live.
That we as a class have the power, (the vote) to abolish this state of affairs and bring about a society where the good and well being of all is the prime prerequisite, is beyond question.
What is lacking is the understanding and thus the will to achieve this goal.
Knowledge is power. With Knowledge of our own interests as a class , combined with the vote, we can change the world so that the odium that are "welfare reforms", will be resigned to the dustbin of history. Along with its pregenitor, Capitalism.

SC

[joe]

welfare reforms at last the government has come out and admitted that their reforms are about saving money, not helping people.

quotes from David Freud: such provision would be part of a "multi-billion pound" market he added cash incentives would be paid to companys to keep people of benefits.

he has based his evidence on the austrilian system, where infact 80% of all benefits turned down by private sector dicesion makers was reinstated by the state, and where church groups have pulled out of the scheme, saying they are unfair and too drecion.

the system anounced last year for sick and disabled is being called into question, the test where by a person is judged to be fit or outherwise is being revised and the company Unumprovident has a seat on the technical working group working on this redraft. Unumpovident is a US based health insurance company which has been branded as an "outlawed company", by the CA Insurance Commisioners Office, and is under investigation in 48 other states. Any cursory check of this company should raise question about their suitablity to take part in these reforms.

This is blatant attempt at the "erosion of the welfare state", fought for by previuos generations.

Who knows if tommorrow, anyone of us may be made unemployed or have an accident or illness, get divorced or become a widow. No good then shouting "what has happened to the welfare state".

What I have come to realise is when the government announces any policy always read between the lines. I try to make my own mind up and don,t rely on what i,m told on the news or in the newspapers.

joe