Jobless told to get off benefits and into work (VIDEO)

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008
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This is Staffordshire

THE Government today unveiled radical plans to get tens of thousands of benefit claimants back into work.

The welfare White Paper has major implications for Stoke-on-Trent, where council chiefs aim to get 3,000 people a year off hand-outs and into jobs. The city is investing £42 million into its own worklessness strategy over the next decade.

The cash is being used to set up jobs brokerages in areas worst hit by unemployment, as well as training and apprenticeship schemes for under-qualified school leavers.

Stoke-on-Trent has the 12th highest proportion of residents claiming benefits in the UK, with 48,000 of its 186,000 adults on hand-outs.

That figure includes about 19,000 who claim Incapacity Benefit – a figure that the Government believes is far too high.

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Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said today that the plan aimed to "transform" the lives of people on benefits through additional help with training and childcare. But new sanctions would cut benefits for anyone refusing to take up training or the offer of a job.

Changes are likely to include compulsory medical assessments for people claiming Incapacity Benefit.

The minister said that virtually everyone would be expected to do something in return for their benefits in future.

However, the plans have sparked alarm among those who fear the reforms will push some families deeper into poverty or unfairly penalise genuine benefit claimants.

Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley, pictured, said she hoped the reforms would complement existing efforts to tackle worklessness in the city, but she wanted the changes to be carried out in a sensitive way that would encourage people into work, rather than use threats or force.

She said: "I would much rather follow the route of social enterprise to encourage people to improve their skills."

See tomorrow's Sentinel for more

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  • Profile image for This is Staffordshire

    by David, Burslem

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 4:48PM

    “Well said, Michael from Newcastle.
    Everyone who is able to work should be encouraged to take up some form of useful employment. Living on state hand-outs should never be a lifestyle choice, as seems to be the current situation.”

  • Profile image for This is Staffordshire

    by Matt, Bankeyfields

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 2:09PM

    “Quote "That figure includes about 19,000 who claim Incapacity Benefit ¿ a figure that the Government believes is far too high."

    I don't know about this figure as every time I go to a super market I can never get to use the Parent and Child (i'd class child as 6 and below) spaces as they are always full of cars with disabled badges.

    I'll just remove my tongue from my cheek now.”

  • Profile image for This is Staffordshire

    by Michael, Newcastle

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 11:56AM

    “James, i agree that more should be done about tax evasion and those that milk the tax system through loopholes but I also think it is important that those with a history of evading good hard days work should forfit benefits and be forced into back into earning an honest living. Genuine cases of poor health are a different matter and should always correctly assesed by doctors. Those that have no comittment to contribute to society and the community basically dictate there lifestyle to us and the social services so why should we accept there feeble and pathetic excuses and fund there pathetic lifestyles.
    If a system can work in Scandinavia of ensuring everyone contributes and has a "purpose in life" instead of sitting on there backsides all day and draining the system then their is no reason why it cant work in this country. I for one fully support and end to the system being played by those who continually abuse it,
    in doing so they show a total lack of respect for the rest of us who are footing the bill, they just sitt back laughing at us.

    Anyone can say they want to work and cant get a job but are they really motivated, the answer is no. Just take a look at some of those interviewed in the video, look how they present themselves, would you give them a job, they have no pride in there appearance and no respect for themselves.

    First impressions count....”

  • Profile image for This is Staffordshire

    by James, Penkhull

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 10:36AM

    “Just another gimmick by a government desperate to gain popularity and as usual this means picking on easy targets. If the govt was that bothered about it's coffers they'd invest more in and do more about tax evasion and do everything possible to close all the loopholes. Having said that there is a "Jeremy Kyle" style underclass out there who are milking the system. All it takes to deal with that is greater enforcement and checks on whether people are genuinely looking for work on the part of the DWP, not some gimmicky outburst by some elected amateur desperate to stay in office come the next election. In his case his chickens might come home to roost if he lost his seat!!!”

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    by al black, stoke

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 9:29AM

    “heres a great idea that will shore up the economy instead of knocking tuppence off a dvd why dont you bang a huge windfall tax on gas and electricity companies and all the big city chairmen who are making profits while their companies are dying and then invest all that money back into the nation so we have a manufacturing base again or even into british companies to build our new power plants and renewable energy sources it might make jobs make us proud and strengthen the economy but what would i know im not a chancellor and i only think of simple things like my country...dear mr Brown stop feeding us poo and telling us its chocolate”

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    by al black, stoke

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 9:01AM

    “I would just like to point out before anyone bangs on bout it only being the unworthy who will have there money stopped please remember that every government pollicy initiative such as the csa and fuel and child poverty reforms have actually not worked and infact in some cases made peoples lives a lot worse and actually cost more money than they saved and that nearly all major childrens and disabled charities are oppossed to the changes because they deal with the reality of life for people and dont make decisions from a nice cosy office secluded from real life and even if you think that these charities are run by left wing flunkies who pamper people which some of you will I hope you have the brains to realise that if government policy worked in the 1st place we wouldnt need charities to help our needy..”

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    by al black, stoke

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 8:49AM

    “cutting the benefits of already poor people such as single parents and the genuinly disabled creates a collapse of all society when our disabled are dying in their homes through lack of heating and food and our young are being undernourished and are led to realise that society doesnt care and find themselves looking at criminal activity to even eat who will sort out our cities then? our council keeps cutting social services and childcare our schools are closing our shops are dying our manufacturng base is almost gone our distribution centres will go when our shops do just look at the knock on effect woolies death is having our colleges are not built our 6th form is too full we are pushing our children into deeper poverty and then leaving our sick and elderly to rot with overpriced amenities welcome to the new caring sharing britain who is going invade us and save us from our blinkered leaders.. because all our people do is point the finger and pick on the helpless”

  • Profile image for This is Staffordshire

    by anna, manchester

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 2:47AM

    “I conna n onna gonna say anythin....i will write it.....if u can work and loads of ya can u shud, if u cant then get the docs support, i personally think that the gov shud invesitgate n put their money there tbf cos i see loads i wanna have n cant cos i work as a parent too may i add, the next breath i breathe n dont agree with is the BNP, if u like it support it, we have 2 choices in life........beg or give xx”

  • Profile image for This is Staffordshire

    by Kat, manchester

    Thursday, December 11 2008, 2:41AM

    “Im Stoke born n bred, i onna gonna go on about the area i chose to live in cos it dunna matter n as u can see im loyal.....Stoke to win always but we have been made to look like the back of the class with everything dumped on us poss......if you wanna join the BNP do it, if you wanna be a single/married good/bad mum ....do it, either way you lose, if you wanna have pottery as the heritage....take it away cos the pot banks closed, if you wanna rip the state off STOPPIT.......if you cant work and you have that medical proof like my dad whoses had a stroke and gets not a lot then fight for it........can somebody tell me .......what do we do as a nation of single workers, single parents, married families n rip off society people that are EVERYWHERE.....BLAME STOKE.......STOPPIT”

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    by Lazarus, staffs

    Wednesday, December 10 2008, 11:55PM

    “I really love how Stokies always beat em selves up as and when some plank initiates yet another progrom against a group that cant fight back, its almost like Ethnic bating done by the Nazis in the 1930`s. The real crimes are not tackled by the Government, collecting the unpaid taxes of the entrepeneurial off shore hideaway proles that extort thousands out of the general public and bank elsewhere to avoid taxes or the Merchant bankers who use their talents for insider deals, or the likes of firms that take advantage of Regional policies that see Factories and jobs rotate round this country like some merry go round, with no zebedee to turn off the bloody monotony of the tunes. The likes locally of those who are not in the Benefit culture but who operate in the Black Economy of the area who are never pursued or brought to book, the ones in the four wheel drives extolling the unemployed to get jobs whilst fleecing the public for Landscaping, tarmaccing etc. and not those Irish Itinerants that are over here avoiding taxes as well, those living in the Moorlands and the rural areas. We`ll ignore all them and the local shopkeepers whom dish up dodgy books to the VAT or Tax man or the self employed that scam off the charges of half the worl they do, come on there is`nt a legitimate honest taxpaying individual out there, oh sorry I forgot there is!! the unemployed they are taxed on their benefits and we all know that that is correctly collected. Stokies beat yourselves up.”

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