http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11706545
The Coalition will this week unveil its plans to get the long-term jobless back into work.
Under the new scheme, benefit-claimants will be forced undertake manual work. If they refuse, they could lose their £65 a week Jobseekers Allowance for up to three months.
It is the government's attempt to force the 'work-shy' - those who are happy to just live off their state hand-outs and are making no effort at all to find work - to get into the routine of a typical working day. The move is also designed to stop people from claiming benefit whilst working 'on the side'.
For the Coalition, Danny Alexander stressed that the aim of the scheme was not to 'punish or humiliate' but to get the unemployed into the habit of working.
Labour and leading Church figures have criticised the scheme, saying that it does nothing to actually create new jobs.
Labour's Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, speaking on Sunday's The Andrew Marr Show, quite rightly pointed out, that for this sort of scheme to succeed, there had to be the jobs available. With an average of five people chasing every vacancy, getting the long-term unemployed into meaningful employment, will be an extremely tall order.
I have to agree.
I find myself really questioning the purpose of the Coalition's plans here. Yes, on one level, getting the long-term jobless out of the house and accustomed to a structured daily routine is clearly a positive step. But, such a programme will only be of real benefit if it allows for the acquiring of a wide variety of skills to equip them for the workplace. And more important, participants in the scheme will not be at all motivated if there is no guaranteed job at the end of it.
Whilst most people will agree with the Work Activity Scheme in principle, the Coalition's approach to the problem of tackling long-term unemployment appears to be much too punitive and in the long-term may be of little benefit to those it is meant to help.
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