Loud echoes of past errors

In examining the current welfare reform agenda, Jim Elder-Woodward (pictured) has spotted the continuance of past trends in current policy

Over the last decade or so, when New Labour was in power, there has been at least one welfare reform policy document or act every three or so years. However, I have noticed that the welfare reform objectives of the present Condem Government seem to have much in common with those of the previous New Labour administration.

First, there is the policy line of welfare reduction; of excluding people’s eligibility for welfare by narrowing the goal posts. Both New Labour and the Condem Government stated they wanted to “simplify” the system, when they really meant they wanted to exclude people from additional supplements to benefits, or deny others access to benefits altogether.

But perhaps the most striking common policy direction is that of contracting out state provision of welfare. New Labour’s Welfare Reform Act of 2008 enabled benefits administration to be contracted out to private companies. These firms were to be paid extra bonuses according to their success in placing claimants in employment.

In 2009 New Labour gave a private company, A4E, £800m to run their “Flexible New Deal Scheme”, with bonuses provided according to the number of unemployed people for whom they found jobs; jobs which they managed to keep for more than six months.

A4E followed a policy of “tough love” in their efforts to get unemployed people back into the labour market. The company told their clients they would not hesitate to take action to suspend their benefits if they did not receive their full co-operation. Their goal, through a process of bullying and counselling, was to get long-term unemployed people into identified posts, most of which were low-paid and without any career structure.

This system of contracting out employment services to the private sector on a payment by result basis is also the policy the present Government is pursuing. But instead of providing up-front funding they are using the savings from moving people from Incapacity Benefit (IB) to Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) to pay these companies by their results, so there is no “up-front” money being provided to find these people jobs this time.

Now we have the infamous private French company ATOS reassessing recipients of Incapacity Benefit being paid depending on the number  “assess” for Employment Support Allowance.

The potentially bogus nature of this assessment has been highlighted by the case of an ATOS employee who left the company on health grounds, but when she was “assessed” by the same company was found suitable for employment so was placed on the Job­seekers Allowance, rather than the Employment Support Allowance for those who are considered not to be “job ready”.

Unfortunately, public pressure has not much influenced the Government’s commitment to retain the company ATOS and its discredited assessment process, despite a highly critical parliamentary inquiry.