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Started with a tweet
Looking at the use of twitter and social media in recent publicity about welfare reforms and the work experience programme, here’s the latest blog post from Terry, Lasa CEO.
I had my eyes opened this week by ASDA. A local store has a small number of ‘vacanies’ on the ASDA website for Work Experience. On contacting the store in question, they explained that they were offering local long-term unemployed people the opportunity to spend six weeks in the store, working the achieve an NVQ in the retail trade but that there is no actual job at the end of the six weeks during which they will just get JSA plus refund on their bus fare / travel costs.
I can see how this could be beneficial to some but you have to question the timing when the end of the six weeks hits on a traditionally busy period (Easter).
Interesting full fact blog on similar issue just been published.
Was David Cameron right on the success of Work Experience schemes at PMQs?
During today’s session of Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron responded to a question about the Government’s Work Experience programme by suggesting that half of its participants were getting work at the end of the schemes. Is this right?
The Prime Minister and Work and Pensions Secretary’s representations of the data differ in how they interpret being off ‘working age benefits’. The Prime Minister claims that this shows they are “getting work”, while Mr Duncan Smith suggests the same people could simply be off benefits rather than in work.
So until the DWP extend and develop their research into the Work Experience scheme outcomes, the Prime Minister does not seem to have an adequate basis to make the claims he did.
Blog has been updated to take account of some rather curious claims from Chris Grayling this morning on Radio 4.