Discussion - Benefit Busters Episode 3 and The One Show
The One Show last night had a piece about the impact of the new assessment for Employment and Support Allowance claimants:
- Here's the outline on the BBC website
- Here's the actual show on iplayer. The piece begins around 10m35s in.
Also, Benefit Busters episode 3 is showing tonight. Here's the webpage, and here's the blurb:
One of the government's targets is to shift one million people off long-term sickness benefits and get them back to work.
In Oldham, the charity Shaw Trust has won the contract to implement this policy. Sherrie Jepson, a former car saleswoman, has the job of selling the idea of employment to people who were previously considered too sick to work.
Kieron Tandy fell from a third-floor balcony while celebrating his 18th birthday in Turkey. He has metal pins in his back and has restricted mobility.
His family doctor had confirmed him as 'unfit for work' but under the new system he's examined by an independent medical examiner employed by a private health care company, which will determine whether he is fit enough to return to work. Meanwhile, Sherrie starts to try to convince Kieron that he could work if a suitable job that allowed for his condition could be found.
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Stories are definitely starting to percolate about the new assessment for ESA. One interesting effect is that the meaning of JSA will have to change to encompass the substantially wider range of capabilities of people receiving it. Does anyone know whether Work Choice will be able to deliver to JSA recipients?
I'll probably move this to sit next to the Benefit Busters story for discussion later. They both deal with Shaw Trust, Pathways to Work, and disability claimants. Thanks for posting it though, bigbaldbloke - I missed it by a few minutes last night and caught Gyles Brandreth talking about sibling business partners.
Excellent work Cherie...
Something of a change in tone through the course of the series, then. It was also a relief to see welfare to work practitioners getting a better rap this time.
Some follow-ups:
Excellent - It was very rewarding to see the customers needs were being addressed over the need to just meeting targets and getting bonuses. It was also good to see staff were actually listening to customers allowing them to have abetter understanding of their individual needs and helping them move forward with realistic options - I am sure their success rate will improve in time because they seem to be doing it right.
It was great to see some good practises and that staff were not just trying to get their bonus every month.
- best episode so far.
Did we watch the same show?
To my mind last nights staff whilst better than previous shows were still a country mile short of being the kind of intelligent, caring, professional advisors our customers need and we in the w2w industry can be proud of.
Each of the customers we saw wanted to work and with the right support was certainly capable of working, but from what we saw, the levels of engagement and rapport building were close to zero and the job search classes diabolical. No Daily Star this time but the disinterested faces said it all.
Not to mention working with a caseload of 100+ and expecting job entry rates of 15-20 people per advisor in one month which IMHO is hardly likely to correspond with quality, personalisation or sustainability.
The caseload size and job entry targets are a product of it being Pathways to Work delivery. You can probably expect similar issues to arise with FND - in both cases heavy targets and high caseloads have arisen as a natural result of the bidding process. These obviously affect the amount of time that can be spent building rapport with each customer, and could give rise to the temptation to provide less help to less employable customers.
I saw some example of delivery screw ups, but nothing egregious. Getting Kieran to write an application for an office job, then telling him he wasn't suitable for it, was handled particularly badly. Maybe I'm being overly forgiving here, but I reckon you would see worse examples than were shown in the programme in any office in the country, if you followed advisers there for a few weeks.
anyone notice in this episode that if you pause the screen at the point he is filling his cv in c4 breach every data protection rule by clearly showing kierons full name date of birth and national insurance number , a fraudsters dream
Shaw Trust is a first-class operation and this was clearly shown in the programme - with their correct mix of care, cajolling & determination towards a very difficult client base, Shaw Trust is showing how to do things properly, unlike A4E who simply appear (to me) to be it it for the profits they can generate.
I have no doubt that their new CEO, Sally Burton, will take Shaw Trust (a registered, not-for-profit charity) from strength to strength.
Shaw Trust also own Azure which is a very well set up organisation.
I viewed Shaw Trust on C4 this evening, I was particulary impressed by one advisor,she handled one young lady who cleary had a specific mix of long term, complex issues, with a great deal of respect and care. She also set realistic goals.....
A cheaper option than A4e W2W style provision would be the invention of a comprehensive 'job search/letter writing' IT package containing CV templates...etc. Rather than clients sitting without any direction, gazing out of the window, as show on A4e, this style of software package would set each person targets /map and track progress over a mandatory 6 weeks rather than 12 weeks.
I have no doubt at all that job seekers would be engaged and motivated.
Any IT experts here lol ????
The packages for letter writing, cv preping and job searching are all out there...google is a million times better than A4E and its free -
Anon: The suggestion of a IT package containing CV templates is an excellent one. When I was at A4e Edinburgh in 2008 they had nothing like that (and probably still don't). The resulted in New Deal clients, familiar with Word, helping less computer literate clients to create a CV.
Another aspect of this, is that some clients had their own USB pen drive to keep their CVs and other documents on. But quite a few didn't which initially resulted in some clients saving their CV's to the computer desktop - where they could be easily accessed by anyone (a clear breach of Data Protection). I made a formal complaint about this to A4e which resulted in tutors then saving having to save clients CVs etc to their pen drives for clients who didn't have their own.
I don't know if this practice has been adopted nationally by A4e, like to think it has. Or, better still, A4e providing clients with their own pen drives - which are very inexpensive.
Grerry
Thanks for you comment about my idea for a CV package>>>>I even know how it could be implemented. I know for a fact that the invention of a W2W whole 'all singing all dancing' software package like the one I envisage would suit every single person regardless of age, gender or culture. I am not sure why the Goverment have not though of this idea themselves, they currently have an e-policy which involves spending millions on e-learning and on teacher training which resulted form the Rose Report June2009. If they did impliment this idea then job seekers would get two skills for the price of one in half the time!
Hell! attendees could even filling in their own funding form online.Removing the paper chase A4e staff seemed to have...
At the moment I am trying to get local authority libary services to reduce photocopying charges for job seekers, so that they can print CV's and job application forms only.The system could easily be 'Policed' by libary staff, give job seekers an incentive (removal of half the cost of printing from say 10p to 5p)and remove barriers for job hunting.
I even think it would be a good idea to have a specific person situated in a libary to hold 'drop-in' services for CV's enquiry etc perhaps on certain days of the week.People need to know that they have a point of contact, rather wating for an appointment which is 6wks down the line. This would also save money,and remove barriers to job hunting, and improve community services. It seems bizzare to me that Goverment are not asking local Authorites to do more whilst we are in the middle of a recession.
I don't want to seem arrogant; I am a very creative teacher who can see 'bottom down' gaps in the way support needs to be provided for job seekers.
This has all gone rather off-topic. There are absolutely tons of CV software packages out there. There are positive and negative aspects to them. A good CV should tell a story, and knowing which elements to emphasise and how to draw them together require intensive one to one support. CV software tends to produce sausage-machine CVs, and runs into issues in coping with the often fragmentary work and education histories of long term unemployed people. It might be interesting to see what systems and methods dedicated CV production companies use, and how effective their CVs are compared to those created by individuals, providers and software packages.
There is a much wider idea around creating online support for unemployed people - I'm working on this at the moment, and happy to hear from anyone else moving in the same direction.
The library idea is good. I don't see why libraries, local and central government benefit offices, and education / welfare to work providers should operate separately anyway.
RE: Benefit Busters: I saw episodes two and three online. Episode three was the best of the bunch. There was a short sequence in episode 2 I saw online that was edited out towards the end of the programme. Did anyone else notice that?
RE: Anonymous
Well done and good luck with your efforts regarding jobseekers concessions in libraries, etc. I don't know where you live, but in London, there is a LSC funded service called 'Nextstep' that has advisors based in many libraries and community centres (the list keeps growing) that support adults who are seeking employment with CVs, application forms, interviews, training/education enquiries, as well as a whole range of information, advice and guidance services for free. For more information, go to www.nextsteplondon.org.uk or call: 08000 641 481.
Just to take the discussion off topic for a minute again...
DWP awarded an £80k "Right To Bid" contract to a company in London called Letter on Demand a few weeks ago...
The full text is...
DWP 'Right To Bid' Scheme
Notice of Intent to Award a Contract
Name and address of successful bidder
Letter on Demand, PO Box 64023, London, E17 0GU
Details of the contract
Provision of a Web-based curriculum vitae (CV) and application letter production service. Clients complete an on-line questionnaire, which is then analysed by Letter on Demand who produce a bespoke CV and letter.
Value of the contract
£80,475 exclusive of VAT.
Duration of the contract
Six months, commencing in October 2009, to enable the Department to evaluate the effectiveness of the service.
Here's the link: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/supplying-dwp/what-we-buy/welfare-to-work-services/notices-to-providers/dwprighttobidscheme.shtml
Maybe if this pilot is a sucess it get's rolled out nationally? Although curiously there doesn't seem to be a target for job outcomes, which I thought was a requirement of R2B..?
The CV scheme will be effective even thuoght it could be a flop, as the DWP have got the midas touch with regards to 'research' or pilots.
Anyway, the whole issue of CVs is a bit of a red herring, as most people are capable of making one up anyway. It seems that we now live in a society where there is a course for even the most basic of tasks.
You can have a realy good CV and be job reeady, but where are the jobs for people with disabilities or nun: 200 to 300+ applications for most jobs in the real world.
typical of the dwp, they gave a 80k (pointless) contract to a company that is openly breaking the law with its website. Shocking stuff.
There is no way if I was on one of those courses I would let that company within a million miles of my personal details, they cant even get the basics like what details they are required by law to display on their business site correct.
God help this country.
ukbix
Not sure I would give me CV details out either.
As for the third episode, I thought it the worst of the three.
It completely missed so many things they could have covered, and so many things were obviously left out on purpose (in order to stir up debate over who was genuine etc) that I found the episode quite silly really.
It was a golden opportunity, missed by channel 4.
And they refuse to print any comment on their website pointing out that not only does their site perpetuate a myth, the narrator lied during the show, incorrectly telling people that before esa it was claimaints GP's that determined entitlement to benefits.
WOW Ukbix - A strong statement! - are you sure it was Benefit Busters episode 3 you saw?
Ukbix: I have this picture of you at your birthday party, with everyone around you singing happy birthday and bringing out the cake, and instead of blowing out the candles you fold your arms and announce 'It's rubbish. Worst cake I've seen'.
It's moving toward shutting down time on this, folks. Last chance to comment!
Ha Ha Ha Yes agree daniel - Excellent
Ha, Ha! Me too! Happy birthday to you Ukbix!
Spot on letter from a reader in today's Morning Star newspaper. (The **** are mine) I'll quote part of it:
"I was interested to read an interview with the head of *******, the company that is trying to get individuals into employment. And, like the head of the former ******& ****** before her, she is another multi-millionaire, this time worth £36 million. So no wonder she is so keen on the joys of working! Seriously, how can such a person really know what it's like to be jobless in 21st century Britain?"
nuff said.
I didn't like the forth episode last night. I seem to be about some bloke wandering alone in the widerness!
There was absolutely no jobsearch, group activities and his PA looked like a grissly bear and hardly said a word...
Is this the pilot for stage 5 or community task force?
And on that note, I formally declare this topic closed!