Radio show wants input from front-line provider staff
A radio researcher has been was in touch asking for help in finding provider delivery staff to contribute to a radio show going out this Sunday. Request follows:
"I'm putting together a programme on New Deal training courses. I've heard a lot from people who have been on these courses and what they think and I'm now interested to know what people who work in this sector particularly those on the ground. I was interested in some of those who posted on the discussion 'An enlightened claimants view on New Deal and Flexible New Deal' who work for some of the providers. I would treat your remarks in absolute confidence. You can contact me by email at wesley [dot] stephenson [at] bbc [dot] co [dot] uk or call on 07809 597755"
This programme has now gone out! Read the comments below for more details.
Comments
Here's the webpage for the radio programme. It's a Donal MacIntyre show, with Wesley presenting this particular report:
I've agreed to take part in a live discussion following the report. The programme description
iswas rather more negative about the motives of providers than I would be, so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out.Be careful, i've got friends in that industry and all they want is negative footage. There's a few producers who have approached me over the last few years, and when i've got them on their own, they have admitted, if its not negative, its not going to get the viewing figures
It's not too difficult to be negative about some providers motives when you see their premises overcrowded with New Deal jobseekers to the point where some are perched on window sills or stood around.
Negative negative negative I vowed I would never get involved in these threads. WE ALL KNOW THERE ARE BAD PROVIDERS, BUT what about the good ones. Can people start to be more positive and use this site to report and review, not go on and on about bad providers. You always get a rotten apple in the barrel but it doesn’t mean everyone wants to continually read about them.
Well said, Anon. Let's hear some good news from the good providers. We have league tables for schools, whatever you make think of them, it's a start. Out industry doesn't appear to have anything even approaching that. Come on guys, let's clean up our act.
Agreed. There are lots of people who have good experiences, lots who have mediocre experiences, and lots who have bad experiences. The interweb does seem to be attracting a small, vociferous minority of those who've had bad experiences and have taken on the mantle of representing all customers.
Ironically, this is actually damaging open conversation and engagement as a number of providers are battening down the hatches in the face of criticism whose only real aim seems to be to kill the entire welfare-to-work system. No further posts of the I-hate/love-providers type on this thread, sorry.
Fun side: "Be careful" and "Negative negative negative" comments, was me, really dont want to be a troll :)
My view, based on feedback from clients who return to JCP after a spell with a provider, is that what you get out of a provider very often depends on the attitude you take in.
There are sub-standard staff scattered around, I'm sure, but most 'genuine' people I refer to providers get something positive out of it, are moved forward in some way.
Oh ok, I'll allow those two, but 'are providers good or evil?' is a played-out discussion on this site. Understanding why people have bad experiences, what could be changed or is being changed to improve them, where customers themselves might need to change what they're doing: all of these are constructive. 'XXX are a bunch of fraudsters and should be shut down' - unless there's actual evidence of fraud - is rather less so.
The programme description has been changed on the 5 Live website following a conversation with the presenter. It's now rather more neutral.
Does Macintyre DO neutral Daniel? I'd be concerned that this is the cheese placed on the mousetrap.........
Not so neutral on the Radio Times website. It reads:
"Donal MacIntyre investigates private training companies that rip-off the taxpayer by failing to provide a good service in helping the long-term unemployed."
Yes, I presume you are speaking of Reeds?
No, thay are not talking about Reeds !
A4e is the company whose contracts are being examined on the show. From what I understand, it's fairly similar in content to the Manchester Evening News article of a year or two ago.
Why are they examining A4E?
Here's the news story to go with the show. A lot of the story won't be terribly shocking news to people who've worked in or received New Deal delivery. I can't help but think that it's a fairly good argument for the introduction of FND.
Well, that wasn't too scary. It's not really a format for having an in-depth debate in, but it's useful to start a conversation and outline some of the big issues. Would have been nice to counter some of Mark Serwotka's points if there'd been more time. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if there are questions that were left unanswered by the show that you'd like me to have a bash at.
It's available here if you missed it: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/5lr/5lr_20090405-1448a.mp3
A4E, I listened to the radio prog, I thought the whole show was going to be dedicated to DWP Contractors, with a live phone in session. I am surprised that they only focused on A4E. I heard the rep from A4E state that they had just opened up 15 new sites in the UK. Do you have a list of these sites?
The reason why I am asking is because in 2008 the DWP closed down approx 51 job centres, and I wonder if any of those sites have been sold off to or leased to A4E or any other Prime Contractors or Managing Agents.
They should atleast have had a 2-3 other related strands, for example, year on year has the percentage of overseas players who have been awarded contracts increased or decreased Eu and Non EU, that would have been a good compare and contrast element to the show, as alot of UK companies have won contracts overseas, it would have shown a good example of globalisation.
There's a lot more content that could have been covered, true. FND is one that's really going to start hitting everyone fairly soon, and the likely changes from that weren't covered at all. With regard to globalisation, there's a gradual move to create an international market, which would improve competition between large providers given that the UK by itself is not actually a huge market.
With regard to the new A4e locations, you could probably find them by looking through the A4e news archives on their website. If they took over an ex-jobcentre, it would probably be more accidental than anything else.
they focused on a4e as we are the biggest new deal provider in the UK.
There were some bad point which i can agree with what they were saying but we also have alot of good points..
I can say that the radio show was focused on pathways which is open to your own views if its doing well or not but other programmes within A4e are doing way above board Ie, between 2 areas we are getting between 40-50 people in work each month.
The radio show primarily covered New Deal - Wesley stopped the A4e director from going off-topic when he talked about IB claimants and Pathways. Mark Serwotka's point on Pathways drew on a recent letter to JCP managers, but there are huge issues in comparing provider-led and JCP Pathways to Work which make such a simple comparison worthless.
I work on provider led pathways and I have worked for Jobcentre plus I don't believe that we are able to offer any more than jobcentre except more time for each customer but jobcentre could achieve this is they use the money spent on pathways contracts and re-invested it in more specialist staff to deliver more JCP led pathways it's a joke that providers are paid over £1000 just to get a piece of paper signed, loads of quick wins fed to us from the JCP which defeats the whole object and no additional money is spent on customers by the provider in fact we are so low on resouces and are not allowed to spend on anything unless it's a 100% guaranteed job outcome, a joke, regarding the radio show we where all tipped off and told that if anyone resembling the man off the dancing show attends just be really nice and refer him to our marketing department!!
Daniel is right. Trying to compare the performance of JC Plus against providers in the voluntary and private sector is very complex. A generic government report by Dr Deanne Julius highlighted these issues across the public sector in greater detail. The report questioned the methodology behind some current statistics published with regards to public sector performance and procurement.
www.berr.gov.uk/files/file46965.pdf
Let's not forget the performance of JC Plus in the 1980's was extremely poor. For example, approximately less than 40% of employers now actively advertise with JC Plus (a decrease of 30% over the last 30 years).