HIV Jobless Maybe Sidetracked
posted: 23/09/2008
Tens of thousands of jobseekers living with HIV face being written off and "parked" on low-paid unemployment benefits as an unintended consequence of the government's £2bn plans to use private contractors to provide support for people to go back to work and tackle long-term unemployment, a thinktank warns today.
People needing greater levels of support to find work, such as those with longterm conditions like HIV, will be sidelined under changes taking effect next year, according to the Social Market Foundation (SMF).
The ThinkTank claims that because the private contractors will get paid once for each person they place into work, whatever their circumstances and suupport needs, there will be no incentive for contractors to work with those who may require more help to overcome disadvantages caused by their backgrounds, poor literacy and numeracy, disability or health problems.
"Those furthest from the labour market will inevitably not be offered services appropriate to their needs - they will be 'parked'," the thinktank says. "This will occur because the design of the payment system sets the profit motive of contractors in tension with the aim to help all clients."
The new system is due to start in October next year. After 12 months on jobseeker's allowance, working with Jobcentre Plus advisers, unemployed people will be passed to contractors paid to find them work in whatever way they think most effective. Bob Warner, chief executive of Remploy, which specialises in finding work for people with complex needs, said: "We are concerned that those long-term unemployed, hard-to-place groups do get the support they need under the new contracting arrangements."
The employment and welfare reform minister, Stephen Timms, said: "We will look closely at the results of the first phase of the contracts and carefully consider if any changes need to be made."
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