Comments for Public Finance Opinion

Comment on Work experience or forced labour? by Troytempest

Troytempest — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:23:02 +0000

My Daughter had to work for 13 Weeks in a charity shop sorting clothes and placing things on shelves. She is a fully qualified 21 year old photogropher. I don’t think she gained anything from the expierience, she chose not to add it to her CV. She now has a job 3 days a week in photography.

Comment on Market makeover for universities by Higher ed: the price is wrong | Public Finance Opinion

Higher ed: the price is wrong | Public Finance Opinion — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:56:53 +0000

[...] have previously argued in this blog against the current system because the level of loan write-off will be so high that [...]

Comment on Work experience or forced labour? by Steve

Steve — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:22:38 +0000

This type of Workfare scheme has been threatened by each successive government but none have had the nerve to implement it in full. Throughout the 80s a variety of both Adult and Youth schemes were tried via the Manpower Services Commission and participants were paid a basic flat rate for the job. Referred to as ‘Maggies Secret Army’, schemers where used to undertake valuable work in the community, and the Community Programme Scheme in particular provided excellent work experience and on the job training. However, participation was voluntary. The change from wages to ‘Training for an extra tenner’ (E.T.) was the first step towards Workfare and threats of benefit withdrawal started to be used to ‘encourage’ people. A fully compulsory scheme will not work as participants will always find a way ‘back to their settee’ and any wide-eyed employers seeking cheap labour should think twice before allowing ‘pressed’ men and women in their workplace – surely a recipe for failure. How quickly the politicians forget the lessons of the past.

Comment on Work experience or forced labour? by juliette

juliette — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:56:45 +0000

This is a very informative article, but I would have been happier to see the word ‘some’ in conjunction with the bit about JSA and ESA claimants desperately needing their skills and confidence built up.
I’m trying to see how a spell of shelf stacking in ASDA can boost the skill set of a redundant IT worker, who simply needs the ‘confidence boost’ of a REAL paid job in the field for which they trained. As I understand things, the placement monkeys are already cherry picking clients, so it seems that ‘clients’ with a proven work history will be the first to be placed, because they already possess a usable skill set and can be relied upon to do the job.
Almost 2 million people did not become unskilled or workshy with the arrival of the redundancy notice.

Comment on Work experience or forced labour? by Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:16:14 +0000

These schemes are an outrage. I am also an older worker. At 57 years old, my pension age has just been pushed back to 66. I am formally educated to post-doctoral level, up-to-date in my field and … unemployed. And my field is not out of ‘fashion’… unless we have given up on innovation and science and technology policy, environmental and emerging technologies! Workfare is repressive. It is about social control and cutting the budget for welfare wrapped in ideological propaganda which vilifies the ‘unemployed’, and reduces all unemployed people to a stereotype of the ‘lowest common denominator’, i.e. unskilled, no formal education. A lot of young people unemployed are not without education and they are not unskilled. They are very capable! A lot of older workers have a wealth of work and life experience, transferable knowledge and skills. The common denominator: they ALL want to work and earn a decent living. What we all need, is: 1) respect; 2) real (paid) jobs at decent wages and sustainable employment with career progression; 3) training opportunities that are real and commensurate to the person’s education and ability. And for those who are sick and disabled, respect of human rights!

Comment on Osborne’s growth option by Warren Park

Warren Park — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:06:42 +0000

I think the Chancellor must take more radical steps than he has because its a more radical problem that calls for a step change solution. From a personal perspective Osborne retains my support for two reasons. Firstly, personal competence, having Ed Balls as Chancellor would signal a run on the pound, loss of triple A rating and decamping of business from London. Secondly, Osborne understands the concept of confidence and pays a lot of attention to that.

Comment on Work experience or forced labour? by Kay Fabe

Kay Fabe — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:52:09 +0000

Of course, if you look at Workfare as a scheme designed to supply business with an endless stream of unpaid workers, it works just fine, doesn’t it? Never confuse incompetence with sheer organised bitter twisted vindictive malevolence. These people are nasty because they can be. It’s who they are, it’s what they do. These outcomes are by design, not accident.

Comment on Public health: who gets what gets tricky by Nick Morgan

Nick Morgan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:37:06 +0000

With reference to Peter’s comment. The problem is that at local level the 10-11 base is already significantly under-resourcing current spend levels. In my own area health checks alone are costing £1.4M in 11-12 against £20k in the 10-11 figures submitted to the DH and adjustments such as the transfer of abortion/sterlisation services to CCGs has been done at a national average level with no reference to local spend. Add to this the poorly evidenced nature of some of these figures (e.g. the split of children’s spend between children 0-4 and 5-19) and it seems to me there is still plenty for PH budget setters to worry about….

Comment on Work experience or forced labour? by trueblue

trueblue — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:15:27 +0000

people need real jobs not these stupid mundane schemes that are no use to anyone ,weve had jobseekers… failure …yts …….failure ..all these other job clubs run by little hitlers …failure ..im 59 yrs old now with no chance of a job now ive to go on one of these schemes what a waste of my time and plus im taking up a placement for youngsters just say i dont get a job in the two yrs in that scheme few monht later i can sign off now how stupids that im not lazy i do voluntary work 4 days a week but im not stupid either

Comment on Stop reinventing the wheel by KJ

KJ — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:33:10 +0000

First off, I do like this article. There’s a great deal of sense talked here.

But second off – I can think of a lot of women who’d do pretty much anything to improve on Mother Nature’s method of producing children.