date: 13 December 2007
embargo: for immediate release
TUC welcomes minister's decision to drop 'workfare' from welfare reform package
Responding to the Government's proposals for welfare reform, Ready for work: full employment in our generation, announced today (Thursday) by Peter Hain MP, Secretary for Work and Pensions, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'The Government should be applauded for their serious efforts to achieve full employment, and for their willingness to listen to some of the serious concerns about their original proposals. The TUC was worried that proposals for mandatory work experience in economic jobs could have undermined paid employment and would have been unfair to unemployed people. In effect they would have marked the introduction of 'workfare' to the UK.
'The decision to instead require activities tailored to the needs of the individual jobseeker is a welcome response, which addresses these misgivings. No one should object to appropriate obligations on those receiving benefits, but any measures should be designed to achieve a long-term return to work - and not be about wishing to appear tough and get easy headlines. DWP ministers have clearly looked at the evidence and decided to stick with what works. Workfare would have crossed an important line, and left many of those who have broadly supported government policy with no alternative but outright opposition.
'When the TUC launched its campaign for full employment in 1994, the then Government and many newspapers told us we were ludicrously utopian. This Government deserves praise for its long-term and continuing commitment to active policies to help people back to work based on their individual circumstances. This decision shows that they are still on course.'
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Press release (400 words) issued 13 Dec 2007
