The Work Programme is failing the very people it’s meant to help, says TUC

The UK’s jobs recovery may be well underway, but the government’s work programme is wasting money and failing to help the people who find it the hardest to access work, says the TUC today (Wednesday).

Commenting on the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report into the Work Programme published today, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“This damning report shows that people who have been out of work for some time and are struggling to find a job, particularly those with disabilities are failing to get the help they desperately need.

“What’s worse, taxpayers’ money is being wasted as private firms in the Work Programme are being paid millions for targets they are failing to meet. They also appear to be spending less than half the amount on the work advice and support that they said they would.

“This poor performance means that only half the number of sick and disabled people the Programme was meant to help have actually found work.

”The Work Programme is a poor shadow of the job guarantee schemes that went before it. Unless the government takes the NAO’s criticism on the chin and acts now, vulnerable unemployed people will be left far behind as the jobs market improves.”

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