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Work Programme not working for the disabled - government adviser
The coalition's flagship Work Programme is not working for the disabled, a government advisor has said.
UnemployedNet responds to government on next Work Programme
UnemployedNet has responded to the government's consultation on the next generation of work programmes.
Gathering workless people's opinions through Facebook, the Huffington Post and direct emails, we pushed the case for a fairer deal for the unemployed.
The response recommended:
More get jobs through Work Programme but those with barriers neglected
More than 168,000 jobseekers have found lasting work through the Work Programme, but some providers have been penalised for their poor performance.
Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed that, up to the end of June 2013, 149,000 had sustained a job for at least six months, an increase of 37,000 since March.
However, less than a quarter of those who joined the scheme at the beginning in 2012 had found long-term work despite receiving two years of support.
Welfare reform causing widespread suffering, says report
Four out of five benefit-claiming households are in debt, according to a new report, and nearly nine out of ten fear welfare changes will affect their health.
These are the shocking findings of a new study, Real Life Reform, carried out by Northern Housing Consortium, which follows people affected by benefit changes up to 2015.
Despite the government's denials that welfare now provides a poverty-level income, the report shows that two-thirds of people have less than £10 left each week after paying for food and basic bills.
Bedroom tax violates human rights and should be scrapped, says UN
The bedroom tax is "shocking" and should be scrapped according to a high profile United Nations investigator.
Raquel Rolnik, the UN special raporteur on housing, has been in the UK interviewing politicians, officials and residents of social housing on the controversial charge, which removes benefits from families deemed to be under-occupying their homes.
The representative believes the charge may be violating the human right to decent housing, as set out in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which the UK has signed and ratified.
Universal Credit IT system needs redesign as millions wasted
The government's failing universal credit system needs a thorough redesign of its software even though jobseekers are currently using it.
The Guardian is reporting that new head of project Howard Shiplee has ordered the work despite Ian Duncan Smith's department having already spent a massive £270 million on it.
The newspaper writes:
Unpaid internships - Clegg rejects ban on adverts
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has rejected calls for a ban on adverts for unpaid internships.
The proposal has been put forward by a group of large internet job sites including Monster, Milkround and Totaljobs, who believe that some of the placings they carry may contravene minimum wage legislation.
The sites estimate that tens of thousands of unpaid vacancies may be available on their jobs boards.
Labour's Hazel Blears proposed a bill in the House of Commons last year on this issue, but could not gather enough support for it and it was dropped.
Government welfare failings cost £1.5b, but does Labour have the answer?
Labour has accused the government of ruling over a chaotic welfare reform system as multiple failures come home to roost.
The party's work and pensions spokesman, Liam Byrne, estimated the cost of youth contract, universal credit, the bedroom tax, the work programme and work capability tests could end up costing the country nearly £1.5 billion.
The coalition introduced some of these measures as part of its austerity programme to cut costs, and an accusation of financial incompetence will not sit well with ministers.
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