Long-term benefit claimants could be forced to do compulsory manual labour under proposals being put forward by the government, it has emerged. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is set to outline plans for four-week placements doing jobs like gardening and litter clearing. "The message will go across - play ball or it is going to be difficult," said Mr Duncan Smith. Details will be unveiled in the Welfare Reform White Paper expected shortly.
Boom boom!
Under the plan, claimants thought to need 'experience of the habits and routines of working life' could be put on the month long, 30-hour a week placements. Anyone refusing to take part or failing to turn up on time to work could have their £65 Jobseekers' Allowance stopped for at least three months. The Work Activity scheme is said to be designed to flush out claimants who have opted for a life on benefits or are doing undeclared jobs on the side. Reports suggest it will target people believed to be sabotaging efforts to get them back into work.
The Welfare Reform White Paper, set to be unveiled in the coming week, will set out Mr Duncan Smith's plans for a universal credit to replace the range of benefits currently claimed by the jobless. Under the scheme, job advisers would be given powers to require tens of thousands of claimants to take part in community work for charities or local councils. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "We will shortly be bringing forward further proposals on how to break the cycle of dependency blighting many of our communities and make sure work always pays."
Mr Duncan Smith said his plans were designed to reduce welfare dependency and make work pay. He said: "One thing we can do is pull people in to do one or two weeks' manual work - turn up at 9am and leave at 5pm, to give people a sense of work, but also when we think they're doing other work. The message will go across; play ball or it's going to be difficult."
The UK has 5m people on out-of-work benefits and one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe, with 1.9m children living in homes where no-one has a job.
