John
11-07-2010, 07:10 PM
Workshy benefit claimants could be forced to do compulsory full-time manual labour under proposals being put forward by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, it has emerged.
Long-term dole claimants who are thought to need "experience of the habits and routines of working life" could be put on four-week unpaid placements of 30 hours a week doing jobs like clearing litter and gardening.
Anyone refusing to take part or failing to turn up on time to work could have their £65-a-week Jobseekers Allowance stopped for at least three months.
The Work Activity scheme is designed to flush out claimants who have opted for a life on benefits or are doing undeclared jobs on the side, as well as restoring the work ethic in people who have not been employed for years.
Reports suggested that it will target people believed to be sabotaging efforts to get them back into work.
Details will be unveiled in the Welfare Reform White Paper expected in the coming week, which will set out Mr Duncan Smith's plans for a universal credit to replace the range of benefits currently claimed by the jobless.
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 five million people on out-of-work benefits and one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe, with 1.9 million children living in homes where no-one has a job.
Source - Yahoo News.
Long-term dole claimants who are thought to need "experience of the habits and routines of working life" could be put on four-week unpaid placements of 30 hours a week doing jobs like clearing litter and gardening.
Anyone refusing to take part or failing to turn up on time to work could have their £65-a-week Jobseekers Allowance stopped for at least three months.
The Work Activity scheme is designed to flush out claimants who have opted for a life on benefits or are doing undeclared jobs on the side, as well as restoring the work ethic in people who have not been employed for years.
Reports suggested that it will target people believed to be sabotaging efforts to get them back into work.
Details will be unveiled in the Welfare Reform White Paper expected in the coming week, which will set out Mr Duncan Smith's plans for a universal credit to replace the range of benefits currently claimed by the jobless.
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 five million people on out-of-work benefits and one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe, with 1.9 million children living in homes where no-one has a job.
Source - Yahoo News.