People have always played politics with unemployment, that won't change. But what could, and should, change is the way that job search support is delivered.
By failing to vote against this Bill, Labour is effectively supporting the Government and indicating that it, like David Cameron's administration, sees no problem in bringing in emergency legislation to overturn a court's findings when it goes against them.
The chaos at DWP knows no bounds. They've given us a Work Programme worse than doing nothing. Universal Credit is descending into universal chaos. And now the department has bodged its regulations so badly that a Court of Appeal judgement has struck down its general power to issue sanctions of any kind shape or form. Incredible.
While some media might have us believe that most single parents are shunning work in favour of a 'lifestyle' on out-of-work benefits, the reality is starkly different. Single parents are highly motivated to work. After all, they're the sole breadwinners for their families - families which face twice the risk of living in poverty than those headed up by a couple.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report on the Work Programme, which was published last week, is the latest in a series of academic, analytical and media critiques which have demonstrated that the Programme has not lived up to its promise - or at least the promise of Ministers.
"An influential committee of MPs has said" is one of the most overused phrases by political reporters in Westminster. There are over 20 Commons select...
The ten things you need to know on Friday 22 February 2013... 1) DOES THE WORK PROGRAMME, ER, WORK? The Public Accounts Committee strikes again!...
More unemployed people would have found jobs since 2010 if the government's high-profile, multi-billion pound Work Programme had never been invented, ...
If you have the impression of a Justice Department fumbling in the dark for new eye-catching schemes to showcase in the run-up to the election, you would probably be right.
The ten things you need to know on Wednesday 13 February... 1) THE HORSEMEAT SUMMIT "Now it's British horsemeat in burgers," screams the Daily M...
It is not often that I am left speechless, but I when the producers of a BBC Panorama programme invited me in to view some of the footage they had shot of people's experience of the government's Work Programme I was left stunned and shocked.
A company contracted to help the disabled and unemployed get back into work, has come under scrutiny after a former staff told the BBC claimants were ...
Those who decry the 'something for nothing' benefits system will be heartened by the introduction this week of new obligations on people receiving Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
The coalition's flagship 'back to work' scheme has helped fewer people find jobs than if the government did nothing at all, figures published on Tuesd...
The Work Programme is a mixed bag with both good and bad practice
It's been just over six months since Seema Malhotra won the Feltham and Heston by-election, and by any comparison this former management consultant ha...
Labour branded the Government's Work Programme a "failure" on Monday, as it published new figures showing that the number of people out of work for ov...
The security industry watchdog is looking into allegations that a firm made unpaid workers sleep rough under a bridge in central London before being d...
It was a busy weekend in London, what with the diamond jubilee going on. Thousands of royalists turned out to celebrate the Queen's big weekend of pomp, pageantry and patriotism despite the downfall.
An investigation has been launched into how unpaid workers bussed into London for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations were left stranded in the middle of...
A former Labour minister in the Department of Work and Pensions has cautioned against drawing links between unpaid Diamond Jubilee stewards forced to ...
A Labour MP is demanding answers from a security firm and charity after reports they bussed jobless people into London to work under appalling conditi...
Employment minister Chris Grayling has warned providers and contractors for the government's Work Programme scheme that they face losing their contrac...
Tragically for those whom it is intended to assist, a programme designed in very different economic conditions and based on a belief that market incentives would drive a range of providers to secure long-term employment for those who have been inactive in the labour market for a long period may end up not delivering.
Homelessness charity St Mungo's has withdrawn from the work programme in another sign the government's flagship job scheme is failing the most vulnera...
