ONE of the injustices of the UK Government’s much maligned Work Programme was the apparently cynical way it treated charities.
Despite dozens of charities across the UK bidding to bring their expertise in the area to the table, often as part of carefully assembled consortia,they were mainly shut out of government employability contracts as the packages in 18 geographical contract areas were one by one handed to private sector or private-sector led organisations.
“Never fear” the government said at the time, as contracts were handed to the likes of Ingeus (seven areas), G4s (three) Serco (two) and Maximus (three). “The lead contractors will need to work with charities locally, as part of their contracts.” The only thing is that didn’t always happen, and the bulk of the government funding didn’t filter its way down to those charity partners even when they did get a look in.
That matters because many charities and social enterprises have a very strong story to tell about the work they do supporting people into employment. Individual charities do great work with those facing barriers to work, while te Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has also had considerable success with its own Community Jobs Scotland employability programme.
Often these initiatives boast better outcomes than those achieved by Government schemes although to be fair, in some cases the Work Programme didn’t do much better than just leaving people to their own devices.
Now with employability powers devolved, the Scottish Government has the chance to do it all differently -and aims to with £96m funding available in nine contract areas around the country. Tendering for these schemes will begin next month, but a more collaborative approach is already evident with the involvement of charities in the transition arrangements.
The schemes will not be punitive or collaborate with the DWP’s sanctions regime, according to minister Jamie Hepburn. Companies will not have the same incentives to cream off the most job-ready clients and park those who need more input.
Most of the concerns charities had about the Work Programme appear to have been addressed. Now they will have to deliver.
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