17th September

SITE NEWS

Apologies for the break in newsletter publication - turns out the internet is difficult to access in rural Italy! We've put together a couple of reports to make up for it, and all the major stories since the last newsletter.

Key points from the Social Market Foundation report on the flaws that could break flexible New Deal

A primer on fraud in welfare-to-work following on from the recent news of fraud at Maatwerk in Manchester

WELFARE REFORM NEWS

DWP are going to manage providers differently (pdf). The notice doesn't quite explain how, but there will be events that do

One of the puzzles in FND is the surprisingly large estimate of throughflows in each contract. With the increase in unemployment and the predictions of far worse on the way the numbers are beginning to seem prescient.

Do new tendering approaches harm the third sector? A summary of views

Free childcare for workless partners of low wage earners is rolling out across the country over the next year

In a change to the all-yay and all-nay camps on welfare reform, the 1st Radar debate reaches in favour of work support, but of high quality rather than forced entry to low-end employment

Similarly, a Leeds University researcher argues for support not sanctions

Benefit and Work's campaign against Freud's more controversial press statements continues unabated

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

David Freud talks about his banking memoirs, with a brief aside on welfare reform

Public Accounts Committee praise the Jobcentre Plus roll-out

A brace of new employment initiatives for the construction industry

RESEARCH NEWS

As part of FND planning, focus groups were asked about their experiences of New Deal and Employment Zones. Main news: customers like caseloading

Shocking news! Social housing tenants are worse off because worse off tenants end up in social housing. Also, a major cause of continued benefits dependency is the complexity of the benefits and tax systems

'In and out of work' single point of contact for job entry and benefits re-claim is being rolled out nationwide after a successful pilot. 18 days processing time still seems somewhat excessive, but better than the previous 25 days

Employment, Retention and Advancement pilots have very little impact on New Deal 25+ customers

A comparative review of workfare programmes identifies best practice, although it doesn't explore the comparative worth of such programmes

Fed up of summer reading, want something a bit weightier? How about a comparison of welfare policy in Latin America, Eastern Europe and East Asia since World War 2?

AND FINALLY

People who are happy with the help they get from Pathways seem less prone to writing about it on the internet than the grumpy ones. However, providers are fortunately more than happy to help customers publicise their positive outcomes

The newswire is sent out every week, and gathers together all the stories relevant to people working in the welfare-to-work sector. If you've been forwarded this and want to start receiving it yourself, subscribe now at http://indusdelta.co.uk/user/register