tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596691019080999720.post2992987685189606395..comments2023-04-03T04:05:11.807+01:00Comments on Banti Banter: Unleashing Welfare To WorkUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596691019080999720.post-7344041022854570482013-02-11T18:14:32.638+00:002013-02-11T18:14:32.638+00:00From my experience as a claimant, and from talking...From my experience as a claimant, and from talking to a lot of other claimants, one thing stands out: the industry as a whole is worse than useless.(http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/nov/27/data-work-programme-failures for instance). There are patches of competence, honesty, and dedication within it, but they're hard to find, and many or most of them are crippled by superior authorities.<br /><br />Opening it up to competition in this way certainly sounds as though it'll help, but it depends on the proportion of honest vs dishonest companies, and the ability of claimants to tell which is which. So I'm not sure there's a way around certification & oversight, but oversight by an independent ex-claimants' body would work a sight better than the current situation.<br /><br />The bottom line you cite sounds good, but the proliferation of unpaid or extremely badly paid pseudo-work causes problems - for instance, if an agency places someone in a zero-hours contract, or an expenses-only internship, those shouldn't count.Somhairle Kellyhttp://www.eithin.co.uknoreply@blogger.com