the welfare reform bill is a missed opportunity

Welfare Reform is an issue which successive government have tackled. In February 2011 the Coalition Government at Westminster introduced its Welfare Reform Bill which it argues is the biggest shake up of the Welfare System in 60 years. It has been very controversial with disability groups uniting in opposition to the Bill in a way that I have not seen before. The Scottish Parliament protested against the Bill by voting against the consent motion. This is a big event as it is the first time the Scottish Parliament has withheld its consent.

The bill affects me directly in two ways firstly I have been unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 14months and secondly I am disabled and receive Disability Living Allowance which pays for my home help and transport. but the purpose of this blog is not to moan about how I am affected. but to point out where the government have not been as radical as they could have been.

According to the home page of the Bill one of the objectives of the bill is to deliver fairness to those claiming benefits and to the taxpayer for more details see http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/

This objective is what i want to focus on and where I think the opportunity has been missed. I am a university graduate having obtained my degree from the University of Aberdeen in 2007 and since then I have been unemployed for 3 out of the 4 years since. I am a talented hardworking guy and I do not think that that stat is fair on either me or the tax payer.
The current bill is dodging the root of the problem which is the Jobcentre system. What I am about to argue is not an attack on the staff who have been very supportive of me but I think the system they operate in is wrong and that is what truly needs reforming instead of attacking the benefits which help some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

So how would I reform the job centre. Firstly I would turn it into a careers service and encourage more employers to advertise there. Presently the vast majority of jobs are for administrative jobs or jobs for skilled trades such as chefs or builders. In the current economic climate more and more highly qualified are signing on and the job centre does not help them find jobs because they are not advertised there. Highly qualified people are taking the jobs which less qualified people could do, so the people who need help to find work are finding even harder and it is not fair on those people.

I have claiming JSA for 14 months I have been put on a Back to Work program which is welcome but why should it happen now and not at the start of my claim. I feel that this will give people the support they need to find work and thus reduce the length of a claim, if people are trained earlier in interview techniques and other skills.

So the Welfare Reform bill is a missed chance because it does not reform one of the biggest barriers to employment for people which is the jobcentre its self.