Labour’s rubbish bid to get disabled people into jobs is the definition of madness.
I refer, of course, to the saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
The Department for Work and Pensions [whose secretary of state is Liz Kendall, pictured] has announced a plan to use 1,000 work coaches to help the long-term unemployed into work – in particular, people on sickness and disability benefits.
These coaches are already employed by job centres but will be redeployed to focus on tackling economic inactivity, providing personalised and “intensive” support to thousands of sick and disabled people.
They will do this by helping sick and disabled people to write their curriculum vitaes, and by advising them on how to do well at job interviews.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
What isn’t being offered – that would probably make a huge amount of difference – is any incentive for employers to take on workers who may require special adaptations in the workplace (costing money), simply in order to function.
Without that – well, the Resolution Foundation has already said only about three per cent of the hundreds of thousands of people likely to lose benefit payments by being put on this hare-brained scheme were likely to find a job.
Unlike the DWP’s announcement, this claim comes with a solid foundation of fact supporting it – because this is the seventh such scheme to be run by the Department since 2010. The others were:
- Work Programme (2011-2017) – this included mandatory work-related activity for some disabled claimants but was criticized for low success rates.
- Health and Work Programme (2017-present) – this provides personalized support for disabled people but lacks significant employer incentives.
- Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) (2019-present) – this focuses on tailored support but does not include direct employer incentives.
- Restart Scheme (2021-present) – this is aimed at the long-term unemployed, including some disabled people, with no direct employer incentives.
- Universal Credit Work Coaches (Ongoing, expanded in 2020) – this offers individual support but without structured employer incentives.
- New Disability Employment Initiatives (2023-2024) – this provides work coaches and assessments but little in the way of direct financial incentives for employers.
This Writer is about to join the Restart Scheme – literally, this afternoon (Thursday, March 6, 2025). I’m having a telephone interview to get me started (as I understand it) on making Vox Political profitable again.
I’ll let you know how it works out. I will be on this scheme for at least a year because they have a duty to make sure that any remunerative work I get will last.
But Labour’s apparent belief that a re-branded version of a scheme that has been running in one form or another for at least the last 15 years is the definition of madness.
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The definition of madness: Labour’s rubbish bid to get disabled people into jobs
Labour’s rubbish bid to get disabled people into jobs is the definition of madness.
I refer, of course, to the saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
The Department for Work and Pensions [whose secretary of state is Liz Kendall, pictured] has announced a plan to use 1,000 work coaches to help the long-term unemployed into work – in particular, people on sickness and disability benefits.
These coaches are already employed by job centres but will be redeployed to focus on tackling economic inactivity, providing personalised and “intensive” support to thousands of sick and disabled people.
They will do this by helping sick and disabled people to write their curriculum vitaes, and by advising them on how to do well at job interviews.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
What isn’t being offered – that would probably make a huge amount of difference – is any incentive for employers to take on workers who may require special adaptations in the workplace (costing money), simply in order to function.
Without that – well, the Resolution Foundation has already said only about three per cent of the hundreds of thousands of people likely to lose benefit payments by being put on this hare-brained scheme were likely to find a job.
Unlike the DWP’s announcement, this claim comes with a solid foundation of fact supporting it – because this is the seventh such scheme to be run by the Department since 2010. The others were:
This Writer is about to join the Restart Scheme – literally, this afternoon (Thursday, March 6, 2025). I’m having a telephone interview to get me started (as I understand it) on making Vox Political profitable again.
I’ll let you know how it works out. I will be on this scheme for at least a year because they have a duty to make sure that any remunerative work I get will last.
But Labour’s apparent belief that a re-branded version of a scheme that has been running in one form or another for at least the last 15 years is the definition of madness.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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