I do not know whether the kind of amendment that the noble Baroness, Lady Turner, has just spoken to so movingly would help but we certainly support the spirit behind it. As she said, it is easy to envisage a situation where, say, a skilled engineer who had been working for 30 years but has been unemployed for two years is placed in a completely unsuitable "work for your benefit" scheme. Many younger unemployed people may not have useful skills but nowadays huge numbers will be skilled workers and it must be right for those skills to be used.
We need to know how much flexibility there will be in the "work for your benefit" schemes. As we know, they are not to be personally tailored, but does that mean that all participants will have to do the same level of job or will a skilled person—say, an electrician—be able to use those skills? I do not know what the position would be, although I am sure that it will be very easy for the Minister to answer. Furthermore, I do not know what the insurance situation would be. If, for example, an electrician worked alongside another trained electrician on some rewiring, what would happen if the man on the scheme short-circuited the whole house? For that matter, I would also be keen to know the position regarding health and safety.
Welfare Reform Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Baroness Thomas of Winchester
(Liberal Democrat)
in the House of Lords on Thursday, 11 June 2009.
It occurred during Debate on bills
and
Committee proceeding on Welfare Reform Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
711 c116GC 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
Subjects
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Timestamp
2024-04-22 02:34:36 +0100
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