Cameron to spell out new 'welfare contract' for benefit claimants

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Central Government and also in Housing

David Cameron will today issue a tough warning to people who refuse to work as he sets out Tory plans to revolutionise Britain's welfare system.

Seeking to regain the initiative following the Liberal Democrat poll surge, Mr Cameron will tell benefit claimants: "Fail to take responsibility - and the free ride is over."

He will launch the Conservatives' "new welfare contract" on the campaign trail in Staffordshire, vowing to cut benefits for people who refuse to work or who defraud the system, and pledging to reassess everyone who currently claims incapacity benefit.

The sanctions will sit alongside a "work programme" which commits to offering "unprecedented support" to people looking for employment, including work clubs, training places and help starting new businesses.

Mr Cameron is expected to say: "The old way - the big government way - has failed. It's time to tackle welfare dependency a new way - the Big Society way.

"We're going to change the whole way welfare is done in this country so everyone takes responsibility and plays their part.

"This is our new welfare contract: do the right thing and we will back you all the way. But fail to take responsibility - and the free ride is over."

It is the latest plank of Mr Cameron's "Big Society" pitch, encouraging people to take more control over how the country is run.

The new welfare contract pledges to "tear up the old ways of dealing with worklessness".

The work programme, to be up and running by the end of 2010, promises to ensure people "get help as soon as you need it".

A range of business-led training places will be offered, starting with 50,000 in the hospitality and leisure industries, while 400,000 apprenticeship, training and college places will be available to under-25s.

Work clubs will be set up, providing somewhere for the unemployed to go during the day where they can learn skills and make contacts, and individuals looking to start businesses will be given access to a business mentor and start-up loans.

A sanctions regime will be put in place within six months of the Tories taking office, cutting Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for people who refuse to join the work programme.

Benefits will also be cut for up to three years if people refuse to take up "reasonable" job offers or if they are caught repeatedly committing benefit fraud.

Long-term claimants who cannot find work will be required to "work for the dole" on community programmes, and all people claiming incapacity benefits will be reassessed - and transferred onto JSA if they are fit enough to work.

Mr Cameron chatted about the benefit plans as he visited a social enterprise project in Birmingham which provides work and experience opportunities.

Accompanied by wife Samantha, who was joining him for a day on the campaign trail in the Midlands, he outlined his benefit crackdown to users of the Jericho Foundation.

He was urged by some to ensure there was as much "carrot" as possible to encourage people into work, although plans to withdraw benefits to those who refuse work were also welcomed.

One of the six commercial businesses run by Jericho is a printing operation and the Tory leader helped put the party logo on a personalised souvenir T-shirt of his visit.

Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The Tories would cut jobs and cut funding to get the unemployed back to work.

"They pretend to talk tough, but won't match the new rules and requirements Labour's already introducing.

"They can't get tough on people for refusing jobs because they're cutting the jobs for them to go to."

She added: "Unemployment is around half a million lower than predicted this time last year because of the action that Labour took and the Tories opposed.

"We are backing thousands of new jobs, supporting the economy, and introducing new guarantees of work for the unemployed with benefit cuts for those who don't take up the work they are offered.

"The Tory plans would cut real jobs, cut support to help get the unemployed back to work and ditch our guarantees.

"They are committed to abolishing 200,000 future jobs fund jobs, taking away support just when people need it most.

"Where we are determined that no one be left behind in the recovery, the Tories would turn their backs again. They haven't changed."

Speaking on a visit to a brewery, Mr Cameron said he wanted to bring social enterprises and private training companies in to "help Britain get back to work".

One fifth of young people and a quarter of the adult population were not in work, the Tory leader claimed.

Mr Cameron said: "We will say to people that if you can work, and if you want to work, we will do everything we can to help you. We will give you the training, we will give you the support, we will give you the advice to get you going and get you back at work.

"But we will say something else. That for far too long in this country, people who can work, people who are able to work, and people who choose not to work: you cannot go on claiming welfare like you are now."

He went on: "We are a compassionate and generous and tolerant nation. To people who cannot work, to people who are disabled, to people who are looking for work: we will always help you, we will always stand by you.

"But we will not go on helping people who can work, who are offered a job, and refuse to take it."

After setting out his new sanctions regime, he added: "We cannot go on as we are paying people who could work but who refuse to do so. That is a big change that's coming with a Conservative government."