£14,000: reward for getting a benefit claimant to work

Private wellfare-to-work organisations and charities could be given as much as £14,000 for getting someone off benefits and into work.

The Coalition’s “Work Programme” will see a “payment by results” system introduced to employment schemes, with companies and charities being paid to provide “tailored support” for long-term claimants.

Providers will be paid a fee for getting people into a job, but only if they’re kept in it for six months (if they’re a job seekers’ allowance claimant) and 13 weeks if on employment and support allowance, the replacement for incapacity benefit.

The total payments available will range from just over £2,000 for the job seekers’ allowance claimants judged easiest to get into work and kept there for 18 months, to a maximum of £14,000 for someone who has been on long-term sickness benefit but is then kept in job for two and a quarter years.

Work minister Chris Grayling says the programme will “transform the welfare landscape in Britain”, but warned that providers would only get paid the bulk of their money if and when they succeed.

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