Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith tells the long-term unemployed to “play ball” or face losing benefits under proposals contained in the welfare reform white paper.

Under the scheme, based on programmes used in parts of the United States for several years, the long-term jobless would have to take up four-week placements that would accustom them to working. They would have to work for a minimum of 30 hours per week.

If people refused to comply or failed to complete the programme, they would face losing their jobseekers’ allowance – worth £64.30 for those over 25 and £50.95 for under-25s – for three months.

“The message will go across: play ball or it’s going to be difficult,” Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Telegraph.

The placements would be provided by charities and local councils, as well as private companies, and could involve public improvement schemes such as gardening and litter clearance.

The message will go across: play ball or it’s going to be difficult. Iain Duncan Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary

The plan forms part of Mr Duncan Smith’s ambition to transform and simplify the benefits system in the UK, replacing the current web of benefits with a new “universal credit” which would eradicate the poverty trap.

“We will shortly be bringing forward further proposals on how to break the cycle of dependency blighting many of our communities and make sure work always pays,” said a DWP spokeswoman.

Playing ball?

Linus Rees is already a volunteer, writes Jane Deith for Channel 4 News. He's been on benefits a long time because, he says, he can't work.



He feels the government should concentrate on finding people real jobs, not expect voluntary groups to look after the unemployed.



"I'm a volunteer, so I do it because I want to do it," Linus explains. But he says you can' t force people to do voluntary work.



He thinks voluntary organisations will be expected to take on the burden of people who don't want to work – "so the government then is using voluntary organisations in a way they're not designed to be used".



And Linus predicts that if the scheme goes ahead, the voluntary sector could collapse under the burden.



At the Jobcentre I got talking to Brian O'Connor. He's living in a hostal and is trying get work as a carpenter. Brian says he's given up on the Jobcentre because it sends him for jobs he's not qualified to do.



He told me he didn't know how the latest proposals would benefit him in the long term.



"I wouldn't be afraid to go out and do some voluntary work," he said, "but I don't see how it's going to benefit me in getting back into employment, to get a wage coming in every week."

But Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Douglas Alexander, quoted in The Observer, said cuts to working tax credit announced in last month’s spending review had actually removed incentives for people to return to work.

And he predicted that scheme would not work if there were fewer jobs. “What they don’t seem to get about their welfare agenda is that without work, it won’t work,” he warned.

And the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, warned against adding to what he called the uncertainty and despair of the unemployed. He told BBC Radio people were unemployed not because they were wicked or lazy but because circumstances had been against them. “To drive that spiral deeper does seem a great problem,” he said.

Iain Duncan Smith will launch the welfare reform white paper next week. He has said that in the long run no-one will lose out from welfare changes, while 2.5 million people will be better off.