Off the Sick Week In Week Out


Off the Sick

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Life on sickness benefit is changing.

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They know there is no work around, so what are we going to work at --

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to live on? It will affect more than 180,000

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people here. We are tried to steer them into a

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different direction, and some people will feel uncomfortable.

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Medically, he has been proven unfit to work, but they say he is fit.

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Most are being told to get ready to work.

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You are not good at turning double. It the Catt just take anybody. --

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we just cannot take anybody. Who is too sick to do it?

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Imagine me and a telephone on a bad day. -- on a telephone.

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With unemployment at a 17 year high, what chance of getting a job in

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Wales? If it works, it works. If not, I

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Phillips town, home to the Harris family.

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I have got a big family, a lot of them are out of work.

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Joan Harris has spent her life bringing up children and

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grandchildren. I have not worked since I was 17.

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Now they are sending me to job interviews, what chance have I got?

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There is nothing there for youngsters.

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Among them, her son Tommy, he is 20, with two kids, a little education

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and a prison record. I want something in my life. I do

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not want to be in and out of prison all my life.

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Grandson Ricky left school at 13. But there is nothing about, so why

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chill-out and have a drink every day.

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Here, four out of 10 on benefits. Half of those on the sick.

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I was honoured for anxiety and depression. The schmuck I was on it.

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Why are so many people on the sick? There is nothing about. I could not

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tell you. The UK government wants to know. It is extending regular

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independent medical assessments to everyone on sickness benefits, so

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it can decide who is fit enough to work. Tommy's mother is worried.

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you are ill, you are AAL. How can they make people work if they are

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not very well? It is totally wrong. Tommy has heard about the

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assessments, and he is due at the JobCentre to date to come off the

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sick. Did you think you would be able to stay on the stick? No. I

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want a job offer stopped more than half the population of working or

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in education. Thomas says he wants to be the same. What were they job

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bring me? Happiness, money, kids, food, everything. If it works, it

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works. Lawrence, mother of his children, hopes he gets the job,

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before unemployment spreads further, to a fourth generation. I am

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worried they will end up on the streets, no money, nothing. Getting

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into trouble. His family believe he can succeed. If he wants to do it,

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He can do things when he puts his mind to things. He can do a lot of

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A few doors down, at the community has, another sickness benefit

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claimant is being told about the changes to the system. His big

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white, and they are transferring everyone to implement and support

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allowance. This disability charity worker explains how most claimants

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are being made to do work-related activities to prepare them for the

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jobs market. Either the support group, which means your condition

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means you cannot work, the same as incapacity benefit, basically, all

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the work-related activity group, where they say, your condition

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could get better, and you might be able to find work in future. It is

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distressing for some people. The government have got to do it, they

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have got to cut money. Lots of people should not be on the

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benefits. This is what the process is for. We want to make sure you

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Among those who have already been assessed, Joan Harris, for her

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diabetes. She has been kept on the funding, but she must get ready for

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work. I have got bad feet. If you had to do something with your upper

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arms, are you mobile? Yes. That is what the Government is trying to do,

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encourage people to work with the right support and help. Is there

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nothing you can do to work? Where are the jobs? The drunks does

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cannot get jobs -- youngsters cannot get jobs. If there were jobs,

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could you work? I do not know. is the reaction of many people

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across Wales, who are being assessed. Just over the hill, a

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group for stroke victims. Asked for a show of hands of everybody

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affected by this process, this is what you get. The last assessment,

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he was supposed to check my eyesight, my nails, my skin, and he

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did nothing. They said to be, what are you doing here? Off their new

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people assessed, few are declared too ill to work. Most are either

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found fully fit for work and transferred to Jobseeker's

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Allowance, or kept on the benefit but made to prepare for work. This

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woman's doctors say she is too ill to do any work, but after an

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assessment, the Department for Work and Pensions decided she should get

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ready for the workplace. Life is too hard. It is too difficult. Some

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days, the pain is so bad, I have to survive for the day. I do not need

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the worry of thinking that I have to go back to work, I could lose by

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benefits. Is there anything you could do, even on a part-time

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basis? Sometimes, my speech is a lot worse than this. Sometimes I

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cannot talk at all. Say if they wanted to put me in a call centre.

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Imagine the on a telephone on a bad day. -- imagine me. I would be

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useless. Her doctors wrote letters, and she appealed. She won the

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appeal. She would not be safe to return to work. But the DPP wrote

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again, saying she would have to go through another medical board.

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I opened this letter, I just about went hysterical. People do not

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believe me, by consultants do not believe me. They say, we have

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written letters. 40% of appeals are allowed. A figure which increases

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when they are conducted by advisers like this woman. We are talking

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about people who are very ill, very disabled, and they have to fill in

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long forms that they do not understand, and that is really

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depressing and daunting. I think that the state are hoping people

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will not go through this process because it is so long. One of the

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people she is helping is this man. He went on to sickness benefits

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after injuring his hand in an industrial accident. If the doctor

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does advise that within three months you could be fit for work,

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they would try to get him onto Jobseeker's Allowance, and then you

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would have to start searching for work. Despite being treated by his

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doctor for several limiting medical conditions, his last assessment

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said he could be found fit for work within weeks. Half of the people

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say that I am not fit for work, and the other half are trying to drive

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me out to work. I am between the two stalls, I do not know what is

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happening. Medically, he has been proven unfit, but they say he is

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fit, which I find amazing. A lot of times, of which breaks my heart, at

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the end of the day, they have moved the goalposts, and it is hard to

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get you back again. They have moved them which will kick a lot of

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people off, and it will kick some people off that should not be on

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the benefit, and that is brilliant, but shunned -- but some people

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should be honoured, but it will be hard for us to get them back on the

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benefit that I feel they deserve. Annie is waiting for her next

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assessment. A friend from the club is worried it is making her ill.

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is traumatising her completely, making her so very ell, the anxiety,

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distress, the strain, she does not need it. None of us do. Does it

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make Annie feel like trapping her claim? That is giving in to

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something that you are entitled to. If it is going to cause this much

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ill-health, if I have got to go to another board, I do not know how

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long I can stand it. We caught up with the minister responsible for

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the changes. I ask him about the assessment system. It is a

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stressful experience for a lot of people. Is that a price worth

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paying and for reforming the system? Some people will find the

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process of this difficult. My message is, we will do everything

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we can, and we are to wind, to make it a fair process, they thought the

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process. Above all, those who cannot work, those who need long-

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term support, they will get it. If somebody can do something different

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from benefits, surely we should try them -- surely be should try to

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help them. The Government started assessing all long term sickness

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benefit claimants. Transferring them to employment and support

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allowance, ESA. A recent report said tens of thousands of people

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would failed the medical assessments or lose money because

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the new benefits are means-tested. The report's Co author said people

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Mabel find their incapacity benefit now disappears. The financial

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cushion the household have had will go. This will mean a loss of up to

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�90 a week to household incomes, which will push people from just a

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little bit above the poverty level right down on to the poverty level

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itself. They are trying to rob us of what he is entitled to, which

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isn't a lot. The injustice. Steve Barker gets �30 a week industrial

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injuries compensation for his hand. When he was on incapacity benefit

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it was paid on top. But when he moved to E s eight was taken off

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his benefit. If he drops down to jobseeker's allowance, the couple

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will lose even more. If they take him off employment and support

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allowance it will go down to �74 a week because they take his hand

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injury money into account and take it off him. Basically, how are we

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going to live on that? But two people to live on that per week is

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impossible. But that's the way the system works. But the government

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denies it's all about saving money. This was always about dealing with

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the problem that we felt was deep rooted, that was wrong. This is not

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about deficit reduction, it has no financial targets attached to it.

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It is all about improving people's lives and saving people's lives.

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The former coal mining communities of the South Wales valleys have

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some of the highest sickness benefit claimant rates in Britain.

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John Higgs is the son of a former Phillipstown miner. They closed the

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pits, a lot of miners went on the sick. They had their redundancy for

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a bit, then their sons came along, they didn't put any work in after.

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Thousands and thousands never got work. The family's just gave up.

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The Phillipstown youth team are trying to break that cycle. Tommy

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Harris comes from a mining family, took. Tommy didn't ask to go on

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incapacity benefit. Nobody sat down and said, you can do this, you can

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do that, we will help you do this and that. They just signed him off.

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Although it's looking like it is Tommy that is sponging off the

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system, I don't agree with that. What do you say to those people who

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say that you shouldn't be on benefits, you should be putting

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into society, paying tax and working? That's what I want to do,

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I want to be part of... I want to be something. I don't want be what

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I used to be like. That's in the past, I'm any boy now. But there is

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something he has to do first. you want to do this? Yes. He has to

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come off it sickness benefits. Weren't you supposed to do this a

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couple of weeks ago? Why didn't you do it? I didn't bother. It takes

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Tommy half-an-hour to get through to the right government department

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to come off the sick. I've got to do it, haven't I? All of our agents

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Because the phone is here it's easy for you to come in. What if you

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didn't have the help he and the phone at services here, you just

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Jobseeker's allowance. eventually Tommy has his new

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appointment to sign on as a job- seeker. That's sorted now, isn't

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it? Well done. This job isn't going to come and find you, is it? No.

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what have you got to do? Go out and find a job. It's done now. I know I

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missed the last one but it's done now. But proving you are actively

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looking for work won't be easy for someone with a limited education.

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He's got to write everything he does down. If he's looked in the

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paper, asked about a job, send a CV of - anything. The hard part for

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Tommy is he doesn't like to say, I have trouble reading, I have

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trouble understanding that. They've left him with a load of forms that

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are gobbledegook to him. Without a computer or credit for his phone,

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Tommy will have to rely on John Higgs and the community house for

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help in his search for jobs. Without the internet or without

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this place open, you are up the creek without a paddle. Suz is

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worried Tommy might become disillusioned. He will get other

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people who are his own age that on sickness benefit and are getting

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paid without having to prove they are looking for work, without

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having to go once a fortnight to the JobCentre. He may think, why am

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I putting myself through all this when there's nothing out there for

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me anyway? Because of the time we live in, it is easier to get money

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being on sickness benefit and actually having a job and

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struggling with all of that. With transport costs, child-minding

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costs. It's very convenient for anybody to get on incapacity

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benefit and just stay there. Ricky Harris is also at the community

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house doing his CV with another youth worker. Ricky is on the dole.

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I do want -- I don't want to sign on but I have to get money. Do you

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think the benefits system makes it too easy for people not to work?

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Yes. But doing nothing is not going to be an option for long. Come on,

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you know me. The fact is if you are on benefits you are getting money

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for nothing. That is the end of it, isn't it? And people who do work

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present that fact. Who can blame them? So the community team keep on

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pushing a harissa bore his, persuading them to work in elderly

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neighbours gardens in exchange for driving lessons and improving their

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skills set with practical courses, like strumming. You are not very

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good at turning up. Its �600 a time. If I put you in you've got to turn

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up three full days. If I Buckett for you and you don't turn up on

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one of the bays then I will kill you. Getting a strumming

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qualification could help their work for a council. One step closer to

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the jobs market. Steve Parker has been told he could be fit for work

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within weeks. Last time he applied for a part-time job close to his

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home he was turned down on health grounds. The employers are saying

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I'm unfit for work. For the liability through my hand and

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whatever. And yet the government and the medical thing are saying I

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am fit for work. I don't even know where I stand. I'm so frustrated.

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And with unemployment in Wales at by more than 16,000 in the last

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three months, the jobs market doesn't look good for former

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sickness benefit claimants. It's a difficult labour market. Employers

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can afford to be picky. They go for the young, the well-qualified. They

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go for people in good health. Those are precisely the characteristics

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which many of the incapacity benefit claimants are lacking. They

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are the older workers, the ones in poor health, the ones with

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relatively low levels of formal qualifications. They are going to

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be at the back of the queue for the available jobs. This employee or

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close to Phillipstown had more than 100 applicants for his last vacancy.

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We can cherry-pick who we want. We can't just take anybody who comes

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along. I'm looking for people who are proactive, they have to be

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actively looking for work regularly. Somebody that it's not -- that has

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not been chasing work, that wouldn't be the type of person we'd

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want to take on. The government is trying to get people who've been

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out of work for a long time back into the workplace. Do you think

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they can do it in the current climate? I think they can but they

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have to look into it more deeply. The type of channels they can put

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people into, they need to look at these people and look at the niche

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they can fit. Perhaps help them and guide them into areas that would

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For Tommy Harris there is a flurry of excitement as he hears of a job

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going locally. A job. They are taking on as well. If I can get a

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lift then I'm going up there. borrows a phone. My name is Tommy

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Harris. I had to leave a number. I phoned them and it was unavailable.

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I left a message and they haven't And they never did get back to

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Tommy. His mother is not surprised. There is nothing for us. There is

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no work at all in Phillipstown for nobody. No work at all.

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Phillipstown or Tredegar, there's nothing around at all. They is no

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work around so how can they go to work? Where else are they going to

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get benefit from, many from to keep my family? Any hours, both

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temporary and permanent - or jobs. Search. But Tommy continues to look

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for jobs in the community house with Suz and cousin Paul, who is

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also on benefits. Must have experience in all aspects of

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gardening. You have a. Bricklaying. Full driving licence. I don't know

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what to say, I'm sorry is all I can say. I can see why you get

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disheartened, I really can. didn't the government think of this

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first and create jobs? And the competition for work in the valleys

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will increase as more people are put off the sick. I agree that

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there are people on their that shouldn't be on there. Not just

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round here, everywhere. But they've done it the wrong way round.

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They've done it at a time when there are no jobs to go for. Even

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for the ones that are being made redundant now. Officially there are

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10 people chasing every vacancy within travelling distance of

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Phillipstown. For those that are able to travel, that is. Like many

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valleys communities, Phillipstown is isolated. While there is a

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daytime bus service, only half the households have access to a car.

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people are genuinely sick and AIL and made do go on jobseeker's

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allowance, there are no jobs in a three-mile radius that they can go

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to. So they are either going to have to buy a car, but they can't

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because they haven't got a job, and they can't get a job because they

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haven't got a car. It's difficult. But the government is determined to

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press ahead, concentrating its efforts on helping 135,000 long-

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term unemployed to compete for whatever vacancies they are in

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Wales. We are asking people to go through it challenging period. We

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are asking them to think again about what they can do. We are

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trying to Steer many of them into a different direction in their lives.

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There are some people who will feel uncomfortable about that. But I'm

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also convinced that those people who get into employment will a few

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years down the road look back and say that it was the right thing to

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happen. But what about the rest? What is and yet in place is

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something specifically to help those very large numbers, this

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tidal wave of people who have been pushed off incapacity benefit over

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the next three or four years. That remains a serious problem. Unless

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we can get some sudden miraculous revival of the economy,

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particularly a revival in the places where the incapacity

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claimants benefits are concentrated, we're just going to create more

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distress and hardship. The benefit reform will crush the life out of

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the community of Phillipstown. There is no glimmer of hope for

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them. There is no light at the end And what about those people already

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affected by the reforms? Steve Parker believes he will stay on

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benefits, but he thinks he will get less money. He doesn't believe

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anyone will give him a job. rather be out doing something, I've

0:26:320:26:40

got to be truthful. I just need fairplay. I just want to be left

0:26:400:26:45

alone to the best we can to get on with our own devices. That's all we

0:26:450:26:51

can hope for really. And Annie. Her decision letter has arrived. It is

0:26:510:27:01

good news. It gives a little bit up peace of mind now. She will get

0:27:010:27:04

support from the benefits system for the rest of her life. There are

0:27:050:27:08

tears of relief as she learns she won't be regularly assessed in

0:27:080:27:17

And Tommy, he is off the sick and wants to set up his own garden in

0:27:170:27:20

business. But funding for the Phillipstown youth team is ending

0:27:200:27:26

soon and with it vital support. suppose you could say it's dreaming,

0:27:260:27:32

but that's all they've got to hang on to at the moment. It wasn't for

0:27:320:27:39

this project I would probably be back in prison by now. With little

0:27:390:27:43

prospect of getting work, it's a chance he needs to grasp. If he is

0:27:430:27:47

to break out of his family's generations of unemployment.

0:27:470:27:53

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