0:00:02 > 0:00:05Tonight, can benefit dependency be broken?
0:00:05 > 0:00:06It makes me angry.
0:00:06 > 0:00:12I feel a portion of my salary is going to people who don't want to work. I don't feel that's fair.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15The Government's launching what it calls a welfare revolution.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17It's talking tough.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Somebody saying, "I will not work, I refuse to work," even though there is work there for them
0:00:22 > 0:00:24can't expect to carry on receiving benefits.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27It's a wake-up call for the workless.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31You've got to grow up, look for a job. Can't keep sponging off the JobCentre.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36If you genuinely want to find work, stick your hand up.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42- We follow the real-life struggle to find work.- Anger at the Government, anger at myself,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46anger at the course I was on. Frustration. No nice feelings.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02A revolution is meant to start this month.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05A new way of getting people off benefits and into work.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08We've been to a place that needs it more than most,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11on the North Wales coast.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12'This part of the coast
0:01:12 > 0:01:16'is within easy reach of Lancashire and the Midlands.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22'And the teeming thousands of those areas find the sort of relaxation they require here at Rhyl.'
0:01:28 > 0:01:32And Rhyl still means holiday memories for many people.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37When I was a kid, I came here with my grandparents. It was a happy place. Tourists, beaches,
0:01:37 > 0:01:42funfairs, popcorn, ice-creams - all the fun stuff.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44But Rhyl's fallen on hard times.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Holidaymakers have left for foreign beaches,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51hotels and B&Bs have closed down.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Now, right in the town centre, in the ward called West Rhyl,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58nearly a half of the adults of working age are on benefits,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01one of the highest figures in the UK.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03I'm going to make your day.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06I'm going to give you a stick of Panorama rock.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11We're doing a programme about getting people off welfare into work.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14- That's why we've come to Rhyl. - Fantastic!
0:02:14 > 0:02:15Why have you said "fantastic"?
0:02:15 > 0:02:20Well, because I've been in the workforce now for 40 years and never had a day off work
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and I believe that, if you want to work, there's work out there.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27It's very hard to recruit. People just don't want the jobs.
0:02:27 > 0:02:33My daughter, she's actually working, but she's trying to improve herself, and she can't.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Hundreds and hundreds of application forms she's sent off. Nothing.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39It's getting people back to work.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44- Because?- Strain on the Government's resources, our resources, my taxes.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49- There are people out there taking the mick.- The Coalition Government says it's listening.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53We've got communities, I think, that are being driven down
0:02:53 > 0:02:56by the level of benefit dependency in them.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58We're saying it's time for that to change.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02We need to transform the lives of those people. We need to support those who cannot work,
0:03:02 > 0:03:08but we've got to give those who can that extra bit of push and the support to make sure they do.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15Will it work?
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Amongst the many on welfare in West Rhyl are Chris and Steve.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22They know just what some people think of them.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Viewers out there who just think,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28"Oh, they're just dossers. They ain't got nothing else to do."
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Well, that is the fact. There is nothing else to do round here.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37Do you think the Government can solve the unemployment problem in a place like Rhyl?
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Not a chance. There's too much drugs about, through boredom, again.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44That's it. Nothing to do. It's just a run-down town.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Round here, all you associate yourself with is your mates.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Most of your mates round here either take drugs or drink a lot.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Christine lives in West Rhyl, too.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02She's 45, she's raised three children.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07She was on the dole. Now she's living on incapacity benefit.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11She's got health problems and had a heroin habit in the past.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15How long is it since you've been in work, Christine?
0:04:15 > 0:04:20- About 11 year.- 11 years?- Yeah.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23How long is it since you've wanted to be in work?
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Well, moving from Manchester to down here,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31I thought I'd just get myself housed, get myself sorted out
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and then go back to work. But it just didn't happen that way.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37I was out of work longer and longer and longer.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Being on the dole, my rent being paid, bits like that.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Then I ended up going on the sick.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46It's ended up being too long now. And I'm bored. I need something.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50And then there's Adam.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56Living in West Rhyl and frightened of the world he's now part of.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I don't want to become one of these people that just get excited
0:04:59 > 0:05:02that it's pay-day tomorrow for my Jobseeker's Allowance.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Someone that's thinking of the next excuse to get a crisis loan
0:05:05 > 0:05:08as I'm broke and can't afford to live on £60 a week.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I want to prove myself to an employer, get a promotion,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13work hard to get training.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19But Rhyl doesn't just have lots of people living on benefit.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25It boasts a host of local initiatives trying to fix the problem, too.
0:05:25 > 0:05:26Meet Dawn Roberts.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28She lives in South Rhyl, where the number of people
0:05:28 > 0:05:32on Jobseeker's Allowance is below the UK average.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39It's as if there are two separate worlds in the same town.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40I will never not work.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44One of the chaps on the street that I live on got made redundant
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and within two weeks, he had a job. We just knew he would get a job.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52It's a different mindset, it's different lifestyles.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56People on my street are going on cruises and lovely holidays.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Some people in the west end of Rhyl don't have hot running water.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04A former hairdresser, Dawn runs a training company.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08And she holds free workshops for the workless.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Has everybody that's here today come to his workshop
0:06:11 > 0:06:14because they genuinely want to find work? Put your hand up.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19Perfect, thank you. I've got a business.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23So, if I wake up in the morning and I want to take a member of staff on, that's a headache.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Lots of people that can't do the job apply for it.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28And I've got to sift through all that.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32And I'm looking for the diamond in all of that.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37And she's found them, too. She's hired people who were on the dole.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41If you go in like this, "Morning, I've come for the interview,"
0:06:41 > 0:06:44- what do you think people think? - Not interested in the job.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47They think, "Barrel of laughs, can't wait to employ them."
0:06:47 > 0:06:51This is the world. It is survival of the fittest.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53The people that are really determined to get a job
0:06:53 > 0:06:55will get the jobs.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58You've got to look the business to do the business, really.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01For some, these are desperate times. They've had 40 rejection letters.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06We're saying to them, "In order for you to get a job, you're going to have to do something
0:07:06 > 0:07:09"that is maybe alien to you, which is sell yourself."
0:07:09 > 0:07:14- What did you think about your session today?- Brilliant. I enjoyed it.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15Think I learned a lot.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18If we don't encourage people to try and do something
0:07:18 > 0:07:21to change their circumstances, what's the alternative?
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Just roll over and die?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27You know, this is my world, this is where I live. I live in Rhyl.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29I don't want part of it to die.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Can Rhyl show the Government the way?
0:07:35 > 0:07:38On the seafront, down by the bowling green,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43there's a showpiece project to get people off welfare. Just a building site today,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46but Suzanne and Alison have grand designs.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48All the learners and all the staff that week
0:07:48 > 0:07:52have had Monday and Tuesday as days off.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54This is going to be the Taste Academy,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56a cafe/restaurant with a difference.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Most of the staff will previously have been on benefits.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03We're planning to open
0:08:03 > 0:08:07the week between Easter Weekend and the Wedding.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- Hoping, planning? - We're going to do it.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13We're going to do it. There you go. Decision made.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Which leaves just a few weeks before the Royal Wedding
0:08:17 > 0:08:20to turn all this into a busy, working kitchen.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I've looked at that and I've thought that that was up on the wall.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28I've not realised. When I spoke to him...
0:08:28 > 0:08:31That is a waste of prep area, that is.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Just the building work's costing nearly £200,000 of public money.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39The initiative came from Rhyl's City Strategy
0:08:39 > 0:08:41and a charity called Rathbone is running it.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47You really think you can help to solve the unemployment problem,
0:08:47 > 0:08:48even in a place like Rhyl?
0:08:48 > 0:08:51We are doing. We've already solved that.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53I've already taken 22 people off the dole.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56But there were three times as many who applied.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59People were borrowing their dad's ties and everything.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03They were making such an effort to come spruced up.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05They're desperate to get back to work.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Even the local football club runs courses to help to get people into work.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16This one's called Strikers.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Steve Falvey and Chris Brewin are on it.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24And, just as in the beautiful game, there are penalties for misbehaviour.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Right, rules. Being late - for every minute you're late, it's a lap around the car park.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32No swearing - ten press-ups for every swearword.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Strikers has a record of success improving literacy and numeracy.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41But getting Chris and Steve into jobs will be hard work.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43What other place do you know
0:09:43 > 0:09:46where you have to do ten press-ups for swearing? Eh?
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Steve's 21. He's never had a job.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55- Did you have any qualifications when you left school?- No.- Why not?
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Through drugs. I just wasn't arsed about them.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04- And how long were you on drugs for? - From the age of 11 to 16.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08It used to be a good laugh. Cos I was off my head.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12But, in the long run, it's not good.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Because you've not learned nothing, really.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19All you're going to do, 20 pull-pushes, OK?
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Steve recommended this course to his mate, Chris, who had worked before.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31I lost all confidence after my lung.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36I thought I'd never be able to play football again.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40- You had an accident?- Yeah, collapsed lung.- How did that happen?
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Well, through drugs and partying too much.
0:10:43 > 0:10:49- What, so you were out of your head and you had an accident?- Yeah, yeah.
0:10:49 > 0:10:50Steve and Chris both thought
0:10:50 > 0:10:53that Strikers was doing them the power of good.
0:10:53 > 0:11:00Been unemployed for so long - drugs, alcohol for so long -
0:11:00 > 0:11:03which dents your confidence quite a bit.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05So, this is helping me regain
0:11:05 > 0:11:09all the confidence and motivation to do something.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I'd never speak to you on-camera like this.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16I'd never just, willy-nilly, get in front of a group
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and tell them about myself. I'd be, like, intimidated.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Now you're an old man of 21, now it seems a bit different?
0:11:24 > 0:11:29Yeah, cos you've got responsibilities. You've got to grow up, look for a job.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Erm... I don't know, can't keep sponging off the JobCentre.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I've got a girlfriend and daughter, so I look after my daughter.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41She's not going to want her dad being jobless all her life, is she?
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Can you imagine what you'd want to be saying to your daughter, as she grows up, about work?
0:11:46 > 0:11:50If you don't get a job, I'll go kick your ass!
0:11:50 > 0:11:53- Do you think you can get a job now? - Yeah.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Well, a job that I want, anyway.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Not what the JobCentre tell me to apply for.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01But should Steve have the right to be choosy?
0:12:01 > 0:12:03The Government doesn't think so.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Somebody saying, "I will not work, I refuse to work,"
0:12:06 > 0:12:08even though there is work there for them,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11can't just turn around and expect to carry on receiving benefits.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17It's an early start for Ray Worsnop,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19doing his bit for Rhyl and its unemployed.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Ray knows about markets.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24He set up this one in the town centre.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28And he's running a course showing the ropes to some people on welfare.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31I was brought up when there were lots of jobs
0:12:31 > 0:12:33and I was brought up with a work ethic.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Now that we have two or three generations of unemployed,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39I'm really worried that the work ethic isn't there.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42If we could do something like this for them,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45then it may just give them a reason not to just say,
0:12:45 > 0:12:46"Well, everyone's unemployed, so I'll be unemployed."
0:12:48 > 0:12:51One of the people Ray's got working on the market is Christine.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57It's the first time she's worked in ages. And she's loving it.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- You want to do all of these here, OK?- Yes.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05- Sound, sound, sound! All right? - Yeah. Cheers.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08I'm really enjoying it, yeah.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10To get out there again, it's made a big difference to me.
0:13:10 > 0:13:17- I'm not getting any younger. - She's waiting for an operation. - I've got carpal tunnel in my wrists.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22I've been on the sick now for quite a while, actually.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25And... I don't know. I don't like it, I'd rather be working.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31And Christine knows that the Government would rather she was working, too.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36It's a big day for Adam Gale.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43- Adam, you're looking really smart. - Thank you very much. I feel kind of smart. Still feels new.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49He's been out of work for nearly a year. But he's decided the only way he can get off welfare
0:13:49 > 0:13:54is to do the job for himself. He's got some work experience.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58I feel like it's the first day of school, kind of thing.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I'm just hoping I get there and everyone's going to be nice to me,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05and friendly enough, even just make a few friends,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07get a couple of references out of it.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13He's been on a course designed to improve his work skills.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16But it isn't a job and it's about to end.
0:14:16 > 0:14:22So he knocked on the door of the local Morrisons supermarket and he wouldn't take no for an answer.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26They said there's no guaranteed job. I said, "Fair enough."
0:14:26 > 0:14:31I do want a job, but even if I only do a few weeks here and get a good reference for myself,
0:14:31 > 0:14:37that still helps me again to go to another place and say, "I work hard. There's just no jobs at this place."
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And we met him at the end of his first day.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46I'm much happier - still a bit nervous that nothing will come from this,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49or I'll get something wrong, or someone won't like me in there.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52But these are things people normally feel.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Adam's 25.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58He's been in and out of work, and homeless a few times as well.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02And when he was a teenager, he was in and out of trouble.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06It's a bit embarrassing. Just silly things, misdemeanours.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Give me an idea.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Erm... Shoplifting when I was a kid, drunk and disorderly,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16breach of the peace, criminal damage of bus-stops.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Things to show off to my friends.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23The last time I was arrested, I was 18. I was homeless and I stole an Oasis and a chocolate bar.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27People would judge you for it. It could have been 20 years ago but people won't care.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38Later on we filmed Adam at Morrisons, trying to work himself into a job.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42He has shown great potential.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45He's very keen, he works hard, he's courteous to staff.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47They're not broken?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49No. I'll clean them for some dust.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52'He took his own initiative.'
0:15:52 > 0:15:56He's come here off his own back, and he's shown character.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00But Adam still hadn't got a job, for all that.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02The clock was ticking for him.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03He'd be back on the dole soon.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Adam first came to Rhyl as a child on holiday.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Do you remember it when you were a kid? Happy memories.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15Now what does Rhyl say to you?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Kind of, last hope....
0:16:26 > 0:16:30They've got high hopes at the Taste Academy.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Now the trainee chefs are being put through their paces in the newly-completed kitchen.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36It's a bit still like a building site,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40but we're getting there to making it our own.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44There is a lot to do and we just want to get in and start cooking now.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Are you going to make it by the date?
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Of course we are!
0:16:48 > 0:16:51They've got a fortnight before they'll be serving paying customers.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Watch your fingers.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54Take your time.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59It's not the speed, I'd rather you did it correctly than cut your finger.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Leeds chef Alison used to be a cook in a prison.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07If a trainee is late, they'd better have a good reason.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13We take no prisoners, this is a real-life working environment and they need to be in time in work.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15They're a team member and there is no excuse.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20"Sorry, you're not going to get a good quality meal today because he's hungover" won't cut it.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25We've got a big list of people waiting for anybody who wants to drop out.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27It's a six-month paid traineeship.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30After that, the trainees, like Darren Teesdale,
0:17:30 > 0:17:37will have to find permanent jobs, but they'll have experience and qualifications.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41This is the first time I've been in the kitchen, and to be here is great.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43I tried looking for work for over a year,
0:17:43 > 0:17:45I applied for so many jobs
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and I never heard anything back off any jobs, like,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53and I heard off Rathbone about this and when they said "You've got the job", I was over the moon.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Very soon, Jim Pickering will be front of house at the Taste Academy,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03taking orders and serving customers.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I am excited about being in work.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08I'm also slightly nervous as well.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10I really can't wait to get going now.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15When I'm not working and walking through town,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18I treat everyone as if they're a potential customer.
0:18:18 > 0:18:19I'm one of the lucky ones.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23You're lucky all right, but you must have something, Jim.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25I don't know what it is.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Must be my dazzling charm that got me the job(!)
0:18:28 > 0:18:34You've got to have all that oomph, all that feeling, that, "Nice to see you, nice to see you",
0:18:34 > 0:18:37but that's exactly what you don't have when you're on the dole.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38Yeah, exactly.
0:18:38 > 0:18:44All you do is... Well, what I did, just sat in my room playing XBox.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46You know, looking for jobs.
0:18:46 > 0:18:53The Taste Academy's ambition is to get four out of five of their trainees into jobs.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58Rhyl offers a rich local menu of schemes to get people off benefits.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02The Government's new work programme sets a new performance test.
0:19:02 > 0:19:08It will only pay contractors in full if they get people into lasting jobs.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11It's time the Government
0:19:11 > 0:19:13stopped pretending it knows how to do the job.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15We are better off saying to professionals
0:19:15 > 0:19:18who work in the welfare to work industry,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21"You design the programmes, but we'll pay them when they're successful,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25"when they get people into work and help them stay there."
0:19:25 > 0:19:27This is a complete revolution in welfare to work,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30this is the biggest payment by results scheme
0:19:30 > 0:19:34that we think has been tried anywhere in the world.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39The Government has signed contracts all over the UK with companies and voluntary groups.
0:19:39 > 0:19:45These welfare revolutionaries will only get their money back if they deliver.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48They're investing £580 million over the next year.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53That's a big statement of intent of commitment to getting people into work
0:19:53 > 0:19:56and if they don't succeed, that's money they will lose.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02And the voluntary group Rehab have won one of the two work programme contracts in Wales.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Do you think you can solve a problem like Rhyl?
0:20:05 > 0:20:09I think we can play our part very significantly.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13We're hoping to have 2,500 people access our programmes,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and we're really hopeful and fairly confident
0:20:16 > 0:20:19that we will have at least 1,000 of those people in jobs
0:20:19 > 0:20:20by the end of the programme.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24And that could include Christine.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Her stint at the market is over.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31The Government is now starting to test everybody on incapacity benefits
0:20:31 > 0:20:32to see if they're fit for work.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36It's a step no government has ever taken before.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I'm not staying on the sick, no way. I don't want to.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43She knows her world is about to change,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45and that won't be easy for her.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49It is not the thought of getting up, it's just, I don't know...
0:20:49 > 0:20:52It is a bit frightening, that bit.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55They want people off the sick, off the dole, and in work.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Does that seem to you like a friendly invitation or rather like pressure?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02A bit of pressure, yeah, but I think it is quite alarming,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04we haven't got a choice, really.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07The local MP approves of getting people off welfare,
0:21:07 > 0:21:12but he says the Government is stigmatising the most vulnerable.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16The philosophy that's bubbling out now, alcoholics, single parents,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19drug addicts, you know, it's not the right approach.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23To victimise them and say, "You're totally responsible for it"
0:21:23 > 0:21:28when there's no jobs for them to get or job opportunities are being reduced massively, you know,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31isn't giving them hope.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35The Government says work programme contractors will be well paid
0:21:35 > 0:21:39for getting challenging cases off benefits and into work.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43One of the reasons that we are spending up to £14,000
0:21:43 > 0:21:46to get some of the hardest-to-help people into work is to make sure
0:21:46 > 0:21:51our providers have an incentive to work with them. We shouldn't look upon anybody as a lost cause.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56Yet one of the main contractors hired to do the job sounds a warning note.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01Do you think you can get people who have been on incapacity benefit for a long time
0:22:01 > 0:22:07into work in large numbers, as the Government assures us that you all can?
0:22:07 > 0:22:09I think we have to be very careful about this.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14There are many people who have taken that journey and succeeded, and a number of people haven't.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17The last thing you want to do is set up people to fail.
0:22:17 > 0:22:23The Government claims its Universal Credit will make work pay better than staying on benefits
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and it wants tougher penalties if you can work, but don't.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Before he went on the Strikers course, Steve had his benefits cut under the existing system.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42They told me to apply for a job which I didn't like.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44I can't remember what job it was.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48I didn't apply for it, so they sanctioned me for six months.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52So they fined you £30 a fortnight for six months? Which hurt?
0:22:52 > 0:22:53Yeah, I had a baby as well
0:22:53 > 0:22:58so I couldn't get her a lot for her birthday and Christmas. It was Christmas time.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02But you're on Jobseeker's Allowance, not jobchooser's allowance.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Do you think you have the right only to go for a job you want to do?
0:23:07 > 0:23:10I'd prefer to get a job what you'd at least like
0:23:10 > 0:23:16rather than go somewhere you don't like, end up quitting within a week, just for a waste of time.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20In the Government's new regime, the ultimate sanction
0:23:20 > 0:23:23for repeatedly turning down jobs that are on offer
0:23:23 > 0:23:27will be to lose benefits for three years.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30If you get the big stick out too soon, too early,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34when there's no jobs there, or when the job opportunities are diminishing,
0:23:34 > 0:23:39will raise false hopes and be a recipe for disaster. You'll be driving people back on the streets.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45There's absolutely no reason for anyone to end up on the streets as a result of what we're doing.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49The only people who put themselves in danger of finding their benefits stopped
0:23:49 > 0:23:54are those who are capable of doing so and wilfully say, "I refuse to engage with the system."
0:23:54 > 0:23:56How much do you want to work at the moment?
0:23:56 > 0:24:02Do you want to work so much you would do any job that would pay the bills?
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Not any job, I'd have to like the job, like I said.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Adam Gale has been struggling to find a job.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14The work experience at Morrisons which he found for himself
0:24:14 > 0:24:19has now finished, and he's going back on the dole.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20What are your emotions now?
0:24:20 > 0:24:26Anger, at the Government, anger at myself, at the course I was on,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29frustration. No nice feelings.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32What do you feel about all you've tried to do?
0:24:32 > 0:24:33It's been a waste of time.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Some of it I'd still do again, because you can't get anything without trying
0:24:37 > 0:24:40but mostly the last 12 weeks has been a waste.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43It's very tough getting from welfare into work, isn't it?
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Yeah, it is, near impossible, to be honest. Unless you're lucky
0:24:47 > 0:24:50or have good qualifications, it's very hard to get back into a career.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57It's Royal Wedding day in Rhyl
0:24:57 > 0:25:02and after all the hard work and preparation, the Taste Academy is open for business,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06but everything has gone royally wrong.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08We have a bit of a nightmare.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11The electrics went down last-minute.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13We're getting there now.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17- Do you ever think, we've bitten off more than we can chew?- No, it's fine.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21This is just catering, things happen, boilers blow up,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24electrics stop, people go off sick. It's fine.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27That's what we're used to.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34After nearly a month on the dole,
0:25:34 > 0:25:40Adam Gale has got a phone call from Morrisons asking him to come in for an interview.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Will it be a fairy-tale ending for him after all?
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Hi, Adam. How did you get on? What did they say? You're smiling!
0:25:48 > 0:25:53I'm always smiling! They've offered me an 18 hour a week job.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57I've took it just to prove that I can do the work.
0:25:57 > 0:26:03So this isn't the job that you went for? This is something less than that?
0:26:03 > 0:26:06To be honest, it's more than I had yesterday.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10I could be moody about it and say I wanted full-time
0:26:10 > 0:26:16or I could be happy and say there's a chance of getting full-time if I work hard, so I'll see the upside.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20The Royal Wedding may have been a nightmare for the Taste Academy,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24but they're determined to get it right on their big night.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27The official opening party, three weeks later.
0:26:27 > 0:26:33The trainees aren't getting handouts any more. They're doing the handing out.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36It's important to have projects like this,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39to get young people back to work, so that they're not marginalised.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44But will the jobs be there? Getting people off benefits depends critically
0:26:44 > 0:26:46on the economy performing well.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Nearly 50% of the people who work in my constituency
0:26:50 > 0:26:52are in the public sector, 13,000 people.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Mr Cameron wants to sack between 10 and 25% of those
0:26:56 > 0:27:01at the same time as putting the unemployed, with the lowest skills, back to work.
0:27:01 > 0:27:07But the Government says that across the UK, a million extra jobs will be created.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11My sense is that there is an overwhelming desire for change.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Is it your ambition to break the benefits culture?
0:27:14 > 0:27:19It's an absolutely clear ambition to change the nature of Britain's benefits culture
0:27:19 > 0:27:24so our welfare state becomes a vehicle for you to get back on your feet and into the workplace,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26not a place you live.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32In a few months, Jim and Darren will have completed their time at the Taste Academy
0:27:32 > 0:27:35and they'll be searching for jobs again.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40My confidence since being here has literally skyrocketed.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Compare the you, Darren, that was you before.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48Completely different person. Completely different person. I've calmed down a lot, like.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51I'm loving it.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pride and happiness tonight?
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Probably ten, yeah.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01I'd give it a 15!
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Adam's given it all he's got,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09but he's still halfway to getting full-time work.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Don't give up looking for a job.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15You might get 100 no's but if you're motivated enough
0:28:15 > 0:28:21and you prove to your employers, they'll hire you. You can't rely on the JobCentre to do it for you.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Next week - can you trust your bank?
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Following massive penalties for mis-selling insurance and investment products,
0:28:31 > 0:28:37Panorama goes undercover and asks, is your high-street bank still bad for your wealth?