:00:14. > :00:18.More than half of all people with a disability are out of work. The
:00:19. > :00:23.Government is spending millions to try and solve this. It's failing me.
:00:23. > :00:30.It's failing thousands of people up and down the country. It's a tick
:00:30. > :00:33.box exercise by Government. But are they targeting the wrong people?
:00:33. > :00:38.There's not a week that goes by without me hitting something. Do
:00:38. > :00:42.you think anyone in their right mind could consider that as
:00:42. > :00:45.employable? We reveal the companies getting rich from the welfare
:00:45. > :00:49.reforms. I think someone has cleverly designed a very large cow
:00:49. > :00:54.producing an awful lot of milk and bright businesses have worked out
:00:55. > :01:00.how to milk that cow very effectively. And tonight, Panorama
:01:01. > :01:05.exposes what one company, meant to help unemployed people, really
:01:05. > :01:15.calls them. They're lying, thieving (BLEEP). These are the people you
:01:15. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:33.were employed to help. To support There are 2.5 million long-term
:01:33. > :01:37.sick and disabled unemployed people in the UK. Currently costing
:01:37. > :01:40.taxpayers �13 billion every year. The Government says it wants as
:01:40. > :01:47.many as possible, who are able to work, off benefits and into
:01:47. > :01:51.employment. Those who can work will look for work and join the Work
:01:51. > :01:56.Programme. Those with a disability must and can no longer be left
:01:57. > :02:04.behind. It is a vital pledge that we must make to those who have
:02:04. > :02:07.those disabilities. 18 months on from the launch of the Government's
:02:07. > :02:12.most ambitious welfare reforms yet and how successful has the pledge
:02:12. > :02:19.been to get disabled people who are able to work off benefits and into
:02:19. > :02:22.employment? Last year, Panorama went under cover and found evidence
:02:22. > :02:27.that the assessment carried out by private company Atos was wrongly
:02:27. > :02:32.judging people fit for work. bend forward as far as you can
:02:32. > :02:42.reach. Thank you. We're still finding evidence of people being
:02:42. > :02:43.
:02:43. > :02:49.placed into a system they may not be fit for. This is Ruth, 27 years
:02:49. > :02:55.old, she has severe learning disabilities and epilepsy. She
:02:55. > :02:58.struggles to do even a simple task, like make tea. Yet last year she
:02:58. > :03:04.was assessed as someone capable of preparing for the work place and
:03:04. > :03:09.instructed to go to the Jobcentre. We go to the Jobcentre only to be
:03:09. > :03:14.told, "Do you realise that she's supposed to be actively seeking for
:03:14. > :03:21.a job?" The Jobcentre advised her that Ruth could appeal, which she
:03:21. > :03:25.did successfully. This way. Ruth's story is an extreme example, but as
:03:25. > :03:29.the drive to get disabled people into the Work Programme gains
:03:29. > :03:39.momentum, could there be more inappropriate cases being pushed
:03:39. > :03:44.
:03:44. > :03:50.A cemetery on the south side of Edinburgh. It's where Mark Gould
:03:50. > :03:53.often finds inspiration. He used to work as a freelance photographer.
:03:53. > :03:59.In 2008 he developed serious meantal health problems and hasn't
:03:59. > :04:08.worked since. Depression, for the record, is not feeling a little bit
:04:08. > :04:13.down or sad or anything. It's feeling nothing. You know, inside
:04:13. > :04:17.there's, you may as well be dead. For the past four years, Mark has
:04:17. > :04:22.been on incapacity benefits. Over a year ago, after being assessed, he
:04:22. > :04:27.was placed into a work-related activity group to make him job-
:04:27. > :04:31.ready. Mark and his girlfriend say he can't work, as he struggles with
:04:31. > :04:36.anxiety and his temper. How bad is it? Right, there's not a week that
:04:36. > :04:43.goes by without me hitting something. Do you think anyone
:04:43. > :04:51.should be stuck with that as an employee? Do you think anyone, in
:04:52. > :04:56.their right mind, could consider that as employable? I... When I'm
:04:56. > :05:01.frustrated I smash things up. this not be controlled? You've
:05:01. > :05:11.managed to control this in a very stressful environment of doing an
:05:11. > :05:11.
:05:11. > :05:17.interview? (BLEEP). Can this be controlled? (BLEEP) it can to some
:05:17. > :05:21.extent and I knew today was going to be a bit like this, so I did a
:05:21. > :05:25.Severn amount of preparation for being here. -- Certain amount of
:05:25. > :05:27.preparation for being here. How do you prepare? How do you try to
:05:27. > :05:37.control it? How are you controlling it now? Through breathing
:05:37. > :05:47.techniques. But what's going through your head? What's going
:05:47. > :05:48.
:05:48. > :05:51.through my head? I'm not going to say anything about that.
:05:51. > :05:56.The Department for Work and Pensions said it was unable to
:05:56. > :06:00.comment on an individual case, but in a statement said: "People placed
:06:00. > :06:03.in the work-related activity group for Employment and Support
:06:03. > :06:06.Allowance are currently too ill to work, but with the right support
:06:06. > :06:11.will be able to move into work in the future, when they are well
:06:11. > :06:14.enough. As a condition of receiving their benefit, they are expected to
:06:14. > :06:18.attend meetings with Jobcentre Plus or Work Programme advisors where
:06:18. > :06:24.they will get the help they need to gradually move closer to getting a
:06:24. > :06:29.job." Mark believes it will be some time
:06:29. > :06:32.before he's ready for employment. But when he is, for those who will
:06:33. > :06:40.help him through the Government's Work Programme, there's a very big
:06:40. > :06:45.incentive. Here's how it's supposed to work - there are 18 main work
:06:45. > :06:49.providers, these are largely private companies. Each is
:06:49. > :06:52.contracted to deliver the Work Programme for all long-term
:06:52. > :06:58.unemployed, not just those with disabilities. It's based on
:06:58. > :07:03.financial rewards. For every person placed with them that main work
:07:03. > :07:07.provider receives a referral payment of up to �400. For those on
:07:07. > :07:11.incapacity benefits, called hard to place clients, the figure is �600.
:07:11. > :07:17.If the main work provider manages to get a client into employment for
:07:17. > :07:21.more than six months, it receives a second payment, which is �1200. For
:07:21. > :07:25.a hard to place client, it could be as much as �3,500.
:07:25. > :07:33.After two years if a client is still in paid employment, the main
:07:33. > :07:39.work provider gets a third payout. This time, up to �5,000. But it's
:07:39. > :07:44.�9,600 for a hard to place client. It's called payment by results. The
:07:44. > :07:50.hope of the incentive approach was that main providers would work
:07:50. > :07:55.harder to reduce unemployment and put equal effort into those in the
:07:55. > :07:59.hard-to-place group. For some it's working. This is Andrew Collins.
:07:59. > :08:06.Homeless, he's been living between the streets of Southampton and the
:08:06. > :08:11.city's shelters for more than four years. Home for the moment is a
:08:11. > :08:16.Salvation Army Hostel. Like Mark Gould, he suffers from depression,
:08:16. > :08:20.it's meant he's been unable to work for nearly seven years. I wouldn't
:08:20. > :08:26.have been able to hold a job down simply because the despair, the
:08:26. > :08:31.absence of motivation, no interest in interacting with other people.
:08:31. > :08:34.In August 2011, Andrew was told he was being put on the Work Programme.
:08:34. > :08:38.His provider sent him on confidence-building courses, showed
:08:39. > :08:44.him where to look for work and paid for a new, smarter appearance.
:08:44. > :08:50.These sound like very small things to some people - new shoes, hair
:08:50. > :08:54.cut, shave - that was a big deal to you. It might seem small in
:08:54. > :09:02.material things, but it's a good symbol of the sort of support they
:09:02. > :09:06.were offering. You got the job? Yeah. Andrew now works parttime in
:09:06. > :09:11.a residential care home. He's an example of what the Work Programme
:09:11. > :09:14.was designed to achieve. Yet figures revealed in November, just
:09:15. > :09:20.13 months into the initiative, suggest Andrew is the exception
:09:20. > :09:24.rather than the rule. New figures have been released showing that the
:09:24. > :09:27.Government's Work Programme... Aimed at getting people off welfare
:09:27. > :09:31.benefits and into work... failed to meet a key target. None
:09:31. > :09:34.of the private companies who won the contracts to deliver the Work
:09:34. > :09:41.Programme met their targets. Ministers say the scheme is in its
:09:41. > :09:44.early days. Out of 68,000 referrals of people from the hard-to-place
:09:44. > :09:54.group, providers only found jobs lasting three months or more for a
:09:54. > :10:01.thousand of them. In that group, mental illness is
:10:01. > :10:05.the single biggest barrier to employment. Living in Middlesbrough
:10:05. > :10:09.is Tony Wilson. He's 34. He's been unemployed and receiving disability
:10:09. > :10:16.benefits for almost nine years. Like Andrew Collins, he's had a
:10:16. > :10:24.history of mental health problems. I've been diagnosed with depression,
:10:24. > :10:29.anxiety disorder and bored line personality disorder. When I'm
:10:29. > :10:33.anxious, I can't go out. If I have to go out, I have to be medicated.
:10:33. > :10:40.Tony was referred to Triage, which delivers the Work Programme on
:10:40. > :10:44.behalf of two main providers. Triage says by treating everyone as
:10:44. > :10:47.an individual and respecting their needs throughout the journey
:10:47. > :10:53.towards employment it has achieved one of the highest success rates in
:10:53. > :10:56.the country. Yet Tony's experience, once placed on the programme,
:10:56. > :11:01.hasn't matched up to what the company promises. In the past year,
:11:01. > :11:06.he says he's only seen his advisor three times. Some of the courses he
:11:06. > :11:11.was told he'd be sent on failed to materialise. Triage has accused him
:11:11. > :11:17.of missing appointments, which he disputes. What have they done to
:11:17. > :11:22.get you job ready? Nothingment -- Nothing. Nothing at all? Absolutely
:11:23. > :11:26.nothing. This isn't because you're rejecting it and saying no?
:11:26. > :11:33.They actually haven't actively done anything? They haven't done a
:11:33. > :11:40.single thing to help me in any way. Under the payment by results model,
:11:40. > :11:44.Tony could be worth up to �6,500 to a main provider. To try and
:11:44. > :11:47.understand why Tony wasn't getting the support he needs, I had to find
:11:47. > :11:56.someone who'd been paid to implement Triage policy, who was
:11:56. > :11:59.prepared to talk. Linda Smith worked as an employment
:11:59. > :12:04.advisor with Triage in Aberdeen. Many of her clients had serious
:12:04. > :12:10.mental illness and, like Tony, were in the hard-to-place group. They
:12:10. > :12:13.were worth a lot of money to a main provider. These people were
:12:13. > :12:19.probably more difficult to place in employment for us as employment
:12:19. > :12:23.workers, but for them, these people were big money. These people were
:12:23. > :12:30.the bucks. These people were money makers? Oh, yeah. They were the
:12:30. > :12:32.bucks. It's about the money. It's bringing the kerching, nothing else.
:12:32. > :12:38.After 11 months on the Work Programme, nothing had changed for
:12:38. > :12:42.Tony. His contact with Triage was becoming increasingly sporadic.
:12:42. > :12:50.Then, last month, on the day he was due to see his advisor, she left a
:12:50. > :12:57.message on his phone. She said, "Hello Tony, just checking how are
:12:57. > :13:01.you doing? We'll see you next year." She didn't say, come in or
:13:01. > :13:05.don't come in. She didn't say you don't need to come in any more. She
:13:05. > :13:08.didn't actually mention the appointment. Was this an unusual
:13:08. > :13:14.phone call? Had you had anything like this before? No, no. It was
:13:14. > :13:21.out of the blue. It was bizarre. For some, like Linda, who worked at
:13:21. > :13:25.Triage, this type of phone call comes as no surprise. If some of
:13:25. > :13:32.the clients that you met were too difficult to put into employment,
:13:33. > :13:37.what would happen? They would be put on telephone interviews, so
:13:37. > :13:41.they didn't even have to come into the centre, just to make sure that
:13:41. > :13:45.there was this contact made, so they could tick a box to say, yeah,
:13:45. > :13:50.they're still on the programme. Efforts to gain them employment
:13:50. > :13:54.stopped? Yeah. They would call it parking. That was the word that was
:13:54. > :13:57.used. You parked them. You don't spend as much time with these
:13:57. > :14:07.people because you're never going to get the money out of them.
:14:07. > :14:09.
:14:09. > :14:13.you think you were parked? Yes. Several Triage employees told us
:14:13. > :14:23.similar stories. They said they could not comment duty data
:14:23. > :14:51.
:14:51. > :14:53.protection, but in a statement, The testimony of those we have
:14:53. > :14:58.spoken to suggests that the financial model is working against
:14:58. > :15:03.those the scheme was set up to help the most, those in that hard to
:15:03. > :15:06.place group. We asked one of the country's leading financial
:15:06. > :15:12.analysts to examine the Work Programme and the payment by
:15:12. > :15:16.results policy upon which it was built. From the second I walk in
:15:16. > :15:21.the door, as a participant, in the eyes of the prime provider I have
:15:21. > :15:26.got a price tag? Effectively, you have a value. As a referral, that
:15:26. > :15:31.is your income. Once you have been in a referral, how much more money
:15:31. > :15:33.am I going to get out of you? If you buy a nice, well-trained
:15:33. > :15:37.individual and that able-bodied, I can get more money out of you. If
:15:37. > :15:40.you don't have experience, you don't have training and may be what
:15:40. > :15:44.disabled, you're going to get left behind. Which ones are you going to
:15:44. > :15:48.deal with first? Those that are easiest to get into work. I can
:15:48. > :15:58.cherry-pick the people that are fully able to do well, I can get
:15:58. > :15:58.
:15:58. > :16:03.The whole point of paying by results was to stop providers from
:16:03. > :16:08.this kind of cherry-picking. The financial incentives would be so
:16:08. > :16:10.attractive that the hard to place would not be ignored. And when
:16:10. > :16:15.bidding for these lucrative contracts, the providers promised
:16:15. > :16:25.to do everything they could to help those who needed it most. But are
:16:25. > :16:30.Gemma Brown lives in Southampton and is registered blind. She has
:16:30. > :16:35.been unemployed for four years. In March, she was placed on the Work
:16:35. > :16:38.Programme. I was hopeful it was going to make a difference and that
:16:38. > :16:44.things would change. That I would at least get some interviews.
:16:44. > :16:48.was placed with A4e, the second biggest contractor to the Work
:16:48. > :16:54.Programme. It claims to have saved the taxpayer �24 million per year
:16:54. > :16:58.by getting long-term unemployed into work. That is on their website.
:16:58. > :17:04.Now, I have got a copy of their bid to deliver the Work Programme in
:17:04. > :17:09.the south-east. In it, they promise to provide an accessible service
:17:10. > :17:14.for all clients. They will Taylor the programme to the needs of
:17:14. > :17:21.individual and each client will be seen monthly by a worker adviser.
:17:21. > :17:27.Not so, according to Jemma. I could go two or three months without
:17:27. > :17:30.seeing him. Before then, I have kind of weighted and had my
:17:30. > :17:38.appointment cancelled the day before. I had to wait another month
:17:38. > :17:43.or something. How many jobs has A4e found you or suggested for you? 1.
:17:43. > :17:47.And what about A4e's promise to provide an accessible service for
:17:47. > :17:51.clients? They cannot do things in large print, I cannot use their
:17:51. > :17:55.computers. Everywhere I have turned there has been a barrier from me
:17:55. > :18:00.accessing it. Do you get the feeling that you were almost the
:18:00. > :18:04.first disabled person they had come across? It really was like they had
:18:04. > :18:09.no clue about disability whatsoever. We spoke to others that also felt
:18:09. > :18:19.they were not getting the support promised to them. We put this to
:18:19. > :18:35.
:18:35. > :18:39.The Work Programme is overseen by the Department for Work and
:18:40. > :18:45.Pensions. We put to them that some companies were picking and choosing
:18:45. > :18:48.who to help. Do you think cherry- picking is taking place? I think we
:18:48. > :18:52.have set some very clear incentives for the Work Programme providers.
:18:52. > :18:56.They know they only get money if they get people into work. They
:18:57. > :19:01.know they only get money if they provide the right support. With
:19:01. > :19:08.respect, you haven't answered my question. If people are concerned
:19:08. > :19:15.about that, there is a complaints mechanism. But the incentives are
:19:15. > :19:20.in place to ensure that people get the right support. The system was
:19:20. > :19:25.set up in such a way that providers were not expected to have the
:19:25. > :19:28.expertise in every single disability field. This was where
:19:28. > :19:36.charities and support organisations with those specialist skills would
:19:36. > :19:38.come into their own. When the main providers competed for the multi-
:19:38. > :19:41.million-pound Work Programme contracts, they included in their
:19:41. > :19:45.bid lists of charities and organisations they said they would
:19:45. > :19:49.be using to help clients. Around 1000 of these support groups were
:19:49. > :19:56.signed up. They anticipated an exciting time. They would be paid
:19:56. > :19:59.by the main provider every time their support services were used.
:20:00. > :20:04.The Royal National Institute of Blind People supports almost 2
:20:04. > :20:08.million visually-impaired people in the United Kingdom. The RNIB group
:20:09. > :20:15.was successfully included in the Bairds of four main work providers.
:20:15. > :20:20.But the results have not been as expected. It is a disaster. The
:20:20. > :20:24.data that has come from the DWP shows that there have been Zero
:20:24. > :20:28.successful placements in work for blind and partially-sighted people.
:20:28. > :20:35.That is meant to be the core outcome and it is not delivering.
:20:35. > :20:39.It is not delivering the right equipment, the right specialists
:20:39. > :20:44.support. In many cases, we feel that the person is just taken on
:20:44. > :20:51.and then parked, nothing is being done for them. In some cases it is
:20:51. > :20:58.a bit of a con, this specialist advice is not available. Was the
:20:58. > :21:02.RNIB's experience unusual? We conducted a survey of 348 of
:21:02. > :21:08.voluntary organisations listed on the DWP website in July last year
:21:08. > :21:11.as being sub-contractors to the Work Programme. Surprisingly, 40%
:21:11. > :21:15.of the 184 that responded said they were not part of the Work Programme.
:21:15. > :21:19.Therefore, they should not be on the list. Then there was the number
:21:19. > :21:24.of referrals. Of those organisations that were correctly
:21:24. > :21:34.listed as being sub-contractors, 73% said they had fewer referrals
:21:34. > :21:35.
:21:35. > :21:41.than expected. 41% said they had not received any referrals at all.
:21:41. > :21:44.Order, order. Can I will Keeney to this afternoon session? Labour MP
:21:44. > :21:49.Dame Anne Begg is the chairperson of the parliamentary select
:21:49. > :21:53.committee tasked with looking at how well the Work Programme is
:21:54. > :21:58.doing. Would she be able to explain why providers would be reluctant to
:21:59. > :22:05.refer up people to outside support? They might be expecting to get
:22:05. > :22:09.�5,000 from the Government for getting them into work. If they
:22:09. > :22:12.spend �6,000 on that individual, getting them to work, that is loss-
:22:12. > :22:15.making. They have been selecting the easiest ones out of those
:22:15. > :22:18.groups and not necessarily working with those that they have assessed
:22:18. > :22:23.as being too far from the labour market and too difficult to get
:22:23. > :22:33.into work. What she says matches the testimony
:22:33. > :22:56.
:22:56. > :23:00.we got from others that responded From the evidence we have gathered,
:23:00. > :23:04.it seems finance is driving this system. Some providers are going
:23:04. > :23:09.for the quick return, focusing on those most likely to get a job.
:23:09. > :23:12.Others are failing to refer clients to much needed specialist support
:23:12. > :23:19.because they have to pay for that support. Thereby, cutting their
:23:19. > :23:24.profits. Our former Triage employee felt that led to a culture of
:23:24. > :23:30.indifference towards the clients that needed help the most. Never
:23:30. > :23:34.ask how they are. When you go to greet them, never ask how they are.
:23:34. > :23:40.Why not? You spend so much time, they would want to tell you what
:23:40. > :23:45.was wrong with them. That's their words, not mine, I have to say.
:23:45. > :23:49.Never, ever ask anybody with disability benefit how they are.
:23:49. > :23:57.was difficult to accept what Linda Smith said next. According to her,
:23:57. > :24:04.this was how some staff talked about clients. They were all LTBs.
:24:04. > :24:11.Lying, thieving bastards. Who? clients. That is how they are
:24:11. > :24:17.referred to, as clients. Lying, thieving bastard. These were
:24:17. > :24:23.clients that you had been employed to help? To support and help back
:24:23. > :24:29.into employment. Yes. It's offensive. It's unprofessional.
:24:29. > :24:33.There are so many words you could say about that. It is just wrong.
:24:33. > :24:38.We have spoken to a number of former Triage employees who
:24:38. > :24:48.confirmed they also heard this term been used. In a statement, Triage
:24:48. > :25:15.
:25:15. > :25:19.In relation to not asking how The Select Committee's inquiry into
:25:19. > :25:23.the Work Programme is ongoing. I asked Dame Anne Begg, who is
:25:23. > :25:29.heading it, to look at some of our evidence. Tony, who feels he has
:25:29. > :25:35.been part by the system. Gemma, who says her disability is not being
:25:35. > :25:40.catered for. And former Triage employee, Linda Smith. What have
:25:40. > :25:44.they done to get your job ready? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
:25:44. > :25:48.longer this goes on, the harder it makes it for him to ever get back
:25:48. > :25:54.into the workplace. Everywhere I have turned, there has been a
:25:54. > :26:01.barrier in the accessing it. They should not be working with people
:26:01. > :26:06.on disabilities if they cannot handle it themselves. This is A4e.
:26:06. > :26:11.That company must know that a. Lying, thieving bastards. The
:26:11. > :26:19.clients. That is shocking. I hope that this is a rare example of that.
:26:19. > :26:23.If that is widespread... Of now that you have heard and seen that
:26:23. > :26:28.evidence, what will you do with it? Will you be feeding that into the
:26:28. > :26:32.inquiry that is on going? I think what you have shown in your
:26:33. > :26:36.programme will certainly form part of the evidence that we will use
:26:36. > :26:39.when we will reach our conclusions and make recommendations to
:26:39. > :26:46.government about what should happen with regard to the Work Programme
:26:46. > :26:52.as it develops. So, how does the department responsible react to our
:26:52. > :26:55.findings? Looking at the supply chain, we carried out a survey. We
:26:55. > :27:01.discovered that the expertise and the knowledge of many outside
:27:01. > :27:06.support organisations were not be used. They feel they have been used
:27:06. > :27:10.as bid Candy, took window-dresser. I think private contractors who
:27:10. > :27:14.identify people they believe could help provide an effective service.
:27:14. > :27:17.They have to decide if that works in the long term, whether the
:27:17. > :27:20.organisations provide the right service. I think there will be some
:27:21. > :27:25.organisations that have not had the volume of referrals they expected.
:27:25. > :27:35.We spoke to one person who worked in the industry and she said that
:27:35. > :27:40.they were encouraged to park. They said that clients were refer to as
:27:40. > :27:42.LTB, lying, thieving bastards? think that is wrong and I would
:27:43. > :27:48.like to ensure that where that language is used disciplinary
:27:48. > :27:50.action is taken. I want to see that this programme get more people into
:27:51. > :27:55.work, particularly those that are furthest away from the labour
:27:55. > :27:59.market. Few will disagree that supporting long-term sick and
:27:59. > :28:04.disabled unemployed who are capable of going back into work is a good
:28:04. > :28:08.thing. But is the assessment process and the Work Programme the
:28:08. > :28:13.best way of achieving these results? The select committee will
:28:13. > :28:17.report its findings to government in April. But has the financial
:28:17. > :28:26.model which is underpinning the Work Programme already become a
:28:26. > :28:31.barrier for those most in need of Next week, is it time to change our
:28:31. > :28:39.abortion laws? We have one of the highest rates in Europe yet, in one