Job Centres

The Chancellor is about to undertake a public consultation exercise on the areas that he thinks that the state can leave to individual or community enterprise. This naturally follows from tne belief in the "Big Society" which was the main planke of the Tories election programme. In my role as concerned citizen I have actually written to my MP Karen Bradley with my idea. It is to scrap Job centres.

I posted the below on the Guardian site following the report of one of the latest Tory Election Posters on cutting benefite for those who refuse to work. My experience from last year rather proves that the problem is more complex then people seem to think In the context of a place like North Staffordshire a range of long term, secure well paid jobs do not exist. For many remaining on benefits and there are now about 24% of the population is the safest option.

The Job Centre is a 100 years old this month. The Observer had a feature on this auspicous anniversary last week. The piece mentioned the role that Winston Churchil the then Liberal President of the Board of Trade had in founding the Labour Exchange as it was then called although the history of the Job Centre/ Labour Exchange goes back further than that.