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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Benefit rules must be changed to allow jobseekers to volunteer says AM
June 11, 2008 12:00 AM
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Social Justice Spokesperson, Peter Black has called for benefits rules to be changed in order to allow jobseekers to volunteer more easily.
Mr. Black was speaking in the light of the recent Morgan Inquiry report which has made the same recommendation. The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Morgan, is a cross-party panel of MPs and experts.
Mr. Black said:
"The Morgan Inquiry has it right. Volunteering is one of the best ways that job-seekers can gain experience that they can then refer to when applying for paid jobs, as well as getting them used to the workplace again.
"In addition, volunteering enables them to brush up existing skills and learn new ones. That is why the inflexible and insensitive approach taken by the government's benefit rules makes no sense. Volunteering helps people to get a job. Yet the rules for claiming benefits mean that all too few jobseekers do so, and those that do are often made to feel that they are doing something wrong.
"I have been made aware of cases where claimants get hassled repeatedly by the Department for Works and Pensions for daring to do volunteer work for well-known and respected charities, on the basis that they are 'not available for work'. This is nonsense. The DWP should be congratulating these people on using their initiative and putting something back into society rather than sitting around waiting for Jobcentre Plus to ring. If this is joined up thinking, then it's a joke."
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