Unemployed yoof to pick up litter in return for benefits...

arknor said:
Never knew using a litter picker was serious business, no wonder so many are unemployed
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As a nation H&S has made us pathetic
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That is not the issue but I can tell you that's about 10% of the job that person does, most of the staff use machines, have to go to the tip , have a driving licence, we do a manual litter pick of a town center it may take an hour or two a day then the guy jumps back in the machine to do street cleansing, the other time is spent using chewing gum removal machines, carrying out weed spraying, jet washing and using large machines.

We do employ extra staff to litter pick the beach in the Summer for around 5 weeks, but out of the seven areas in West Sussex only us and one other have seafront that receives this type of manual pick, they have already had the idea of forcing these people to stack shelves which failed.
 
arknor said:
Never knew using a litter picker was serious business, no wonder so many are unemployed
8IFbToP.png


As a nation H&S has made us pathetic
Click to expand...

What was the one last time I heard… Maybe a few years ago. Can't deliver mail because of algae.

jono_astra said:
I see the story from both sides, but this is my view.

Everyone that is working pays the tax to fund people what ever age they are who claim the dole. If this means that they are actually getting something done that actually needs doing and getting the dole money from it then id rather those people be getting money for actually doing something in the community rather than sitting at home or on the park bench etc. Yes its not paid at minimum wage, but why should it really. There is jobs to get out there and some of them wouldnt even entertain getting a job. Its not slave Labour or against a human right, its being creative with a situation thats in the thousands.

At the current moment they are getting something for nothing either through choice or being unfortunate. If they want to "better" themselves and get a full paid job then well done. If not it learns discipline that through out life you do not get something for nothing. But it should include everyone that is "fit for work" regardless of age.

Maybe this will make socity better and make people more respectful once again.
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I'm amazed at some of them. So many look like they need a bar of soap yet at the same time walking about town with the latest phone.
 
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Do you get provided with the grabber or do they provide you with it? It's 99p in Home Bargains so I sort of wondered if government pays for it what ridiculous inflated figure they pay. :D
 
Sounds like community service to me you know, that what is dealt out to convicted criminals. they need real jobs and how much is this daft scheme going to cost to administer i wonder.
 
The ones emptying the bins, sweeping the streets and cleaning the council public loos should be for people residing at her majesties pleasure IMO......

There should be rolling work placements set aside specifically for the long term unemployed and they should be paid minimum wage not working for free just to be able to claim benefit.
It should be training to further them on the ladder not just another hand out hurdle to cross, there's no incentive otherwise.
 
arknor said:
Never knew using a litter picker was serious business, no wonder so many are unemployed
8IFbToP.png


As a nation H&S has made us pathetic
Click to expand...

As has been said, a street cleaner's job is a bit more involved that just being given a hi-vis and told to 'get on with it'.

H&S law is often joked about, but the reality is most of it is a reaction to litigious solicitors and employees who are too quick to sue for their own incompetence. Organisations don't put all these rules in place because they want to minimise injuries but rather law suits.

Someone bends down to pick up a heavy item and hurts his back, most would say he had no common sense but if his employer hasn't given them adequate manual handling training they will get done for compo. Knowing how to correctly collect, move and dispose of things like needles involves quite a bit of knowledge (legislation-wise).

I would like to see less H&S regulations but the ability for employees to sue needs to be made harder first.
 
I don't understand the tirade from some people regarding this being cheap labour and forcing people out of work. These people are being payed regardless, and frankly have you ever walked down the road and thought, wow this is so clean that we need less people doing this. I have often thought that the welfare society should be out doing jobs that don't exist or take a very long time to do, aka gum removal, graffiti removal, painting, cleaning, anything to make the scummy areas of the country a bit better.

Imo there should be laws on how much disrepair a shop or house can be in, what colour it can be painted in a given location, etc etc. You walk around places like Bath where it's all sandstone and cream and its pleasant. Areas on the south by the sea where all buildings are white and tidy, and it's pleasant. Seriously this country needs some plastic surgery and some makeup, and we might all be a little bit happier for it.
 
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jono_astra said:
I see the story from both sides, but this is my view.

Everyone that is working pays the tax to fund people what ever age they are who claim the dole. If this means that they are actually getting something done that actually needs doing and getting the dole money from it then id rather those people be getting money for actually doing something in the community rather than sitting at home or on the park bench etc. Yes its not paid at minimum wage, but why should it really. There is jobs to get out there and some of them wouldnt even entertain getting a job. Its not slave Labour or against a human right, its being creative with a situation thats in the thousands.

At the current moment they are getting something for nothing either through choice or being unfortunate. If they want to "better" themselves and get a full paid job then well done. If not it learns discipline that through out life you do not get something for nothing. But it should include everyone that is "fit for work" regardless of age.

Maybe this will make socity better and make people more respectful once again.
Click to expand...

That is a really short sighted view of it and which is why we will always have the problem of people being on the dole. Not everyone on the dole is some scrounger who has never done a days hard work, you will find plenty who have worked and payed tax and payed into the system, from memory there is a NI contribution based dole so you get yours from essentially the money you payed in.

The welfare system is a great thing in essence it is supposed to help those who need it, for exampled the severely disabled and its supposed to be a temporary fall back for the working able when they are out of a job. Of course there are those who will milk and scam the system, there always will be those kind, but not everyone is on it to scam the system nor are they all alcoholics who have never had a bath.

In reality no one would want to live on £50 a week, that is no life, so it makes no sense for someone to scrounge £50. The problem with making them clean the streets is that it isn't solving the issue of them not having a job, what exactly are they going to gain from it? If the idea is to make them get fed up and sign off, then the scroungers who are just milking the system will turn to criminality, the ones that aren't will just fall into poverty.

Why not actually create jobs and match dolers to these jobs, send these kids to some sort of training so they can learn a skill etc. Basically get them doing something that will actually get them a secure job and off the dole for good.
 
We had two young lads about a year ago come in as "apprentices" to do bin collections. These were people being paid (just at a much lower rate than everyone else) and they were a disaster.

They had little to no motivation, regularly didn't turn up and when they did none of the other crews wanted them on their team. They were both gone within 3 months. I dread to to think what you people being paid nothing would be like.

It's easy to dismiss things like collecting bins as an "easy job" but I can tell you it takes a certain sort of person to be willing to get up and silly-o'clock everyday and go out on their feet all day in torrential rain, blowing winds and heavy snow. I for one could not do it.

Getting good staff is already hard in my industry and whilst many here will struggle to comprehend it, there is a clear difference between a good bin man and a crap one. I certainly wouldn't look forward to doing my job if a large proportion of our staff were people being forced to work here for free.
 
If jobs need doing then employ people to do them. Making up busy work because a certain cabinet minister has a raging hard-on for taking a dump on people doesn't achieve anything.
 
ChroniC said:
That begs the question, how much do capable working people make on the dole compared to a minimum wage job?
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Don't know but when it comes to 16-21 year olds (who this policy is aimed at) they get a pretty raw deal....

Minimum Wage Rates
21+ = £6.50
18-20 = £5.13
U18 = £3.79
Apprentice = £2.73

I mean they might as well not have one for apprentices, and the under 18 one is a joke too. When I was 17 I worked at a fast food chain and I was on £3.30 per hour and that was 15 years ago!

Problem is for young people is basically any company can claim the job role they are offering is an 'apprenticeship' providing they give some token extra training they don't normally give.

If you're 16 or 17 and all that you can hope for is £2.73 a hour being an 'apprentice' cleaner, I'm not surprised many of them would rather take benefits.
 
The apprentice rate is terrible I earned £3.12 p/h 30 years ago when I was 18 machine operating in an electroplating factory, with a £20 p/w shift bonus.
 
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