Thursday, 13 August 2009
Benefit Busters
An update on the Channel 4 series starting next Thursday: Channel 4's website shows that the 2 of the 3 episodes in the series focus on A4e. We gave the details for Episode 1. There are already 12 comments about this episode and, not surprisingly, several are from people totally unsympathetic to unemployed lone parents. Episode 2 concentrates on New Deal in Hull (it was recorded well before all the bad publicity hit the Hull office). The billing says: "Unemployment is rife in Hull, but for one company business is booming: A4E has won the lucrative contract to help get the long-term unemployed back to work. Mark Pilkington is an ex-soldier who hasn't worked for 10 years. He welcomes help and within a fortnight he finds a job. But the joy of receiving his first pay cheque is short-lived; after just four weeks a business downturn results in Mark being laid off. Facing a return to A4E and potentially a four-week wait to restart his benefit payments, Mark begins to wonder if there is more security in a life on benefits. It appears to be a shockingly common perception amongst the clients at A4E, who are at the mercy of an increasingly casual labour market." That strikes me as rather worrying for the good people of Hull, if their city is to be painted in this disparaging way. Episode 3 looks at Pathways, with the Shaw Trust as the provider.
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I hope the programme makers/A4e made the single parents aware of the possible hostility there appearance on such a show might be met with. Let's hope none of them come across as Vicky Pollard
ReplyDeleteI was there when they where filming and was asked to be interviewed three times by Holly be declined.. She was dead aginst a4e and showed us a list of things they where investigating this list was hidden from the staff , however the production company filming was the same one who did secret millionaire on Emma Harison so no doubt she will be painted in a good light ... one of the questions she wanted to ask the big boss was A4e never worked when there was a recession so what chance has it got now ? unfortunatley she said he always had an excuse not to be there so she never got to ask
ReplyDelete....NO WE WERE NEVER MADE AWARE OF ANY POSSIBLE HOSTILIITY WHILE FILMING NOW WE ARE GETTING IT...JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO GIVE FULL SUPPORT
ReplyDeleteA4e are smart...or at least they think they are. They certainly believe in their own publicity - and that what Benefit Busters is all about, publicity. A4e beleive in the adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity - as long as they have control over its content, hence the removal of this site from its original home and the interferance of the equally critical New Deal Scandal site.
ReplyDeleteA4e will treat BB as a positive puff-peice about what good work they do, how 'passionate' their staff are and how they 'improve peoples lives'. No doubt it will end up on various websites.
I listened to Simon Mayo's BBC Radio Five Live prog today. There was a breif review of the first episode of BB. Whilst the two guests said they hated the title, they thought the program was good as the single mums recieved help getting back into work. (A pity they are not familiar with A4e's real nature). In fact All the single mums got jobs in this episode. Why then can A4e not replicate this 'sucess' nationwide?
We shall watch with interest!
As a former A4E Tutor graded 1 (outstanding) according to their own internal assessment I resigned 2 years ago due to their applalling treatment of staff and learners and their sole focus on raking in the ££ (that's taxpayers ££ I'm talking about).
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