The Budget

Yesterday's budget contained few real surprises, but one of the measures which will affect A4e is the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. The North West Development Agency in particular have funded a number of projects which gave work to the company. Whatever replaces the RDAs will have less money to spend, and cuts in public spending across the board will mean slimmer pickings.

Unemployment is set to rise, providing clients for the Work Programme contractors, but fewer possibilities of getting them into jobs and thereby earning outcome payments. And yet the government has made the plight of the unemployed even harder by increasing benefits in line with consumer prices inflation, rather than retail prices inflation, from next year, which means a smaller rise; and by reducing housing benefit by 10% for people who have been on a jobseeker's allowance for 12 months or more. Will this be an incentive to find work?