One of the most memorable phrases of the past week was “cream and park”.It is, according to the NCVO chief executive Sir Stuart Etherington, being used to describe a syndrome emerging in the delivery of the government’s Work Programme: the prime contractor, usually a private sector company, creams off the clients who are easier to place in work and parks the more problematic ones with the voluntary sector subcontractor. In a payment-by-results regime, it’s not hard to see what the consequences are.
In a related development, we reported how A4e, one of the private sector primes in the programme, asked Volunteer Centre Oxfordshire to provide it with volunteers to help clients improve their CVs for job applications. The company’s rather odd response was to say it was “investigating the allegations thoroughly”. These are not allegations but documented facts that the company has not disputed, and it should move quickly to implement its policy of “working fairly with third sector partners”. At the moment it appears to be seeking to exploit volunteers.
via Editorial: Merlin Standard must be enforced in the Work Programme | Third Sector.
