Dear
Sir,
I am taking part on the New Deal 25+
program provided by PPDG Kidderminster.
Throughout
the
10 weeks that I have been there I have become very interested in the
terms
under which you are undertaking business. Unfortunately I am at a
disadvantage
because so far I have been unable to find a copy of your contract with
the
DWP/Jobcentreplus. Something that I have been able to find is the terms
and
conditions under which new deal providers are to conduct business. You
may or
not be familiar with these, but here are extracts from them in case you
needed
reminding of your obligations.
PART 7 –
WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY
13 Warranties
13.1The Provider warrants and represents to Jobcentre Plus that:
13.1.1 any goods supplied by the Provider pursuant to the delivery of any part of the Programme(s) shall be of satisfactory quality and fit for their purpose and shall be free from defects in design, material and workmanship [and that any software and/or firmware supplied by it and/or used by it to provide the Programme will be Euro Compliant;
In other words, if you don’t comply with the above, you are breaching your contract. What can happen if you breach your contract? The following information about default might be useful if you need a reminder.
14.1 The Parties acknowledge and agree that the Programme(s) is/are to be provided in the spirit of co-operation. Each Party shall do all things reasonably necessary to co-operate, aid and assist the other in its performance of its obligations under this Contract.
14.2For the purposes of this Clause Error! Reference source not found. the following terms shall have the meanings set out below:
14.2.1 “Minor Breach” shall mean a delay or non-performance by the Provider of its obligations hereunder which does not materially, adversely and substantially affect the performance or delivery of the Programme;
14.2.2 “Serious Breach” shall mean
14.2.2.1 any breach or a series of Minor Breaches by the Provider of its obligations hereunder which adversely, materially and substantially affects the performance or delivery of the Programme(s) (or adversely affects the health and safety of staff or Participants); or
14.2.2.2 a Minor Breach of a specific obligation in respect of which Jobcentre Plus has served two consecutive Notices under Clause 14.4.1 concerning the same or similar circumstances from where the Provider has failed to remedy that breach under Clause 14.4.2.
14.3 Any one instance of failure by the Provider to meet any general or specific performance targets set pursuant to Clause Error! Reference source not found. shall constitute Minor Breach whilst repeated or continual failure to meet such performance targets shall constitute Serious Breach.
14.4 In the event of a Minor Breach Jobcentre Plus will adopt the following procedure:
14.4.2 within 5 Working Days of receipt of notification under Clause 14.4.1 above, the Provider Manager shall meet with the Contract Manager to discuss why the breach has occurred and how it will be remedied. The Provider shall have a reasonable period (such period to be agreed, and in the absence of agreement to be no longer than 28 days) following such meeting to remedy the breach. Notwithstanding any other remedy under this Contract Jobcentre Plus shall be entitled to require the Provider to promptly re-perform or replace the relevant part of the Programme without additional charge to Jobcentre Plus.
14.5 In the event of a Serious Breach, the Parties shall adopt the following procedure:
14.5.2 upon receiving notification under Clause 14.5.1 above, the Provider Manager shall meet with the Contract Manager forthwith to determine and agree in good faith and acting reasonably whether a contingency plan is available to deal with the Serious Breach. In the event that a contingency plan is activated, the Provider shall reimburse Jobcentre Plus in respect of any costs incurred by Jobcentre Plus in activating the same (as set out in the contingency plan) provided that Jobcentre Plus shall do all things to mitigate such costs including by using the resources of the Provider as appropriate. In the event that a contingency plan is not available the Provider shall within 5 Working Days (i) provide to Jobcentre Plus a plan that, to Jobcentre Plus' reasonable satisfaction, will when implemented resolve the breach; or (ii) remedy the breach itself;
14.5.3 In the event that (i) the Provider fails to meet any required action in a contingency plan or (ii) in the event that a contingency plan is not available and the Provider does not present a satisfactory alternative plan Clause Error! Reference source not found. shall apply and/or at any time thereafter Jobcentre Plus shall be entitled, at its discretion, to serve 28 days notice on the Provider of its intention to terminate the relevant Programme in respect of which the aforesaid breach has occurred or to terminate the Contract as a whole.
Although
I
haven’t seen your contract, I imagine there are some
similarities in core
elements between those of different providers across the
| DISTRICT: | Anonymous,
but you might be able to guess? | ||||
| ANTICIPATED
CONTRACT COMMENCEMENT DATE: | |
||||
| Provision
Name: |
GATEWAY TO WORK & NEW DEAL OCCUPATIONAL SECTOR TRAINING NEW DEAL FOR
YOUNG PEOPLE (NDYP) ·
GATEWAY TO WORK (GtW) ·
FULL TIME AND EDUCATION TRAINING
(FTET) ·
VOLUNTARY SECTOR (VS) ·
ENVIRONMENT TASK FORCE (ETF) NEW DEAL 25+
(ND25+) ·
INTENSIVE ACTIVITY PERIOD (IAP) |
||||
| Main Aims &
Objectives: |
The
overarching aim of the Provision is to enable participants to acquire
the Life Skills, Knowledge and Motivation via an initial 2-week Gateway
to Work course, to immediately increase the prospects of gaining a job.
Following
the Gateway period, if the participant has still not acquired a job,
they will attend a New Deal option, which will build on GtW course and further equip
participants with skills, knowledge and motivation to enable them to
successfully secure and retain a job. The outcome
will be, participants are
able to demonstrate to potential employers that they are capable of
undertaking and sustaining paid work. The Prime
Provider will deliver and or source via highly skilled and motivated
sub-contractors a two week Gateway to Work Course in line with
Jobcentre Plus National Specification that will: ·
Increase the numbers of participants moving from
the Gateway into jobs, and improve the immediate job prospects of all
other participants; ·
Increase employability by developing effective
workplace behaviours,
attitudes and soft skills i.e. the qualities, attitudes and behaviours employers look for in
potential recruits; ·
Enable participants who do not find jobs to be
better prepared to make an appropriate choice of New Deal
Options/Intensive Activity period (IAP); Better
prepare them to benefit to the maximum extent from the New Deal
option/IAP once they take it up The Prime
Provider will deliver or source, via sub-contractors, sector based
training and qualifications that will ·
meet the ongoing recruitment needs of local
employers and respond to new developments in the labour market, ·
move participants into employment as quickly as
possible ·
work extensively with a wide range of employers to
develop employer led courses and routeways ·
equip participants by working extensively with them
to achieve the necessary soft and personal skills required to gain and
sustain employment ·
ensure a range of tailored quality work placements across
all occupational sectors are available to all participants. Because of
the geography and variety of occupational areas encompassed within
************ District, innovative delivery of service will be
required. Occupational SectorsProvision is required to cover the following
occupational sectors: – Retail
& Customer Service (includes warehousing & fork lift) Hospitality Manufacturing Engineering
(including engineering IT) TransportBusiness
& Finance (including general IT) Public Sector Health Care
(including Childcare -Nursery, Childminding
and Leisure, Sport
& Tourism Construction Agriculture Management and Professional
Media
& Design Hair &
Beauty We also require miscellaneous provision, not specifically listed, to be sourced on an ad-hoc basis to meet sector specific employer led demands, addressing identified skill shortages and responding to new developments in the labour market. | ||||
| Participant Groups /
Eligibility: Please
give some local labour
market background information on the either the District or location of
the provision | Customer
Groups ·
NDYP (GtW, FTET,VS and ESF) ·
ND25+ (IAP) ·
All other eligible New Deal Participants Some
participants for whom English is not their first language may require
additional support. Some customers may be eligible for early entry.
| ||||
Performance | Essential | Added value | |||
| Performance Target: | 50% of all leavers from Gateway to Work Course will
move directly into employment 60% of all
leavers from Full Time Education and Training(FTET), Voluntary Sector,
Environment Task Force and IAP will move directly into
employment 75% of all
FTET & IAP Training participants will achieve a qualification as agreed by New Deal
Personal Advisor via an Individual Learning Plan 80% of all
those gaining employment will be sustained in
employment for a period of at least 13 weeks | Ö Ö Ö Ö | | ||
If
it is, I
have major concerns regarding whether you are meeting the requirements
of the
contract. Default appears to have already taken place.
There
is
supposed to be a wide range of quality work placements across all
occupational
sectors available to all participants? Nothing remotely resembling this
has
happened during the time I have been on the course. I consider myself
to be a
very versatile person and as such I have provided PPDG Kidderminster
with a
variety of occupational areas in which to place me. They have failed.
In
practice, if you do not want to undertake a placement at a charity
called the
Network Worcestershire, or accept one there for some time but then find
it to
be unsuitable, you end up being in a situation where you are allocated
to do
job search at the PPDG Kidderminster office 5 days per week, something
that I
have been doing myself for 3 weeks. Job search is something that you
have to do
in order to obtain Jobseeker’s Allowance anyway without
paying you to do it.
The purpose of going into the office to do it is to provide the
necessary
paperwork for PPDG when auditing takes place to secure your money, not
my
training provision. Perhaps this in itself represents another incident
of
default?
Today
I
have been offered a work placement at PPDG Kidderminster. I assume this
was an
act of last resort i.e. an open admission that the company is unable to
provide
quality placements with employers by having to go begging to your own
office. I
have accepted this, even though it is not among the work assignments I
requested. However, I once again consider this to be an act of default
by PPDG.
When I
attempted to discuss the subject with staff member Keeley,
she said to me “I’m not going to argue with you
about it”. Why does she
consider someone who shows an interest in what they are doing and
therefore
asks salient questions to be attempting to “argue”?
She displayed a very
aggressive and negative attitude towards me, and seems to lack the
basic social
skills required to effectively perform such a job.
Is
the
situation really one where you are unable provide suitable work
placements and
training for clients on the course? If it is, how did you obtain a
contract to
provide work that by your own admission you cannot deliver? How can
such an
allocation of public money be justified? You might like to chat to John
Hutton
MP about that because I will be asking him the same questions.
I found a quote of yours on the Birmingham Forward website:
Commenting on their sponsorship of the event Pertemps PDG Chief Executive, Colin Birchall said: “We are delighted to sponsor this Birmingham Forward lunch event with David Jones. At Pertemps we spend our working lives building up the confidence and skills of our clients to face the challenges of the workplace and it will be fascinating to hear first hand how David has overcome the immense business and personal challenges in his life.”
Do your words have credibility or are
they hollow? If they
do, why can’t I see evidence of this in the conduct of the
business that you
are Chief Executive of?
I am also in the process of
writing to the DWP
and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in person about my
observations and experiences.
May
I be
provided with, or directed to where I can obtain, a copy of the
contract under
which you are operating as a New Deal 25+ provider in
Yours
faithfully,