Britain's jobless face compulsory work

British Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. Photo / Supplied

The unemployed in Britain will be ordered to do compulsory fulltime work in the community or be stripped of their benefits under controversial United States-style plans to slash jobless numbers.

The proposals, in a policy white paper on welfare reform to be unveiled this week, are part of a radical Government agenda aimed at cutting the £190 billion-a-year ($386 billion) welfare bill and breaking what the coalition calls the "habit of worklessness".

The measures will be announced by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith as part of what he will describe as a new "contract" with the 1.4 million on jobseekers' allowance.

The Government's side of the bargain will be the promise of a new "universal credit" to replace existing benefits that will ensure it pays to work rather than stay on welfare.

In return, where advisers believe a jobseeker would benefit from experiencing the "habits and routines" of working life, an unemployed person will be told to take up "mandatory work activity" of 30 hours a week for a four-week period. If they refuse or fail to complete the programme their jobseekers' allowance paymentsof £50.95 ($103.62) a week for those under 25 and £64.30 ($130.77) for those over 25 could be stopped for at least three months.

The Department for Work and Pensions plans to contract private providers to organise the placements with charities, voluntary organisations and companies. An insider close to the discussions said: "We know there are still some jobseekers who need an extra push to get them into the mindset of being in the working environment and an opportunity to experience that environment.

"This is all about getting them back into a working routine which in turn makes them a much more appealing prospect for an employer looking to fill a vacancy, and more confident when they enter the workplace. The goal is to break into the habit of worklessness."

Sanctions - including removal of benefits - currently exist if people refuse to go on training courses or fail to turn up to job interviews, but they are rarely used. The plans stop short of systems used in the US under which benefits can be "time limited", meaning the state ends all payments after a defined period.

Labour spokesman on work and pensions Douglas Alexander suggested the Government was reducing people's chances of finding work: "The Tories have just abolished the future jobs fund, which offered real work and real hope to young people ... Changes such as cuts to working tax credit are actually removing incentives to get people into work. What they don't seem to get about their welfare agenda is that without work it won't work."

- OBSERVER