Tockholes lengthsman could be axed (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Easy answer to this and the grass cutting. Get everyone on benefit off their ar*ses and start cleaning the place up.

britguy wrote:
Easy answer to this and the grass cutting. Get everyone on benefit off their ar*ses and start cleaning the place up.

It's not an easy answer though, britguy.

I would support those on JSA earning their £65pw by doing community work at minimum wage rate, which works out at about 11 hours per week. But...

You then have to have someone to supervise them. There is the insurance and liability cover. It's unreasonable to expect someone on £65pw to incur travel costs to get to places like Tockholes. There will be the inevitable H&S issues of protective clothing, training, etc.

Making those on benefits work for less than minimum wage (or even for minimum wage) undercuts those workers who are employed by councils, etc, and this loophole will soon be exploited by employers looking for not just cheap labour but free labour with the result that more people loose their jobs.
Those on JSA are only allowed to work for 'free' for registered charities or face deductions from their benefits -so doing this sort of work voluntarily is not possible because of the risk of some arsewipe at a Jobcentre stopping your benefits because you spent a day litter-picking for the community and weren't 'available for work'.

Not as easy as you think.

Iam sure a well off area such as Tockholes can either fund another person (with the wealth in that area alone) or possibly look at sharing one with another Parish Council in the area such as Yate and Pickup Bank.

So happycyclist we do nothing and the the unemployed carry on as usual.
One of the major problems of today is that when there is an easy solution a whole wealth of obstacles are put in place. It is more than just getting their money every week. Giving them a sense of purpose in life and meeting other people in a different environment and actually doing something that shows a result would possibly give them some self esteem as well as getting them doing some exercise and getting some of them away from drugs and alcohol.