Young person loses legal battle over work experience scheme

Cait Reilly was forced to leave her internship at a museum in order to carry out unpaid work experience at Poundland, as part of the government’s "sector based work academy" scheme.

Her Jobcentre Plus adviser told her she would lose her unemployment benefits if she opted out of the scheme. As such, Reilly had to spend two weeks cleaning and stacking shelves at the Poundland store in Birmingham.

A row erupted over the initiative when the case came to light earlier this year. Several high profile businesses pulled out of the work experience scheme and the government made the programme voluntary for jobseekers from March.

The scheme has now been deemed lawful by the High Court, but Justice Foskett did say that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should improve the clarity of the letters that warn benefit claimants of potential sanctions, should they fail to participate in work schemes without good reason.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said that comparing work experience initiatives to slave labour was “not only ridiculous but insulting to people around the world facing real oppression”.

"Thousands of young people across the country are taking part in our schemes and gaining the vital skills and experience needed to help them enter the world of work – it is making a real difference to people's lives,” he said.

"Those who oppose this process are actually opposed to hard work and they are harming the life chances of unemployed young people who are trying to get on."

Liam Preston, chair of the British Youth Council (BYC), said the organisation would be “looking at the implications” of the ruling for young people. He added that BYC had already met with government ministers to discuss concerns about the potential abuse of such schemes.

“While BYC welcomes any measures to get young people working, including work experience schemes, we were initially concerned about the lack of information and protection for young people,” Preston said.

“We suggested that the government produce information about the schemes direct for young people, and produce a new code of conduct that can be understood by them as well.

“Since then, the government has produced a work experience quality charter, which addressed many of our concerns. We are pleased about this development and are keen to follow up with more suggestions and to establish an ongoing relationship with DWP to ensure young people are consulted in the future.”