Sandwell Council chiefs label Job Centre Plus 'rubbish' - and say they could do better

Chiefs have accused Job Centre Plus of being 'rubbish' and said they were better placed to find unemployed people jobs.

Deputy council leader Steve Eling a council-run jobs scheme had been a great success. The Sandwell Guarantee initiative, aimed at getting young people back into work, has seen around 100 applicants secure full-time work in the space of a year.

Now the council wants to take full control of job centre services in what would be an unprecedented move.

Councillor Eling said: "The government said a couple of years ago that people should be able to challenge local services to see if they can do better than the current delivery.

"It started off with challenging local government but then they were put on the spot about services and people said if they can do a better job they should be able to challenge the government.

"The government said ok so we are putting that to the test.

"The Job Centre is rubbish, it performs very poorly in getting people into work and we think we can do better.

"We have Sandwell Guarantee up and running and on the face of it, it is doing well.

"It is still early days but on the evidence we have seen, particularly in the age group up to 24, we are doing a damn site better than Job Centre Plus.

"We want to get young people into work and if it means sticking the boot up the backside of Job Centre Plus that is what we are prepared to do."

Council leader Darren Cooper will write to the Government requesting that job centres are run locally.

He said he believed Job Centre Plus was concerned about getting people off benefits rather than ensuring they receive relevant training to give themselves a better future.

There are currently more than 7,500 jobseekers in Sandwell with 3.8 per cent of the working population unemployed.

Councillor Eling said: "People aged between 18 and 24 have had it pretty rough in recent times. That is the time they are trying to get established and they haven't had the chance."

Councillor Eling said he was not convinced the government would grant the request but that it was important they made their case known.

He said: "I suspect when it comes to reality they will run a mile but it doesn't stop us doing things to help and we will continue to do that."