I WAS intrigued to read Stephen Dixon’s letter (HAS, Aug 3) detailing a new Tees Valley £6m back-to-work pilot scheme for the disadvantaged, disabled and long-term unemployed (Echo, Aug 1).
This scheme sounds dangerously like the Health and Work Programme, a nationwide scheme which is supposed to be launched on the cheap this autumn.
This programme has been riddled with problems. Teesside jobseekers, myself included, have been forced to fill out sensitive questionnaires about our health and mental conditions to determine our suitability for the scheme which includes unpaid work experience. JobCentre staff are not medically trained and should not be asking questions even doctor wouldn’t ask.
It is not known if the programme will be mandatory, but I do know they are currently sending jobseekers onto week-long induction courses.
Stephanie Finnegan, Normanby, Middlesbrough
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