"Jobseekers should be able to vote with their feet, walk off these scam training courses, but they cannot."

They can if they are no fixed abode. I was put on one of this companys courses and so I just changed my signing office, rather than being lectured on seeking employment by someone who has proven themselves unable to get any real work themselves. I realise that isn't practical for everyone but those of us who can vote with their feet should.

I agree that if these courses were any good then they wouldn't be mandatory, effectively they are day prisons for poor people. The state thinks it has a right to bully and waste the time of anyone on benefits, and that if you don't like being patronised then you should opt-out of claiming benefits. That would be fair enough if we also had the option of opting out of paying tax.

Actually, these schemes can be a blessing in disguise for those sent to them. These private companies are all about extracting ever more money from the tax paying public and laundering it into the pockets of the wealthy. Their motivation is making money by keeping contracts, they are not directly interested in reducing the number of people signing on or whether you get or keep a job. They get thousands of pounds per referral and sending you back to the job centre is not in their interest. Their threats are mostly empty since they need you more than you need them. Completing their targets is everything so they will bribe you to comply by giving you money to play the game. They won't tell you straight just how much money (or incentives as they prefer to call it) you can get from them but it's a lot. You are unlikely to be able to get it in the form of cash, you will get it as travel expenses, clothing, equipment for work, training etc. If you are smart and use your imagination then you can milk this just like they are milking the tax payer.

This is what I've been telling people about A4e!!! They're a scandal, a joke and a disgrace!!!

What makes this scary is that his was my experience with A4e in Leeds. So it seems A4e's incompitence is nationwide.

Without wanting to repeat what has already been said, I'll add my 2cents worth.

I was on A4e around 5 years ago, here in Leeds. Prior to going to A4e, I was at the 2 week gateway to work run by a pillock who'd make David Brent look like Bill Gates. Its sole aim was to scare people into work. All the jobs papers were out of date. I took it upon myself to bring in free jobs papers from the local Morrisons on my way there in the morning. There were 2 other members of staff (in addition to Mr. Pillock) as well as security guards who would open the door for you only at set times so you'd be almost imprissoned!!

Now to A4e!!! My New Deal (or should that be Raw Deal) advisor informed me that I'd have to attend A4e for 3 months as part of New Deal 25+. I had to ask her what A4e did. "Training" was the reply. "What sort of training?" I asked. She could or would not answer so she reluctantly handed be a photocopied leaflet which had a number of "courses" highlighted. When I asked more about what the "courses" entailed, she got huffy and retorted "I'm not telling you what the courses are as they (A4e) will get £50 for telling you this at the induction". Charming!!!! More about these "courses" a bit later.

When I attended A4e, as has been said, there were 25-30 people in the room. Now if 25 or so people bring in £50 for A4e, thats £1250 right away for that morning. Every day, new inductees....

Now when at A4e, the conditions were as previously described - filthy cups, no washing facilities in the toilets and so on. The facilities were basic. Yes therewas a computer suite on the ground floor, but these were normally out of bounds. The 4 PC's on the upper floor whre most of A4e's cleints were were slow as hell, and only 2 were connected to a VERY slow internet connection. There was only ONE phone available with which you were supposed to make phone calls to arrange interviews and the like.

One of the senior members of staff, lets call her Laura, said to me on day one, "Don't worry, you'll be out of here in 2 weeks". Guess wot? I spent the whole sorry 3 months there!

As with Gateway 2 work, The job papers, yellow pages and phone directories were woefully out of date.

I enquired about the "media & design course" I was meant to be on. Another useless member of staff, lets call her Mel, told me that the courses do not exist and only ever existed for a very short period of time, if at all. I was shocked livid!!!! I went back to my new deal advisor. Her reply: "Oh, they're obviously getting money for things they're not providing then". UNBELEVABLE!!!!! This is FRAUD!!!!

Things got from bad to dia-bloody-bolical. I soon got a rep for being awkward and ucooperative. One of the things A4e are supposed to provide is work experience via local companies. As my feild was/is design and print as well as general IT, they contacted a couple of businesses on my behalf. However, I had to do most of the phoning around myself using the single phone available! On one occasion A4e contacted a local college with a view to getting me work experience. Only, they never told me what I was going for. Only when I got there was I told that I'd be teaching students DTP. So I turn up with no work samples or anything!!!

Staying with work experience, A4e had an IT repairman / trouble shooter who's job it was to sort out any IT issues. Even he was amazed when I told him my experiences with A4e. He was also baffled as to why A4e did not let me work with him for a couple of months whilst I was there!!!

Someone has mentioned complaing about this useless shower. Well I did just that. A new deal advisor would visit from the local job centre not only to see his clients, but also to see how well A4e was delivering its services. I arranged to see him, lets call him "Pat", ASAP. I told him how bad A4e was. He listened sympathetically. Next day, Mel shouts at me "What have you been saying to Pat? Its was bang out of order!"

Well I went straight down to the job centre and saw Pat. My blood was boiling at this point. He said that the comments I put to him were confidential but were told to a senior member of staff as way of feed back. What Mel said to me was itself out of order and he'd be having words with A4e.

I also saw a lady from a mentoring service provided by the employmnt service. A nice lady, she had heard some good things about A4e, lets be honest. However, she began to hear some real horror stories from not only myself but several others. Her good opinion of A4e evaporated overnight!!!

Now the funny thing is that my (and others) complaints were beginning to turn the corrupt oil tanker round!!! Sure it was still shockingly poor, but it seems one day Mel decided to do "fun" things like asking people who they most admired and why. You then had to write a short essay about them. I refused. This would have been better done at the beginning, not near the ent of my 3 month tenure ot should that be torture???!!!

Again, Mel had the cheek to conduct interview skills traing when most people had a couple of weeks left to go. This should have been done in the first week or two, surely? Again, most refused.

I ended up doing the work of an unpaid member of staff. I was typing up peoples CV's and teaching basic IT!!!

Many of the clients spent thier time smoking weed. Others clearly had alchohol issues.

To those who say "get a job" are missing the point in a BIG way. They should be angry too. As angry as I am writing this response. This is fraudulant behaviour on a NATIONWIDE scale. Indeed it may even be international as A4e are moving into France, god help them.

As a taxpayers, everyone should be intersted to know what happens inside such "training providers" esp as Gordon Broon is pushing training and skills up the political agenda. If A4e is involved, expect more lies, fruad and doublespeak folks. The sad thing is though, A4e may be bad but they are bad whilst aided and abetted by this gov't!! Whilst on A4e, you are not classed as unemployed. You are taken off the unemployment register or 3 months so it looks like you've go a job as far as the statistics are concerned. Rember, YOUR taxes are being abused by this scam.

A4e may help some. If so, great. However, they pitch their level of help at such a low common denominator that they fail to help those who have an above average education.

I recently attended an unemployment course for thirteen weeks (compulsary,loss of benefits etc.) with a group called instant muscle who with hindsight wern't that bad.Instant muscle folded on the eighth week of my course.With them the tutors were a bit useless but they were on the whole friendly and did try to help,and we all had access to the net through about twenty computers at there centre.As instant muscle folded everyone on the course were told to go home and not to worry about there benefits.Two weeks later i was told by letter i had to attend a new a4e(awful 4 everybody).
The first few weeks wernt to bad but there was nothing to do as the building was being made ready ,but we kept asking for computer access to find jobs but it didnt emerge till the last week i was there .the numbers at first were few ,most of us ,10 or so clients from instant muscle plus a few others.We were put in classes of roughly similar age groups.Then as the weeks went on the classes grew to stupid numbers ,30 or so in rooms designed to seat 20.
And as the class sizes grew the tutors attention was streched even more and at one point i think it took alll morning to write my name and N,I, number.Towards the end of this course the whole thing decsened into lunacy with people walking round doing nothing.I cannot say if this is true for alll these courses but similarities with other posts i've read suggest that they might help a few but for the majority with half a brain cell this is crap.
Fortunatly i have a job now but not through A4E efforts.
Here is some advice for anyone having to attend these things
1) Turn off your brain or your gonna go mad
2) Take plenty to read ,it gets boring after you sit down
3) Take your own drink because theres no way your gonna get near that kettle at break and if you do theres no coffee ,sugar,milk etc,although they did have a fully functioning coffee machine that they didnt want to use.
Anyway to capp it all off ,I wasn't impressed,didn't find a job through them and i left thinking the whole thing was a total waste of time and the only real benefit is to those who make shed loads of cash out of the whole affair.

Has anyone heard of them? They seem to be an A4e like company offering basic lowest common denominator type courses. I may have to attent their 'courses' soon...

Ian

Hi Guys. Not sure if this page is still being read so I wanted to submit first before I go into finer detail - so consider this post a test