(not satire – it’s ConDemNation today)
A firm which was set up by two Tory donors and won contracts worth £73m from the coalition government to find work for unemployed people has exactly one advertisement for apprenticeships on its website.
Just one. For the whole of the UK.
ESG (employment and skills group) has a section on its website for vacancies. On it there is just a single vacancy for the whole of the UK – for a ‘salon assistant’ at a hairdresser’s in the north west.
There are no vacancies at all for any of the other regions of the country – including London and the whole of Scotland:
You can have a look at the website for yourself here.
And you can read the whole sleazy story of ESG and the Tory donors here.
Actually – to be honest – there are a couple of other jobs advertised elsewhere on ESG’s website. Jobs working for ESG itself.
Not surprising really as they must have plenty of taxpayers’ money left over from their £73m to spend on salaries for their own staff.
Mind you, this question does rather spring to mind:
How many staff do you need to help you keep track of just one vacancy?
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This must be where all those private sector jobs are being created. In work provider companies at tax payer expense.
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Whilst I am more than happy to twist the knife into this vile and discredited farce we call the Coalition, I suppose in the spirit of fairness one should ask exactly how many people has this firm helped into work since having been granted the contract. We are all aware that the economy is suffering especially under the misguided policies of the ex-towel folder and part-time Chancellor and it could be that this is a particularly bad time to view their website.
Please don’t think this is a criticism of the post for we have all witnessed the poor performance of all the other firms receiving large payments at our, the taxpayers, expense and it is more than likely that this is yet another example of a Cameron ‘omnishamble’.
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how many staff? “Our ever expanding team of over 800 dedicated people “. Unbelievable.
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Wales doesn’t seem to exist. Parhaps they’ve filled up all the apprentiships vacancies, perhaps really really successful….
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Bargain
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Wales only exists only as a climatist unit of measurement. “The rainforest is depleted each day by an area the size of Wales” or “The hole in the ozone layer is now the size of Wales.” It’s a full time job.
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I’m all for slagging off govt waste and gravy trains but one snapshot may be unfair. Xmas is generally not a time for hiring. How many jobs have they successfully helped fill? In all probability, they are useless, but let’s use fair metrics….
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If you go to http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk , and search the vacancies by provider it comes up with 97 vacancies (http://tinyurl.com/buvsn35) for ESG.
Did you even try to do any research? Did you call the company? The Department for Work and Pensions? Anyone? Or did you just find something that fit your prejudice and post it without thinking?
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This must be a joke, this money spinner must be closed now!
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NOPE –
Everything I wrote is true. If it wasn’t – you can be sure esg will be more than ready to sue me. They are big enough and daft enough to look after themselves and don’t need sycophantic idiots like you to defend them.
There is one job advertised for an apprentice in the whole of the UK on the esg website. You might not like it but that’s a fact.
Plus – even if the company does have some mysterious 97 vacancies stashed away on some even more mysterious website somewhere – that’s getting on for one million pounds of taxpayers’ money per vacancy. Not per person placed in work – just per vacancy advertised.
You might think that’s value for money. I think you’ll find every other taxpayer apart from you will think very differently.
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Zakazano –
Just one apprenticeship for the whole of the UK advertised! Let’s not be too easy on them. They got at least 73 million quid of our money. Your expectations should be higher.
What’s banned by the way?
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Good point. I wonder why.
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Whoopy doop. 97 vacancies for 73 million quid. You get many more jobs found through local voluntarily run community websites. Being generous, that’s 730,000 per job.
This is another ‘dosh for the boys’ business and it makes me sick.
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The Tory scroungers looking after the rich yet again!
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Hardly suprising is it?
Tory donors getting a megabucks contract?
More corrupt than the Chinese government!
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Seems 3-4% is average of job placements over 6 months by WPs. The gov expected 5.5% growing invrementally year by year. A higher percentage of work is found by those unemployed not placed with WPs.
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*incrementally* Unrealistic expectations regardless.
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NOPE – That’s not the ESG website is it? This isn’t a story about the total number of apprenticeships available, it’s about the efficiency or otherwise of ESG in helping people get them. If they have access to 96 apprenticeships they aren’t even advertising then it at least raises a legitimate question as to why: remember, they are publically funded so we are entitled to know.
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Another Lefty jibe at those hard-working Tories. What about all the jobs created in order to create that one job? Sheer ingratitude.
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The thrust of your post is entirely right – there is ONLY one apprenticeship available for the whole of the UK on this site – in hairdressing!
As well as “The Scam with Public Money” angle there is the misleading Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) angle as the home page under apprenticeships has the heading “At least 20 Apprenticeships available now!”
Insult and injury appear to be the two keywords here?
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Employment and skills? the skills talked about in their media centre range from pottery and leek growing to hairdressing and barbers. Hardly skills for a lifetime’s employment prospects and probably zero for pension benefits. What a scam!!!
It’s just another way to cream off taxpayers’ money and fudge the unemployment figures. IDS should be strung up with piano wire, especially by those on musical apprenticeships if there are any.
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I WONDER EMMA COMES TO MIND WHO CAN AWARD HERSELF 8.6MILLION IN BONUSES YEP MAKES YOU WONDER
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So. who were the civil servants who signed off this £75,000,000 contract? Which department signs the cheques?
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If your as sick of these stories as me, then please consider voting ukip.At least we’ll be able tae make our own policies, laws and trade deals.TORIES OUT!
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Hi all,
As much as I’d love to add fuel to any debate against general actions being conducted by this Government, as the owner of a private sector training provider I’d like to add a couple of points as quite frankly we’re getting a bad name at the moment! Which is a concern given that we genuinely find quality apprenticeships for young people!!
The £73m will not be apprenticeship only funding, it will include funding not solely from the SFA but also DWP.
It would appear this company is advertising vacancies, however not on their website but contractually they’re advertising on AVMS and doing the right thing. The bulk of the £73m will be DWP funding, the largest holder of apprenticeship funding in England is around £45m.
I have many issues with the Work Programme, and my business does not offer this route. As far as I’m aware ESG are a fairly major contract holder and this is where the large value originates.
I agree that there may be good reasons for people to look at the involvement of MPs in ESG’s ‘growth’. However not all private providers are bad! I think there’s enough to look at within the sector without throwing out derogatory stories built on twisted truths.
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Blimey Trevor! At what point to you get cynical? Can you please tell me the name of the drug that you’ve been prescribed, such optimism is either commendable, deluded or maybe the feelings of a tory voter that has realised he has made a big mistake..?
Make no mistake, the tories are wasting money deliberately, in order to enforce low wages on us plebs.
Austerity is total bollocks, it would be totally unnecessary if tax laws were enforced evenly.
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I hope you checked whether the 97 vacancies you found were still current! Seriously, don’t be idiotic. When I (and other tax payers) have shelled out £73million for what is apparently a professional company, the least we are entitled to expect is that its website should WORK, and be capable of fulfilling a simple task like listing all current vacancies.
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I know a graduate who has used her initiative and powers of persuasion to get a local arts centre to “employ” (if that is the word) her as an intern. She is getting no money at all. The arts centre does not pay her, and she dares not sign on for jobseekers because she worries the jobcentre will prevent her from undertaking the work experience she has chosen to do. (By requiring her to apply for at least 10 jobs a week, or forcing her to obtain work experience in shelf-stacking.)
ESG gets £800 for finding a free floor-sweeper for a hairdresser, and my acquaintance, who has found herself a placement which gives her a real opportunity to develop into her chosen career, and is working hard to make herself employable, gets nothing whatsoever. Does that seem fair?
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Worthless tory bastard.
Try again
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I was thinking the same thing as Trevor actually, so glad to have seen him make the comment, which personally I think is very reasonable. I’m not a conservative voter, never have been and probably never will be. I don’t think his comment is optimistic, it’s just taking the wider view. It this just a snapshot in time of the performance of ESG, or has it only ever had one or two jobs available? We can’t know from this blog post, we may be able to from doing research. People are allowed to ponder, it doesn’t make them deluded. I’m not sure I could say the same about one of your comments though. I don’t know Trevor either by the way, so have no reason to defend him.
My other pondering, was how many staff do they currently have? Apparently they’re taking on new staff; I’m presuming that isn’t, as suggested, to keep on top of the one advertised job, but to make the effort to find more.
Don’t get me wrong; £72million for such a company is DISGUSTING. Such a company could easily be set up with far far less than that. Yes, the Tories look after their own first. It sorely disappoints me that we have such a ‘clique’ as our government. But, taking that part aside, looking purely at them as any other company, I just wonder what their past performance has been.
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We’re a’ doomed.
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why have police note been informed of this miss misrepresentation and miss use of public funds of 73mill when it can be seen clearly this company has been setup as a sham. the man shuld be jailed. and cameron should fired.
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