Queen Put at Risk by Workfare Provider
At 2300 Saturday 2nd of June 2012, a coachload of Tired, untrained and ill equipped people left Bristol by coach for London and the Queens Jubilee.
At around 0240 they were dropped off by the side of a road with their Baggage and Tents and left stood for more than an hour along with 80 other people.
Having Had no sleep at 0415 these people were told that at 0500 they would be starting a 16 hour shift.
No these are not migrant workers, these are Security Staff for the Queen.
Ages ranging from 16 to 50 with one thing in common. Unpaid and on “work experience”.
Almost all of those that left Bristol last night were still not SIA qualified, Some had been told they would be paid for working and that they should “Sign Off” benefits before starting, which turned out to be a falsehood, mistake or lie, I cannot say which.
But at the very least I can say that Tomorrows People, the DWP Service provider, who handle these people, are Failing them Badly.
Tomorrows people Placed young claimants on an SIA style course with a company who Break DWP rules and Regulations on working Hours, Travel distance and Responsibility for Training and Equipment.
For some this will be the First experience of work, for some it is the First time they have been away from home, for all of them it will be one of the most depressing and soul destroying things they will have done.
So “Why do they do it?”
All those people have been promised Proper paid work at the Olympic Games with pay of up to £9000 for doing it.
Well a carrot like that to people who may not have worked in a long time if at all can make them do the most stupid things.
Tomorrows people Need to sort out their so called subcontractor.
The Organisors of the Jubilee need to vet their security subcontracters more carefully.
And the DWP need to make sure that All those promised paid work during the games are given it.
Hopefully none of the untrained security staff who have all been up for more than 12 hours so far will be called upon to protect the Queen, because they will be unable to do anything due to exhaustion.
Additional.
Last night I drove to a campsite just off the M11 and collected 2 of the people let down by CPuk, who, it turns out organised (if thats the right word) this clusterfck of Work experience.
When I arrived close to 2300 hours They were stood in a field soaking wet, shivering with cold and close to exhaustion. One was dressed only in Shirt and slacks as she had not been provided with any waterproof coat, save for a lightweight poncho and a hi vis vest for the jubilee event.
Some muppet had put up their tents with doors open and the insides were soaked along with their possessions, even if they had decided to stay they would have to have sleep in wet tents and sleeping bags.
At 0900 Sunday morning they had been given a paper bag with a Sandwich, Muffin and packet of crisps in and told ” dont eat that now its your lunch”. A paper bag, in heavy rain, 3 hours before lunchtime with no way of keeping it dry.
One of them had been refused use of toilet facilities and hadnt been able to P for almost 24 hours, she had been forced to change into ” uniform” for the event in the open as there were no changing facilities with other male staff refusing to give her privacy, ” I had to change next to a van in public and a bloody red bus stopped almost right in front of me”..
This is a young woman , First time in london, first time away overnight without a member of her family trying to comply with DWP rules.
Well as far as I am concerned she did herself proud. While others had given up and left in the morning , she stuck it through til after the Queen had passed and the crowd dispersed before asking for help.
She has taken a couple of photos and has agreed to send them to me when she wakes for posting.
She slept almost all the way back to Bristol last night, and when she was helped into her home byan elder brother she was obviously finding it hard to walk.
I had only had to drive up and back and I felt like crap when I got into my home 20 minutes later.
As an additional comment I hope that Prince Philip gets better soon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/04/jubilee-pageant-unemployed for Press cover.
It is a shame however that contrary to Close Protection uk statement that training had been completed, I know that some staff had not yet been trained in First Aid ( a requirement) or taught how to safely restrain people without causing injury ( a requirement).
To say that this was to weed out those unsuitable for working in the security industry is pure BS. Close Protection uk wanted free labour.
I am a little confused by a comment in the Guardian, please can someone clarify this?
As one of those workers who was there I have to say that the opinions of people who weren’t there is frankly disgusting. The experiance we gained was priceless and the training we have received was also priceless to use but very costly to the company. This newspaper paper has taken the lies of a few unhappy employees and ran with it too further their own political opinions. This terrible untruthful article could lead to the unemployment of 50 people just because a few people couldn’t handle it. I would love to discuss this with the editor but I am sure he doesn’t care as he has furthered Labours political message. I am also shocked that John Prescott has waded into the subject based on a one sided article why not ask the people who were there. There was 90 or so people who loved and can’t wait to go to the Olympics but your poor journalism has now ruined that and could see us back on the dole line
According to CPuk they sent upto 80 people there, we know that this story concerns 30 of them collectivly and 2 in particular.
That leaves 50 people ( my maths teacher would be so proud) so who were the 90 happy ones who would do it again?, and considering a few left in the morning rather than put up with the treatment they recieved, why has CPuk not mentioned these happy 90 people. Could it be that they have bussed more in from elsewhere or does Mr or Mrs Disgustedreader need to rethink wether his/her statement rings true.
Also I recieved this message from someone trustworthy so i shall post it.
“I gather they were initially turned down as unfit to hold an Olympic contract. Well, “not skilled enough”. More in Guardian tomorrow.”
If indeed true , why have CPuk been given the contracts after all??
A comment on Guardian website which caught my eye in response to:
watershed99, 5 June 2012 10:18PM
What I think would be interesting at this point would be for someone to explain whether
Molly Prince, director of Vision Lifestyle Ltd. and Commitment Fitness Ltd., both registered at 15 King St, Hindley, Wigan, WN2 3AW, whose director ID number is 916699536 is the same person as
Mary Prince, director of Close Protection UK Ltd, and several other companies (now dissolved), also registered at that address, and director ID number is 911160566 given that
Molly Prince, who is a Bokwa Fitness Instructor, appears to be the spokesperson for Close Protection UK Ltd., and apparently is also the person who set up the Leadership Development Centre with the help of Salford University’s Business Incubation Unit.
There will be some, as there always are, who will believe that the 2 kids mentioned in this are both ‘Scroungers’ or using this story to get money, so let me tell you all something that hasn’t made it to press.
Earlier tonight I had a conversation with the Guardians picture desk. The work experience person who took the photo below was asked if they wanted to be paid for it as other papers were requesting the right to use it. Normally the Guardian would get between £80 – £100 for allowing that and the person who took the picture gets Half.
That work experience person refused to accept the offer of cash for the picture.
You may be thinking its only £40 -£50 but thats each time another paper uses it.
If the story was a way to make money they could have , just by saying yes.
I know I should have posted this earlier but other things on my mind so here it is now.
51.674368,0.105426 if you paste that into Google maps you will see where CPuk had their staff ‘Camping’ tho without the rain and the mud.
Not easy to get to in the dark and the rain , even harder to class as ‘onsite’ for the jubilee.
Just been told that 1 of the mothers of work exp kids may be on BBC Radio 2 Live programme. Programme starts at 12 weekdays. I can confirm that John Prescott will be on it and has been contacted by other kids and parents whose children were treated in the same miserable fashion.
Taken from Tomorrows people Statement on Twitter “For the clients over 25 taking part, it is not in their interest to be paid for short term work if they are receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), because they would have to sign off the benefit when they take on a position and back on again immediately after. The clients taking part who were under 25 are part of the modern apprenticeship programme and therefore came off benefit to take up these employed positions as they are being paid the standard apprenticeship”
More than 1 person on that was UNDER 25 and not paid.
please feel free to see how much they truly care about the jobseekers in their care.
Prospects an associate of CPuk have removed this from public view also https://viewer.zoho.com/docs/lcbbbie how many other sanctioned companies are in this scam?
Sent this to Tomorrows people in an email.
Last night on the Newsnight Programme Baroness Scott stated that Tomorrows people had contacted ALL those involved to apologise and see if they were ok.
That’s a LIE from the Baroness, To quote 1 of those that has not been contacted ” Bo**ocks no one asked me if I was ok”
Baroness Scott seems to believe that a company (CPuk) whose Boss had had many Failed security companies were perfect to use finding the unemployed work.
Does anyone else who maybe reading this blog, who owns their own business, not make checks on contractors they use?
And while I am on a bit of a rant, WHY are Tomorrows People paying a PR company.
£3,000,000 is given to Tomorrows People each year by the Govt. Shouldn’t it be spent getting people back to work. Why are Tomorrows People paying some staff between £80,000 and £100,000 a year.
Correction from me.
“That’s a LIE from the Baroness, To quote 1 of those that has not been contacted ” Bo**ocks no one asked me if I was ok” ” Should read ” I was told by my staff that they were beingg contacted but are still in the process”
There you go Cicero-Group I have amended it, and thank you for another number to add to the list of people Tomorrows people sent
“Please be assured that we have been speaking to everyone who we can get hold of and contacting all 94 people involved. ”
So that’s 80, now 94 from Tomorrows People And 30,80 ,220 from CPuk.
I suggested that Tomorrows People should not associate with CPuk any more but I have a feeling that they won’t. After all here will Tomorrows People put people then?
Getting back to CPuk.
Molly Mary Just keeps giving and giving.
And here is more to think about http://www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Documents/networks/close-protection/sia_cp_network_notes_3.pdf.
In it there is a company called Close Protection Worldwide.com as well as members of the SIA and the Met.
Close Protection Worldwide have their HQ at 10 BROAD STREET NEWTOWN WALES SY16 2NA (Use Google streetview)
Do you notice any similarities?
CPUK.COM one of molly/mary failed companies had a place in reading ( look up that company address and streetview it.
Close Protection uk has its wigan office again streetview it.
Read the report and hopefully you will see how Dirty these people are and how Molly/Mary got her contracts for the Olympics and managed to get Jobseekers working for her may seem a bit clearer.
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2012/06/jubilee-stewards-manager-police-national-computer/
You might want to read this too if you think Molly/Mary company is above board.
Cash at Bank : £2,489
Net Worth : £58,600
Total Current Liabilities : £271,351
Total Current Assets : £317,894
So where is the money coming from to Pay Max Clifford or any of her staff?
And what about the Olympics contract?
Communicating via email through the PR company Max Clifford Associates, Prince said she was unable to discuss the fire-marshalling contract because it included a non-disclosure clause. She said CPUK won the contract because “the main contractor does not have sufficient staff”.
The Observer has confirmed that CPUK’s fire marshals have not been tested during practice drills at the Olympic stadium. A test took place at the stadium on 5 May, before the contract was awarded, which involved marshals provided by another company bidding to supply the service. “It was not essential that CPUK were at the stadium,” said a spokeswoman for Locog, the body organising the Games. “They were tested at bigger and more complex events and their performance was monitored by an accredited external fire engineer, the London Fire Brigade, and the venue teams, amongst others. They received very positive feedback from all parties.”
Well since the only other venue some of the Tomorrows People went on was a football match in Bristol where there was no sign of London Fire Brigade and the kids were only shadowing stewards at the match and watching people through the gate. How can LOCOG say they were monitored. Or did they, like Tomorrows People, just take CPuks word.
Still on the olympics, Companies need to show they have access to £700,000 to be considered.. So why not this company?
Another Molly company
Commitment Fitness Limited
It’s a public limited company with share capital. but only registered in February so wonder what its bank balance looks like.
I wonder how many more logistical errors this company has had.
And funny how it was the coach driver last time and the minibus driver this time blamed !
Tomorrow People Additional.
I have just returned from meeting two of Tomorrows People staff at their Bristol office.
I can honestly say that the BRISTOL staff have shown concern for the clients sent to London with CPuk and are trying to address their needs.
I still do not believe there were sufficient checks made on CPuk.
Tomorrows People Trust however ( Head office not Bristol) Have a lot to answer for.
The statement released june 6th was generalised to the point where mistreated clients were basically called liars. Thankfully Bristol Staff appear to have looked more carefully at what has happened.
An apology from TPT Head office would go a long way.
Under London Bridge where the Work Experience Kids had to spend the early hours of Sunday Morning before their long shift Staffing the Jubilee Celebrations
eddiegillard 