Bid to get people back to work stalls

EMERGENCY services rushed to two city roads after a man was knocked down and a car flipped onto its roof.

The first road traffic accident happened at around 1.30pm yesterday when a man was knocked down by a van as he was crossing the road in Springburn.

He was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Motorists travelling on Springburn Road were delayed after police closed the route A SCHEME aimed at getting 4000 unemployed people back in to work has been stalled by the DWP, a report has claimed.

Councillors from Glasgow and surrounding wards blasted the UK government department after a progress report for the Working Matters programme revealed that the body was not supplying the scheme with enough referrals.

Questions were asked by the city region cabinet why the required amount of people on employment support allowance were not provided in a region that has 111,000 unemployed people in the area.

So far the scheme has had 1,639 referrals with 876 agreeing to join the scheme.

The news came as the Evening Times continues its campaign against the DWP’s proposed closures of Jobcentres in the city.

At yesterday’s meeting it was said that at this rate the threeyear scheme would not be provid- northbound at Atlas Road and Keppochill Road.

A car then flipped on its roof outside Rouken Glen Park in Giffnock at around 2.35pm.

Emergency services were called to the scene and Rouken Glen Road was closed at the Spiersbridge Roundabout.

A police spokeswoman said no-one was injured.

Twitter user Mateo Ventisei captured the emergency response to the crash in Giffnock and reader John Willoughby also sent in pictures. ed with enough clients to work with in order to reach its proposed target.

It was also said that the programme, which set the target of achieving its goals by August 2018, may have to be extended to March 2019.

Frank McAveety, the leader of Glasgow City Council said: “It’s clear that there is a building consensus on what should be done to ensure this scheme reaches its full potential.

“The board has been in discussions with the DWP already and hopefully we’ll see an improvement sooner rather than later.”

Councillor Martin Rooney, of West Dunbartonshire Council, said it seemed like a very important project, but added “it is disappointing we are not getting the referrals from the DWP. We need to get this moving”.

The report also revealed that the average period for unemployment for people across Glasgow Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire was 11 years.

Chris Thompson, a councillor for East Kilbride said: “The DWP keeps telling you it’s all digital by default when it comes to claiming.

“But it’s very unlikely those who are unemployed will have the equipment, the connectivity and the skills to be able to use it – that won’t work.”

It was added that organisers of the initiative have been in discussions with the DWP, who are working in partnership with the eight council bodies, to try and solve the issue.

However, members of the board asked whether the matter should be taken further and discussed at a ministerial level at the Scottish and UK Government level.

A spokeswoman for the DWP said: “We’ve been working closely with Glasgow City Council to address the shortfall with the aim of referring more eligible people to the Working Matters programme.”