WHY is the taxpayer being asked to waste public money on expensive and ineffective resettlement programmes for the long term unemployed or those with health conditions?

I was taken on as a part time employee by a state funded work programme (RehabJobfit). But what is the point of all the money spent on ineffective schemes that fall below target to get people back into jobs and have little value to offer? For I received worse treatment than from a normal employer.

Summarily dismissed after fifteen days without notice seems drastic. Could I have run off with the boss or the petty cash, been rude to a jobseeker or set fire to the office? No. It seems I was not very good at the database. The company training for which was scheduled for five days after my departure.

So for three weeks I was allowed untrained access to thousands of confidential records, including job seeker's names, home addresses, phone numbers, national insurance numbers, work history, and confidential health information, benefit payment information and also the Job Centre's own records.

Why would the taxpayer have to pay up to one thousand pounds for this charade? Three weeks wages, one week's pay in lieu of notice, two days training on finance and assertiveness, half a day's holiday entitlement, and finally, not forgetting of course, mileage expenses to and from other regional centres.

Surely the public have a right to question the value being offered by such programmes? They also have a right to question the effectiveness of training before access to confidential personal records.

Elizabeth Smith

Dursley