Action group to help redundant Dorset Enterprises workers

2:00pm Saturday 26th January 2013 in News

CLOSING: Dorset Enterprises CLOSING: Dorset Enterprises

AN ACTION group will be set up to help the 23 workers about to be made redundant from Dorset Enterprises.

The group, currently being set up by Bournemouth council, will work with the Job Centre and the voluntary sector to support the workers, 19 of whom are disabled.

The council recently voted to close Dorset Enterprises in West Howe because it was averaging losses of £471,000 a year.

Cllr Blair Crawford, cabinet member for adult social care, said: “Dorset Enterprises staff are people with real skills and potentially plenty to offer the workforce and we want to ensure we are leaving no stone unturned to support them in the future.

“The action group is tasked with reviewing the skills of all the workers and assessing what training, development or support they may need, seeing what they are capable of and helping to find alternative employment, including where we might be able to redeploy them within the council.”

Comments(8)

Rabbitman64 says...
6:04pm Sat 26 Jan 13

It appears that Crawford thinks that some training is the answer to the problem? This is typical of the Tory Party being out of touch. I have been involved with Grayling's back to work programme at Hinton Road and I have seen that the contractors are totally useless at finding me work. Employers are not going to employ these people because in the present market they can find other people who are a lot quicker and cheap. On the issue of whether these people live in Bournemouth or not as stated in an article last week, the question for you Mr Crawford do you live in Bournemouth? On the council website your address is 13 Freda Road, Christchurch, BH23 1LY Mobile Number 07785 286623 Is this correct?

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politicaltrainspotter says...
8:47pm Sat 26 Jan 13

There are several Councillor's who do not live in Bournemouth.

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step up says...
10:15am Sun 27 Jan 13

There is still a petition being signed to keep it open. Thats what the disabled workers want. 1500 signatures are needed and we are making good progress. The decision will then again have to go back to full council. The word is Prince Charles whose Highgrove Estate is a client has heard of the case...maybe jumping the gun a bit there Mr Crawford...

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Rabbitman64 says...
1:00pm Sun 27 Jan 13

politicaltrainspotte
r wrote:
There are several Councillor's who do not live in Bournemouth.
This is of course true, but unlike Mr Crawford they didn't use the non-bournemouth address as a justification for their actions!! It may be that the comment from Crawford was purely a crass remark that is not worth considering? It was Mr Crawford that made the remark about Dorset Enterprise Employees not living in Bournemouth?

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roguetrader666 says...
1:16pm Sun 27 Jan 13

It's no good getting soft on this issue. Why should taxpayers in effect give every one of these workers a cheque for £20k every year? If you have this amount of money that you are prepared to spend on 23 people then if businesses are asked to give them any occasional work that they might be suitable for and only have to pay them £1 an hour we would be looking at a huge saving! They need to change their name from 'Dorset Enterprises'. There is nothing enterprising about 'running' a business with this sort of deficit. It is, however, less than the disabled firm to close in Poole who lose an eye watering £37k per employee! Nice work if you can get it!

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step up says...
3:04pm Sun 27 Jan 13

roguetrader666 wrote:
It's no good getting soft on this issue. Why should taxpayers in effect give every one of these workers a cheque for £20k every year? If you have this amount of money that you are prepared to spend on 23 people then if businesses are asked to give them any occasional work that they might be suitable for and only have to pay them £1 an hour we would be looking at a huge saving! They need to change their name from 'Dorset Enterprises'. There is nothing enterprising about 'running' a business with this sort of deficit. It is, however, less than the disabled firm to close in Poole who lose an eye watering £37k per employee! Nice work if you can get it!
Do you not read the paper?? Have you not seen the millions that the council has squandered on failed projects?? Millions ! And no doubt will this year and next. But you still buy into the story that the real problem is a handful of vunerable people taking us to the brink?? Yeah? Well I for one would prefer to see money spend on them than on the collosal and extravagant waste this Tory administration has lost since its landslide victory

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clr WHAT! says...
3:49pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Note change of language regarding employees.
As for costs look behind the story look at loss of marketing.
Of course it's a choose of use of limited resources and sure there are certain restraints on certain financial resources. However costs should be more than just financial, but frankly our very own manmade marine environment Whoops (Reef) doesn't inspire any one that it's about value for money. Where was the shared risk, or control over the losses for this. Looking forward to the personal insults that these sites seem to encourage.

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JM2013 says...
1:24pm Mon 28 Jan 13

On Thursday at an open Council Meeting, Councillor Crawford was quoted as saying

"“Most people there are not gainfully employed,” he said.

“At least half of the employees there are not capable of work. When I have visited they are just reading the newspapers or making tea.”

Cllr Crawford said they would assess each worker over the coming weeks to see whether they should be redeployed within the council, or retired on medical grounds, for which they would receive a better pay-off."

Are we to believe he has really changed his view (or more likely he has been 'told' to put out a new statement in which he states:

“Dorset Enterprises staff are people with real skills and potentially plenty to offer the workforce and we want to ensure we are leaving no stone unturned to support them in the future."

Poppycock!

Step Up is right - there is a petition which is gaining support including as of today 2 Labour MPs. It can be found at

www.avaaz.org/en/pet
ition/Keep_Dorset_En
terprises_Open/

There is also a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pag
es/Save-Dorset-Enter
prises/4088049658729
77

and a Twitter account at www.twitter.com/unis
onjanine

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