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George Osborne: ''We are saying you are not going to be able to do nothing in return for your benefits'
The long-term unemployed will have to undertake work placements in return for their benefits, under tougher rules unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne.
Welfare must be "fair for those who need it and fair for those who pay for it", he told the Tory conference.
Mr Osborne also announced that fuel duty would be frozen until 2015 to help people with the cost of living.
While the UK was on the right track, he warned people their family finances would not be "transformed overnight".
The chancellor insisted the government's economic plan was working but was "far from complete" and turned his fire on Labour - accusing them of "declaring war on enterprise".
He described Labour's policy to freeze energy prices for 20 months as "phoney" and compared Ed Miliband's political philosophy to that of Karl Marx.
He said he was optimistic about the future, saying the "sun had started to rise above the hill" but much more needed to be done to raise living standards.
"There is no feeling at the conference of a task completed or a victory won," he said. "There can be no recovery for all if there is no recovery at all."
Cleaning up litter"Start Quote
End QuoteHe has pledged that even when the nation's books have been balanced he will keep the lid on spending in order to put aside money for the next rainy day"
He also pledged to continue to keep control of spending even after the economic recovery was secured to avoid repeating the mistakes of "deluded" predecessors who believed they had abolished boom and bust.
By running a budget surplus in the good times, he would "fix the roof while the sun was shining".
On welfare, Mr Osborne said that while the government would not "abandon" the long-term unemployed, no-one will be able to get something for nothing.
Those who have been out of work for a long time will have to work hard to find a job, he said.
Those who have not found work after two years on the existing work programme - where contractors are paid a fee to get people into a job - will face a new scheme called help-to-work.
To still qualify for jobseeker's allowance they will have three options - work placements, such as cleaning up litter; daily visits to a job centre; or taking part in compulsory training, for example, to improve their literacy.
People would have to remain on help-to-work until they found employment - unlike the current scheme which is limited to six months.
BACK-TO-WORK SCHEMES
- Help to Work is aimed at those who have been unable to get a job after two years on the government's Work Programme scheme.
- The scheme will last until the person has found a job.
- The Work Programme began in June 2011 and 1.31 million people have joined.
- Those without a job at the end of two years return to Jobcentre Plus.
- These people are expected to either join a training scheme, take part in a Mandatory Work Activity placement or undergo intensive work preparation.
- They are currently expected to sign on at the Jobcentre at least once a week but some are required to meet their adviser every day.
- Benefits can be docked for one month for any breach of the rules and three months for a second infringement.
- Those who regularly break the rules could lose their benefits for up to three years.
- The new proposal seems to have more specific work requirements, more daily signing on at Jobcentres, tougher penalties and is not time-limited.
Those who breach the rules will lose four weeks' worth of benefits. Anyone who breaks the rules a second time faces losing three months' worth of benefits.
'Useful work'Mr Osborne told activists: "We are saying there is no option of doing nothing for your benefits, no something for nothing any more.
"They will do useful work to put something back into their community; making meals for the elderly, clearing up litter, working for a local charity.
"Others will be made to attend the job centre every working day.
"And for those with underlying problems, like drug addiction and illiteracy, there will be an intensive regime of support. No-one will be ignored or left without help. But no-one will get something for nothing.
"A fair welfare system is fair for those who need it and fair for those who pay for it."
Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves, said it had "taken three wasted years of rising long-term unemployment and a failed work programme to come up with this new scheme".
"But this policy is not as ambitious as Labour's compulsory jobs guarantee, which would ensure there is a paid job for every young person out of work for over 12 months and every adult unemployed for more than two years," she added.
A Department of Work and Pensions assessment of mandatory work activity - a similar compulsory work scheme introduced by ministers in 2011 - found it "had no impact on the likelihood of being employed".
And on the work programme, DWP figures suggested one in 10 of those seen found a long-term job.
'UKIP pact'In developments at the conference on Sunday:
Meanwhile, the leader of the UK Independence Party has said it is open to local deals for its candidates to stand aside in seats with Eurosceptic MPs.
Nigel Farage ruled out a formal electoral pact but suggested there could be agreements at constituency level between UKIP and candidates from different parties.
Writing in the Times, Mr Farage said: "If either they, or others like them, even Labour MPs, with their local associations, chose to propose running on a joint ticket then I would leave the local UKIP association to have those associations."
A poll of Conservative councillors for BBC One's Sunday Politics had suggested nearly a quarter would support an electoral pact with UKIP at the next general election.
The conference continues until Wednesday when Mr Cameron will deliver his keynote speech.
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