Marie Curie Cancer Care, Shelter and Scope have led charities in publicly pulling out of the government’s controversial work experience scheme which requires welfare recipients to do unpaid work to receive their benefits.

The charities have followed high street retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Waterstones and TK Maxx in distancing themselves from the work experience programme which is becoming an increasingly toxic issue for the government and employers. The scheme requires that jobseekers work for charities, private businesses or the public sector for 30 hours a week, for eight weeks, or face having their benefits cut off if they withdraw.

Waterstones withdrew from the programme last week saying it did not want to “encourage work for no pay”.  Then on Friday Marie Curie Cancer Care and Shelter both released statements saying they had decided to stop participating. Scope followed suit on Saturday, and civilsociety.co.uk understands that Barnardo’s – which has been lobbying hard against welfare reforms – is reviewing its involvement.

A statement from Marie Curie said: “We participated in this scheme because we believed it could offer volunteers an opportunity to gain valuable experience. However, there is a difference between volunteering and being forced to work, and if there is any chance that people with terminal illnesses could be made to take part in this scheme we would take this very seriously.”

Marie Curie said that it is possible that people taking part in the scheme are still deployed in its charity shops, adding that it will offer them a permanent voluntary position if they want it.

Shelter similarly had used work experience labour in its charity shops, but says it decided last year to withdraw from the scheme. “Shelter decided that it was in the best interests of both potential volunteers and Shelter not to participate in the programme,” a statement from the charity read.

Scope’s chief executive Richard Hawkes issued this statement on Saturday about the charity’s decision to suspend its involvement in the programme: "We know there are many disabled people who want to work but struggle to get the right support or the right opportunities to build skills, confidence and experience.

"We would welcome the opportunity to work with the government to ensure it understands the reality of disabled people's lives and how different types of support could be delivered."

Boycott Workfare plans day of action

The decisions to step away from the programme from these large charities comes ahead of a national day of action planned against the scheme. Campaign group Boycott Workfare has selected 3 March as a day of action and called on employers involved in the scheme to withdraw and for the government to scrap the programme.

Joanna Long, spokeswoman for the lobby effort, said of the Department of Work and Pensions scheme: “The government needs to realise that this storm will not go away. People know that workfare is bad news for everyone: it replaces paid work and drives down wages and conditions. Boycott Workfare will continue to mobilise against these schemes until there is an end to them all.”

The scheme has also been attacked by the unions. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said retailers involved in the scheme are “in danger of exploiting participants” and that the scheme could undermine the pay and jobs of employees.

A law firm in Birmingham, Public Interest Lawyers, has contacted large companies involved in the scheme to warn them about action filed in the high court by a jobseeker forced to work for free.

Some large charity retailers refrain from Work Programme

Some charities with large retail networks have avoided involvement in the scheme, however. Oxfam, the second-largest charity retailer in the UK, is not involved, nor is the British Red Cross, which is the seventh-largest charity retailer by income in the UK with 317 shops.

Age UK, with 460 shops, said it had no formal agreements with the programme; however Steph Harland, director of strategy and people and performance, said the charity is investigating whether there is involvement with the scheme at a local level.

Read Celina Ribeiro's blog about the news 'Step away from the work experience programme, charities'