Reeds in Partnership with the Arts?

By Darren Guy

‘I was interested in getting work in the arts and culture sector, of which I have a lot of previous experience. They were determined to force me into a job which wasn’t suitable to my experience – I told them I would contact my solicitor in regard to this issue and when I stated this my adviser backed down – he became flustered. I was determined to not allow them him to bully me’ (George)

Reeds in Partnership (the private company that runs the contract for employment zones), in the Liverpool area are attempting to flex their muscles into the field of arts. In collaboration with ‘Arts For All’ they organised a one-day event on Monday 27th October inviting artists and arts organisations to get involved.

Many people here at Catalyst, as well as many unemployed artists/writers and arts organisations elsewhere, have expressed cynicism about Reeds trying to involve themselves in the arts, as were the arts and culture network, who were initially involved in the open day, but pulled out when they realised that Reeds had funded it.

According to the publicity, the aim of the open day was to: help promote the Arts; help people find work within the field of arts; help people find vacancies in other fields of employment; provide information about art and employment; act as recruitment agency for organizations. We do not doubt that this was the genuine aim of the other organizations involved – but it is very difficult, considering the reports we’ve been receiving, for us to not see this move by Reeds as an opportunist attempt to jump on the ‘City of Culture 2008’ bandwagon. When I contacted Reeds and asked them how and in what way they proposed to achieve their stated aims – the response I received was nil, and when I asked them – ‘Do Reeds operate a policy of allowing artists/writers etc who are referred to them by the job centres the space to continue their chosen field’? I received no reply.

Reeds in Partnership won the multi-million pound contract from the government for Employment Zone. Employment Zone was brought in by the government to target areas they identified as having a substantial amount of long term unemployment. Many critics argued that it was brought in not to help the long-term unemployed, but to deal with the long-term unemployed - believing that unemployment was an individual and personal affliction. Getting a job, as an artist/writer etc is very difficult, there are very few jobs and the competition is hard. Thus when you do get a job often it is only for a short period and then you are back on the dole. Many artists are prepared to tolerate the poverty lifestyle for they use it as a period to focus on their art, improve their skills – thus making themselves more employable in their chosen field. Many of the artists we spoke to, when finding themselves being forced to attend Reeds – were told by advisers, that their job aims were ‘unrealistic’. A fine approach, we don’t think, for a company that claims to be interested in the Arts. This city would never have created the incredible amount of talent it has, if it hadn’t been for artists/musicians etc working hard at their skills, whilst being ‘unemployed’ – if they had been forced into jobs they didn’t want then this city wouldn’t have produced the amount of world class talent it has, some of our most famous stars might have joined the mass ranks of the ‘Could have beens’.

Now we don’t doubt that there are genuine advisers working for Reeds who are trying to help people, but on the whole the organization is geared towards making a lot of money out of getting people off the unemployment register by any means possible. The more people they get into jobs the more money they make. This profit motive meant that many artists who were forced to attend Reeds, according to John (name withheld) were also being forced to attend, ‘useless, degrading and patronizing courses, about how to make yourself more employable, in jobs you don’t want to do’. John says he was bullied and intimidated and threatened with having his benefit removed if he didn’t ‘write off for jobs that don’t exist’. And attend ‘interviews for low paid, skivy type jobs’. John himself is a writer, who also runs his own theatre group he has had a number of his plays performed around Liverpool, most notably to a sell out audience at the Unity Theatre. He believes it’s only a matter of time before he breaks into the market. But says ‘ If Reeds force me into a job, particularly the type of crap jobs they are trying to get me in, it’ll break me. I’ve spent most of my life doing crap jobs, that’s why I’m focusing on my lifetime ambition now – to be a professional writer, how will I ever get anywhere with my writing?’ Another artist who spoke to us, said that he got so depressed by the pressure his adviser was putting on him to take any job that he broke down and started crying during one interview. Reeds themselves have denied forcing people into jobs they don’t want – saying it’s not in their interest to do this. But many artists we know says something different.

So what is Reeds incentive? Well, according to an article in the most recent ‘Variant’, Firstly Reeds receive £300 for every claimant that is sent to them by the Job Centre. This is followed by £1,400 (the equivalent of six months job seekers allowance) for those people they get onto step 2 (a 22 week intensive jobsearch) – and a further £435 (or £547 if unemployed for more than 3 years) for each claimant who finds a job, including whatever’s left of the 6 months JSA. For Reeds it’s easy to see the incentive which is – ‘profit first, people second’ according to Peter a former Reeds employee – ‘and when money is involved there is no amount of reasons an artist can give’.

Now here at Catalyst we are committed to promoting the grassroots arts and culture of the city. We think that is a very positive thing – so we don’t want to just knock people. We love to promote organizations that are doing genuinely good work in the city. Furthermore we are not suggesting that the idea of getting people back into work is a bad thing. We have heard some positive reports – from artists and others who have felt that Reeds have been very supportive towards them – but there is a clear difference between helping, encouraging and offering support to people trying to get into employment and putting pressure on people and forcing them into low paid jobs. The artists in this city have had a tough ride for too long. If Reeds is really genuine about supporting the arts and the city then give the artists and the people the support to flourish.