Back in the early / mid 80s
the Tories actually came up with quite a useful and intelligent scheme
to manipulate unemployment statistics in their favour.

"The Community Programme" or some such similar name.

Basic details I can remember..........

Clever dick unemployed students and arty musician types like me
were put in this programme
where you got paid about 10 quid more per week than basic sup benefit,
didn't need to sign on,
got a few extra perks, etc,
provided you committed to genuinely work set hours on a valid local 'community' project.

The downside was that the more politicised amongst us were aware
we were being used to replace
what should have been properly paid and unionised local authority workers.

But we were at liberty to work fairly autonomously with quite decent project budgets
that were great for setting up radical lefty community arts spaces, photography darkrooms,
music band rehearsal facilities, theatre groups,
etc type projects..

Great experience and life style when you were in your early 20s
and lived a very active alternative arty lifestyle in an inner city.

It was a year or 2 before the tories realised their mistake,
funding a breeding ground for youthful cukltural subversion & dissent,
and promptly shut down the projects and funding.
and put us back on regular sup ben regime

Anyone else remember this scheme ???