Have Sandwell found the alchemist's gold?

The Tax Payers Alliance reports on a job advertisement in last week's Guardian (-where else?)

Sandwell were advertising for a Welfare Rights Team Manager (£36, 636 - £39, 132), to oversee a team of 40 staff, who provide domiciliary services including the encouragement of taking up rights.

There is nothing to object to, if the claims are legitimate and are not leading to over-dependence on benefits. What is of concern is the way the council sees part of its purpose: "Our Welfare Rights service has an excellent reputation and has huge success in creating wealth for residents of Sandwell. During the last 12 months benefit gains of over £21 million have been generated for people living in the borough. We want to build on that success and are reshaping and refocusing our services to do that."

Leaving aside the fact that the wealth has not been "created", but merely extracted from other people, some of who are not much better off than the recipients of the wealth transfer, the TPA goes on to describe the approach and the advertisement as the worst non-job they have noted in months of investigation - "in making dependency sound attractive, Sandwell Council is creating the problem rather then working to cure it."

If a fraction of the money was devoted to encouraging possible recipients into the labour market, perhaps with re-training or elementary education, then those involved could have self-pride and dignity rather than a submissive dependence, and would actually be helping to increase the sum of national income and consumption.

And to use the term "wealth creation" comes close to suggesting that if we all gave money to others and they to us then everyone would be better off and our national wealth increased.

A small child once suggested to me that if the government printed more money and gave everyone some we would all be able to buy more. This, he was assuming, was the alchemists way to produce gold.

Brian R.