NEA Scheme

Wikipedia

 The DWP New Enterprise Allowance Scheme was launched with a bang by entrepenuer Levi Roots of Dragons Den TV show fame.

From the DWP

To be eligible to receive financial support, jobseekers have to demonstrate that their business idea is viable. The financial support consists of a weekly allowance payable over 26 weeks’ worth up to £1,274. If they need start-up capital they may also apply for an unsecured loan of up to £1,000 to help them with start-up costs, such as buying their initial equipment. Participants can only access the NEA and loan when they have a business plan which has been approved by the mentoring partnership.  In addition, to qualify for the support they must close their claim to JSA and provide evidence that they have commenced trading.

Our experience

From our own experience - there was nothing put in writing about the scheme and it was not confirmed what interest rate claimants were going to be charged until they signed off. Personally my business plan (for another venture) was shortened to a ridiculous two pages. My mentor resigned shortly after I signed-off, and the tailored support (a favourite word of the DWP) failed to appear, along with the 'workshops' that had been promised. I felt I had been misled.

When I pointed out a £1,000 [loan] was not much to start a business with: I was told you could buy a 'bucket and a ladder with it'. Look out Richard Branson I thought!

It will be interesting to see how many of the NEA businesses financed by the taxpayer will still be going after the modest support runs out - or, was  the real idea, just to move people of the Claimant Count with an election looming?

One person the scheme worked for was; Levi Roots who was employed promoting it.

Successful businessman Levi Roots (real name Keith Valentine Graham Bilal Musa) was in fact sued by his former business partner; Tony Bailey, over who owned the recipe to his famed 'Reggae Reggae' sauce. Roots had claimed that the recipe was his mothers, on the Dragon Den TV show which shot him to fame. Roots was accused by best friend Mr Bailey, 52, of taking the recipe and breaching a business agreement between the two of them and financial adviser Sylvester Williams over its marketing.

Judge Mark Pelling attacked the entrepreneur for misleading the public, saying he was a 'fake' who 'regards the truth as an optional extra'. According to the Daily Mail the Judge said Mr Roots was guilty of 'fraudulent misrepresentation'. Father-of-seven Mr Roots had already been called a 'bare-faced liar' by lawyers acting for Bailey and Williams after he admitted the story behind Reggae Reggae Sauce was a 'marketing ploy'. Mr Roots did win the case, however the hearings exposed Mr Roots as someone prepared to present a completely fictitious story in order to secure financial investment.

An odd example you might think to be used in a government advertising campaign, or perhaps Roots, was after all the ideal ambassador for the DWP, who some may feel have made some less than opaque claims themselves, in order to encorage people to sign off?