I would like to clarify several points in Sally Hall's article describing the pioneering scheme Working Links as a public-private partnership involving Manpower and the government's Employment Service (Argus, October 20).

In fact, Working Links is a private company responsible to shareholders and is run to make, in its own words, a "normal" profit out of long-term unemployment in Brighton and Hove. Work previously done by Jobcentre staff has been privatised. The fact Working Links is not a partnership is demonstrated by the criticism of Jobcentres in the article. Jobcentres are part of the government's Employment Service, supposedly part of this partnership.

Working Links uses Personal Job Accounts (PJAs) to find people jobs but they are pots of money which include clients' Job Seekers Allowance and other benefits and funds set aside for training. The article fails to mention when a client is placed in a job, Working Links gets to keep any balance in the PJA as profit. This payments-by-results raises several serious issues.

Firstly, I believe it encourages Working Links to work hardest on behalf of unemployed people who are easy to place in to jobs, rather than giving equal treatment to all. Secondly, it means taxpayers' money set aside to assist unemployed people find work is being pocketed by big business. This scenario is at best unsavoury.

Sally Hall's article contains alleged criticism of Jobcentres by both unemployed people, and regrettably, Working Links staff. While I cannot comment on individual cases, I must point out Brighton and Hove Jobcentres have an excellent record of finding people jobs. In the year ending March 31, 2000, Brighton and Hove Jobcentres found jobs for 6,315 jobseekers.

The Jobcentre trade union, PCS, is campaigning to return the work presently carried out by Working Links to the public sector. We firmly believe the interests of the unemployed are better served in public, not private hands.

-Martin Smith, PCS union representative, Brighton Pavilion Jobcentre