On Monday, Chancellor George Osborne unveiled tougher rules for those claiming benefits including the long-term unemployed undertaking work placements in return for their benefits. Is this a good idea?

YES: James Woollard, from Polythene UK Ltd in Witney II am totally 100 per cent for this approach announced by the Government this week.

I hope the agenda achieves all of its core goals, to get people back into some sort of routine of getting up for work every day.

I believe once they get confidence from mixing in a workplace environment again they will soon find the inclination to go and find a better paid job.

If that means supporting local services while claiming benefits, and at the same time gaining valuable workplace skills, then it has to be great thing for them and the local economy.

This will have a very fast dramatic effect on the number of people stopping cash-in-hand work and claiming benefits, so we will save money on them claiming and they will get a job and start paying into the system. If they have to either do community work or go to the dole office every day, they will just get a job.

When I was a younger man, I used to know at least five cash-in-hand tax dodgers that were claiming benefit while working on the days they did not need to sign on.

I think the real winner is that it will also create jobs. No one can be working cash-in-hand while claiming benefits.

This will in theory mean that those secret cash jobs still need doing but they will have to now be done ‘on the books’ and people employed to do them, possibly one and the same person.

I know from trying to employ young people who are 'Not in Education, Employment, or Training’ (NEET) for Polythene UK that there is a massive issue with confidence, but mainly attitude.

It can be the easy option to sit at home playing the Playstation and claiming £150 every other week when the alternative can initially be low paid work – but we all had to start like that once upon a time. I hope everyone see it as a positive steer in the right direction.

NO:Tom Boyce of Iffley, supports his family with child tax credits, working tax credits and employment support allowance

I am totally against what George Osborne is saying. He is criminalising the unemployed. He is making them as if they have done something wrong.

If you are made redundant or if your job comes to an end, whatever the situation is, one day you are a hard-working person and the next day you are classed as a scrounger as far as George Osborne is concerned.

There are people that are on the dole and have been on it a long time. But nine times out of 10 they are long term unemployed because when they go for a job employers say ‘he or she has been out of work for too long’ because of the amount of time they have been out of work.

They are not even considered for work. Then they are told they are not trying and the next thing is ‘we are going to stop your benefits’.

What George Osborne should be doing is instead of making out they cannot get work he should be creating the work.

What he is saying is people have to go pick up litter and do jobs looking after old people and making people sign on every day looking for work.

I hope he is going to pay the bus fare for people going to do this. And pay people to look after these old age pensioners.

People pay their council tax, they pay for people to keep the place clean – what about their views? Are they going to be needed anymore? Someone has got to supervise these people who are litter picking.

If I was in George Osborne’s shoes I would be making sure I was doing something for the unemployed because in two years’ time that could be him.