UPDATE 27/2/13: Registering an account with Universal Jobmatch will become mandatory from the beginning of March 2013. There should still be no requirement to tick the box giving DWP access to your account. For the latest details and what this means for claimants keep an eye on: http://consent.me.uk/2013/02/26/mandatory/
From this month hapless Iain Duncan Smith has warned that unemployed claimants who refuse to sign up for the DWP’s Universal Jobmatch website may face having benefits sanctioned.
This is contrary to the information given late last year when the DWP confirmed that signing up to the site is not mandatory. It’s almost as if the DWP is trying to catch people out in order to trick people off benefits.
Already the website has been plagued by fake jobs, spam, sex work and scammers. The lax verification procedures for employers wishing to advertise vacancies leaves users at risk of having their personal details accessible to any old crook or pervert. Many people have reported problems registering or even logging into the site, meaning even those who want to use it could find themselves unable to. If the number of google referrals to this blog from people searching phrases such as ‘Universal Jobmatch can’t log in’ is anything to go by then it seems the sites technical problems are far from over.
When Universal Credit is introduced next year millions more people will be expected to prove to the DWP that they are seeking ‘more or better paid’ work. Part time workers, disabled people, parents and self-employed workers on low incomes will all be placed under ‘work related activity’ conditions which now only apply to those on Jobseeker’s Allowance. Those who Jobcentre staff decide aren’t trying hard enough to find work could face workfare or sanctions.
With the Jobcentres all running at full capacity – and no signs of any large scale recruitment on the horizon – then the only way this can be policed is by forcing claimants to use the Government’s own shit job search website. The DWP are attempting to bully claimants on the cheap.
Luckily however there is no legal way that the Jobcentre can force you to allow them to access to monitor your activity on the site. When claimants are asked to register with the site they are given the option of ticking a box which provides consent for Jobcentre snoops to monitor their use of the website.
It is vital that all claimants are made aware that they do not have to tick this box. This means a concerted effort on behalf of everyone concerned about the endless abuse of those on benefits to inform everybody of their rights. Spread the word to every Jobcentre in the UK.
There is also no legal requirement for claimants to accept cookies (the small computer programmes which allow the DWP to track usage of the site) on their own home computers. If people don’t accept cookies then Universal Jobmatch won’t work. This means that if you have a PC at home you cannot be forced to use it to look for jobs on the new website.
If enough people refuse to allow the Jobcentre to snoop on their accounts then the ‘work related activity’ that underpins Universal Credit won’t work.
Whilst IDS has threatened to haul claimants into the Jobcentre everyday if they refuse give the DWP access to their accounts, this is little more than an empty threat. Harassing claimants face to face costs money., which is one thing the DWP don’t have
It is possible to use the site to look for jobs without logging in or even having an account for those who wish to. The truth is there are far better places to look for work then Universal Jobmatch where the vast majority of jobs are self-employed sales jobs, employment agencies trawling for CVs,or zero hour contracts.
It is a shocking state of affairs that Iain Duncan Smith is forcing claimants to waste their time looking for jobs on a crap website with barely any vacancies just because he’s too arrogant to admit he just spent nearly £20 million quid on a piece of shit.
Once again welfare reform is not being driven by trying to genuinely help people find work. In fact quite the opposite is happening. Iain Duncan Smith is so obsessed with benefit claimants jumping through the endless hoops he sets that he no longer seems to care whether any of it will help people find a job. This is all about one arrogant man who has decided that he knows better than anyone else how unemployed people should look for work.
If that means benefit claimants pointlessly clicking away at a website just to meet the conditions for claiming benefits – when they could be out looking for work properly – then Iain Duncan Smith will consider his job well done. All he cares about is that people do what he tells them to. It would be embarrassing if it were a boss, teacher or parent acting that way, for a Secretary of State it’s little more than pathetic.
UPDATE: via @refuted on twitter – Registering for Universal Jobmatch is not yet mandatory according to DWP. Despite this stories persist of sanctions and threats of sanctions, print out this FOI request and take it with you next time you sign up if you are concerned about being forced to register: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/140693/response/347764/attach/html/3/FOI%204776%20Response%20PDF.pdf.html
In case of sanctions/threats of sanctions the PCS Union advise claimants to speak to Jobcentre Managers and if you can find out who they are, PCS reps.
Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid
the void 
I’m sick of hearing of universal jobsmatch!!!
There’s more to come I’m afraid (although not for a while).
I’m a bit sick of writing about it, but it is a big hole in IDS’ plans
April will be the crunch time, when the 35 per week jobsearch conditionality kicks in as part of the roll out of Universal Credit.
No one will be able to spend 7 hours every weekday looking for work without a venue, stationary, stamps, unlimited computer and internet access and travelling expenses. Every single claimant will fall short of this demand, particularly those in rural areas. It cannot work.
I know that, you know that, I daresay we all know that, but IDS and the Tories don’t care. All they care about is reducing the benefit bill one way or another, and these draconian rules are the way they mean to do it. So do as JV says – do not tick the box.
Thinks that is the trial, June is when it kicks in.
Universal Credit has now been put off until October 2013.
When does Universal Credit start?
April 2013 – launch of Universal Credit pathfinder
Starting in April 2013, DWP, with our delivery partners in HMRC and local authorities, will introduce Universal Credit to claimants within certain areas of the North-West of England. This “pathfinder” stage will help us ensure that Universal Credit is ready to go live across the rest of the country later in 2013.
Universal Credit Pathfinder – Press Release 24 May 2012
October 2013 – national launch of Universal Credit
New claimants: They will be able to make claims for Universal Credit from October 2013, while claims for existing benefits and credits will be gradually phased out. From April 2014, all new claims will be for Universal Credit.
Existing claimants: They will move onto Universal Credit in line with a phased approach that we expect to have completed by the end of 2017
This phased process will be completed in 2017 and we will continue to provide information on this, as it becomes available.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/universal-credit/
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England. The region comprises five ceremonial counties of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.
I feel sorry for anyone living in these counties as you’ll all be the guinea pigs on Universal Credit Pathfinder as of April 2013 – the rest of us won’t be joining Universal Credit until October 2013 and probably not even then as it’s doomed to failure.
The site is a £20 Million piece of crap. I have signed up for it – not tciked any boxes and sure as hell haven’t set it to searchable. Yet out of 13 jobs I have applied for I noticed in my application history only 1 has been recorded on the site, becasue the others I have applied for have the email details to send direct or you get transfrered to another website outside of jobmatch. You’d think they would have a better sysem than this!!
You would think that only if you believed that this system had been designed with even half-an-eye on intending to offer ‘help’ in finding work for the unemployed. With the introduction of a digital-by-default Government-owned search site linked in with Universal Credit there is an obvious (and stated) move away from that intention. There are to be no concessions made for anyone who isn’t equipped to ‘keep up’ – they will lose their source of income. The sole aim is to ‘help’ claimants off benefits (whether they then manage to get some form of paid work is not primarily of interest to the DWP – they will be ‘off the books’ and not counted as unemployed in official figures).
If anyone does manage to find a way through the UJ site and does find a suitable job for themselves – it could happen – this would only be a peripheral issue for JCPs and the DWP – they won’t be assessing its ‘success’ based on those statistics.
I am just wondering the fact that most of these jobs are not being recorded as being applied for is another of those “trip wires” IDS mentioned or just shoddy website planning and implementation?
Think you have to save the job so it shows up on your activity search/log/jobs saved thing before applying.
It is all arse backwards.
I have not found any jobs that I am qualified for (I am not an experienced manager/nurse/doctor/consultant) and I do not have a full driving licence and I do not think hampshire is 20 milles from my postcode (add about 200).
Thanks for the heads up I will save these to my profile then. I totally agree about it being “arse backwards”, but can’t expect much more from a government that has “unelected” think tanks doing the thinking for them!
You’re not the only one. x
While I agree with the overall sentiment of this post I disagree with the comments about the quality of the site framework. I find the interface to be an improvement over the old Direct.gov job site. I can have multiple CVs for the ever widening range of jobs I must apply for.. and it will no doubt become one of the biggest sites in the UK.
I’ve set my CV to private, used an forwding e.mail address and I don’t apply to anyone who is listed as “confidential”. It doesn’t take me any longer to weed out fake posts on this website than it does on other sites.
I’ve blocked the following sites from serving cookies in Firefox:
jobsearch.direct.gov.uk
jobcavancies.businesslink.gov.uk
But there might be others. I’m still looking into where they come from. I’m not sure if Monster’s servers are serving up other cookies. Hopefully the site will still function. I have a feeling that they will have to provide a no-cookie option for the DWP to mandate it in the New Year.
In addition to other privacy plugins I’m not too concerned about the DWP monitoring me. I’m more concerned about the data center being located in Utah, USA.
addendum: blocking cookies makes the website not work.
I have managed to block their cookies and continue using the site with no probs.
No, sport. You’re wrong. You cannot have blocked all of the UJM cookies because if you do you can’t log on to the site or access you account.
Apologies, my bad. I just checked my privacy settings and it does indeed accept cookies, just not third party cookies. Tried blocking cookies altogether and cannot get in as George Orwell’s ghost pointed out . Ah well, at least I can delete them after my session on their site – I use a different browser for the site anyway.
it won’t be big because it contains the seeds of its own destruction. as more and more claimants are mandated to sign up then employers will start to disappear as they get sick of wading through 5000 applications everytime they post a vacancy.
I personally liked the old Directgov site as it was very easy to use. I’m personally not interested in putting my CV online as even if it is set to private there is still the issue of trusting whatever data company with the possession of information relating to me, and therefore to an extent being a hostage to fortune as much as anyone already is with social media sites like Facebook. I don’t want anyone monitoring me, and I don’t care if the data is being stored in Utah, Middlesex or Timbuctu, it is still in the possession of organisations that could potentially do what they please with that data, notwithstanding the various pieces of legislation, UK, EU or UN, as I don’t have enough money, power or influence to do squat about that.
I do my jobsearch diligently, as that is what I’ve contracted to do. If the DWP think that I am not keeping to my side of that contract then they need to take legal action against me to prove otherwise, and they won’t do that because they’d know that they’d be taking a gamble that they’d lose, but I wouldn’t be, as I know that I am not, and can prove it, they can’t prove that I’m not. It isn’t anyone’s job to make theirs easy, least of all the unemployed without whom most of the advisors wouldn’t have a job.
I don’t as a rule, apply for any job that merely requires a CV, and in my field anyway, the mere submission of a CV would virtually guarantee that I wouldn’t have a canary’s hope of getting the job. I do have a CV that I put together, mainly for consumption by the DWP as this kind of thing keeps them happy.
Ultimately we won’t find our way out of the kinds of crises that we’ve perennially found ourselves in over the past 30 or so years until there is a return to a commitment to full employment – you may say that ain’t gonna happen, but it will happen if enough of us say that it will, and let it be known that ‘No’ is the wrong answer.
Want to check for cookies? Here ya go http://www.cookie-checker.com/
Let’s not forget it’s THIS year UC is supposed to kcik n, not next year. Welcome to 2013. Let’s not forget also this has nothing to do with getting people into work. It can’t as the work’s not there. The presence of the crooked American insurance company Unum as advisors since the mid-90s gives the game away. They’re ending the benefits system so the private insurance companies can have the multibillion pound market that will open up. No doubt there’ll be enough to make IDS, Purnell and everyone else who’s had a hand in demonising claimants to make this transition easier millionaires many times over.
The plan is to pilot UC in April and begin taking new claims for it in October 2013. I don’t reckon the system will ever work properly but, even if it did, the DWP will still be transferring claimants from the current system to UC in 2017. Nothing is going to happen quickly and, to be honest, I’m as sure as I could be that the whole kit and kaboodle will collapse under its own weight anyway.
So we’d all best get our skates on and make sure that the whole scheme is an abject failure then, hadn’t we?
As Johnny points out, let’s just tell everyone:
“DON’T TICK THAT BOX!”
a simple slogan for a simple leaflet/poster campaign.
I’ve started handing out ”refuse universal jobmatch” leaflets outside of Jobcentres (not the one i sign on at – i’m not that daft! lol) to try and inform as many claimants as i can of their rights coz this Universal Jobmatch
bollocks has got to go. But another good way i’ve found to let even more people all over the country know whats going on is to go on facebook (just make up a fake profile if you don’t want a real account) and write Universal Jobmatch in the search box and then click on the ”public” box on the left hand side and you often get to see jobseekers – from all over the country – and their comments about Universal Jobmatch (because they’ve set their privacy setting as public) and how they’re being told they have to sign up and are being threatened with sanctions for not doing so etc. So what i do when i see comments like that is click on their names and send them a private message informing them of their rights and ask them to pass the information on. I don’t know if any of them take a blind bit of notice of what i’ve said to be honest ,but a lot of them have sent me a message back thanking me for letting them know. Whether they actually really do anything with the info i’ve given them is unclear, but if it stops just one person from registering then i’ll be happy 🙂
Sounds like a brilliant idea, the Facebook thing you do. The fact that you actually get a thank you message at least shows that your efforts are appreciated.
I’m planning doing the leafleting thing at a Jobcentre in another town not to far from here, it’ll seem a bit like groundhog day, as I did it several times in the 90s too… over the introduction of JSA if I remember correctly, only difference is I had a job then.
I guess I must be very lucky with my JCP advisor as he’s never really pressured me over signing up to UJ, and has accepted all my concerns as valid reasons to not sign up, though he did suggest that a good thing to do maybe, was sign up for a fake UJ account! I’m sure he’ll inform me in due course of the change that now means that I HAVE to sign up, which I shall do, but I just won’t use it, and I certainly won’t be ticking that damned box
Another tactic that can be used, is to demand that you see an advisor who speaks your minority language if you are making a claim for the first time, if you are from a minority language language community, as suddenly your English isn’t so good, is it? – they’ll probably not believe you, but are they really going to risk the bad publicity that could result if they challenge it? Besides you have a right to that information in your own language, as your understanding of English isn’t the best, is it?. The fact that they proabaly haven’t got the relevant leaflet or form in that particular office is completely irrelevant, they should have it, as they are a government office serving all communities of the public.
This tactic probably won’t work as well in some parts of the country, as in areas where there is a higher proportion of people from minority communities there is likely to be a significantly higher proportion of people working for JCP from those same communities, but you never know, it could make the difference of that worker keeping their job by dint of the fact they speak a local community language – I know that this was a factor with my JCP advisor, as he is a Welsh speaker, employed partially on the basis that he is able to deal with ‘awkward bastards’ like me, (I’m sure a lot of JCP advisors are of the opinion what we speak Welsh just to be awkward, but are too, erm, polite to say so)
Then, six months, or a year down the line, if you’re still out of work, (and there are so many job vacancies out there1) make sure you download the Consent Me letters about witholding your permission for sharing information – and translate it into your language, and present that to the JCP interviewer when you go for the initial WP interview. It may only buy you a temporary reprieve, but it will cause a bureaucratic logjam of minor proportions and you’ll probably have to wait up to a month for them to reply, if indeed they bother to reply at all, it may just get lost somewhere in the system. I took my letter in written in Welsh, (I live in Wales, and we are legally entitled to demand services from government departments etc, in Welsh) and it caused an immediate halt to the interview, and I’m still waiting for a response six months later. I’m sure that I’ll eventually have to go on the WP, unless I get a job, (I live in hope)n but that just means that I put Phase 2 into play, which the provider will positively hate, as it will involve costs if they have to employ interpreters or translators, so I guess I’ll just get ‘parked’ somewhere.
The idea is to make this scheme collapse under the weight of it’s own bureaucracy, which it will, if we make sure that they have to jump through a few hoops of our making. There isn’t a huge amount we can do in our situation except make things as difficult as possible, while following the rules to the letter. They may suspect that you’re taking the piss, but there isn’t anything they can do about it as long as you fulfil the promises you made in your Jobseeker’s Agreement.
None of this is intended that you turn down that wonderful job that you know is just waiting for you, but if, for some reason you do get sent for an interview for a job that you can do, but you know won’t pay you enough to make ends meet, or is just plainly crap, just make sure you ask a few innocuous questions at the interview… like, is there a union you can join? The kind of stuff that will make them choose someone else, but that can do no harm to you, even if it gets back to JCP.
I write to them in English (they are all supposed to speak Welsh at my JCP), but they never reply to anything.
Today it (UJM) listed 22-23 jobs of which 95% were in areas hundreds of miles away AND in jobs I’ve no qualification for. The remaining 5% were still very far away and not in things I was able to/qualified to do. Just one job was reachable with a car (I’m not allowed to drive because of severe epilepsy, that started when I was 9, so years before the age of provisional licences I was already life-banned), it was in a job as an Alzheimers researcher (would need CRB and I can’t have one), with experience of paid work in the field (I don’t have) and references, and, this is the crucial bit, must be fully fluent in Welsh (I’m not).
So far on UJM there has been nothing (been on it for months and the hopeless tossers spam me several times a week) they have sent me, out of hundreds of things, that I have been even remotely suited or qualified for. Even so I was worried about being accused of ‘not applying for jobs’, so I looked to find some each time that were the ‘least impossible’ (sic)
listed vacancies, and clicked on Apply. Fuck all happened. Reloading the page didn’t work – the site didn’t let me apply.
The one time I got through to the employer’s website where you can apply, I was doing this (though not sure how much an oil/gas drilling company would WANT a green activist, and not sure how much I could stomach working for them – but at least they’re a tiny company not a giant like BP/Texaco/Shell…) and it crashed, deleting my whole application irretrievably. I wasn’t doing it all over again so I gave up.
It takes me longer to type stuff as I’m disabled so a lengthy or wordy application could take a day to write. Doubt Ian Duncan Smith cares or has factored this in.
If (see above):
>>he just spent nearly £20 million quid on a piece of shit.
… if that (about IDS) could be turned round, not sure how much he costs the nation directly or indirectly, then:
We just spent £….. million quid on a piece of shit.
They say ‘you can’t polish a turd’. However it looks in his case (=shiny slaphead) somebody has been trying very hard.
Another thought. If you have conditions meaning you can’t stare at a computer screen for a long time or at all, how do you do the 35 hours on UJM per week if a serious attack of your condition would be brought on in minutes?
Are any of us proper, expert computer hackers?
Just thinking out loud: if the site were to be hacked registering IDS as a UJM user and also benefits claimant (well he already has taxpayers’ money). And if we sent him (from UJM) mad ads for stuff and force him to apply for it, apply for it in his name, threaten to withdraw breathing privileges if he does not apply/take the job.
As an example:
-Female pole dancers wanted, must love dirty old men and the risk of being sold to Albanian sex traffickers..
-Sewage farm seeks in-tank leak-detectors (bottom half of tank)
-Scorpion-on-penis tester required
[ad removed later following complaints from the National Union of Scorpions, “We do not wish to touch him with our stingers or claws, unless we are paid as part of a mass assassination attempt, in which case we would happily negotiate rates.”]
-Expendable and useless people needed to test landmines by walking across a minefield.
-Village idiot required (he has plenty of experience!)
-Labourers wanted ‘to lick ‘road clean wi’t tongue’ (Monty Python 4 Yorkshiremen sketch)
-Rent boy needed for busy, lively and sweaty rugby club.
-Assistant wanted in knife-throwing double-act
(NB under the Workfare scheme, the post of knife thrower was given against their will to a disabled person -judged by Atos ‘fit for work’ and put on JSA – so IDS could claim it as a job created. For no money. Their disabilities include blindness, dizziness, epilepsy, tics, no sense of direction, narcolepsy, Parkinson’s, paranoia, anxiety, ADHD, Tourette’s, and -a disability as far as the job is concerned – an ingrained hatred of Ian Duncan Smith..
The previous knife thrower wanted to keep their job, but under the ‘reforms’ was forced to leave their job and go onto JSA, and they are now in a call centre for DWP explaining to callers why JCP/DWP is so shite.)
-Manburger Inc: Ingredients wanted
(Apply to Long Pig Cafe, Bootle and Inverness branches – an exciting new venture exploring the edibility of mankind)
-Contortionist wanted, able to a)Wriggle their way out of anything and b) Put their foot in their mouth. (He’d be ideal…)
-Testers wanted for: Bed of nails, Pit of sharpened stakes, Iron Maiden, Rack.
-Hall of mirrors seeks live-in exhibit. Will be kept there during training period, 24/7, until driven completely mad, before being unleashed on the general public as a horror item.
-Lion and tiger tamer wanted (tip to Ian: threatening the lion or tiger with the loss of their benefits, seems not to work)
-Litter picker wanted for shark tank. In-tank entertainment to be provided by the sharks.
-Steamroller tester to lie down while steamroller goes over you.
-Chartered accountant wanted. (LOL..)
[actually that might even work, in the theory of ‘put him somewhere quiet where he can’t cause too much trouble’, formerly used with disruptive or ‘slow’ pupils.]
“Failure to apply will result in the immediate reversal of your vital status.”
Oh. God. How much do nailguns cost?????!
[Dear MIHigh, Monster High, Valley Girls, M Eye Clive, and assorted spooks: rest assured the above is not a serious threat. The writer is in fact a pacifist -though finding it increasingly hard- animal-lover and vegetarian, who also doesn’t have the physical ability to fire a nailgun.]
Universal Jobmatch stinks, though. Even when put next to a sewage farm.
Why do people not refuse to sign the jsa contract and go to food banks – those facing evictions have nothing to lose,that will put the lot of them and their computers out of a job? We are allowing ourselves to be slaves to diktats. Some will argue this is what they want to end the welfare state, they’re withdrawing it bit by bit anyway so why not do it for them and cause mayhem for emergency housing/foodbank services.
The trussell trust foodbank run by Tories to profit from
As far as i can gather, you need a letter of entitlement or somesuch from a body like the CAB to get food from a foodbank, you cant just roll up on spec
We don’t have a foodbank now.
Something is very wrong when a foodbank wants people to vote for them at waitrose …
http://www.trusselltrust.org/
Looking at some of the comments on this blog it does appear that some think they can shuffle along to the tune of IDS/DWP and that everything will be OK.
Yes there will be full employment as the unemployed “shirkers” will be redefined at a “social” level beneath that of a criminal, in the warped thinking of the political class – at least a crimminal “strives” and takes risks for his livelihood.
The political class are not going to desist from the economic culling of the welfare underclass and the destruction of the welfare state, the question is how will the welfare underclass and those sympathetic to a subsistence welfare system action their support on the streets.
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Chillingly accurate analysis of IDS in those last three paragraphs. Really hope he gets to read it sometime.
His disgusting workfare policies and divisive smear tactics make him beneath contempt. Arrogant and petulant, wealthy and privileged, he ceaselessly inflicts his psychopathic dumbshite policies on poor people struggling hard at the bottom.
Unfortunately, If someone ever gave anything so accurate and truthful to the esteemed SofS to read, even were it to be written in large font and Capital(ist) letters, on a blue background; the sad truth is he is living in another country where they speak a different language, and it wouldn’t get through.
As soon as he was able to pick out the words “help” and “claimants” in the same sentence there would be a ‘computer-overload’ in what masquerades as his brain and steam would start coming out of his ears/trousers. Then he’d have to rush off to find the nearest postage stamp he could write on the back of to come up with some new ‘ideas’ for even more con(de)structive forms of ‘help’ – as he likes to look busy
I hope he dies.
Slowly.
what’s the difference between clicking for work or out looking for work when the work is non-existent?
I wonder if they take into account power cuts or if you run out of electric in your meter? Somehow I don’t think they THINK that far ahead though!
They know about it but they care not a hoot. Bastards the lot of them!!!!
When I have been in and talked about UJ they questioned me why I dont consent to them viewing my account activity, when it first came out I was told that if I dont sign away my consent they may become suspicious of my job searching activity, I still have refused and will continue to refuse. You just cant fucking win against the nosy bastards, it is our right not to consent. Do all the major political parties support this and workfare? I have never voted before but I want to make my vote count come 2015.
Voting doesn’t count for anything… whatever you vote you’ll get screwed by some lying bastard politician. It’s a sad comment on the state of our ‘democracy’ but there we go. Better off becoming an anarchist and help change society to something more in keeping with what you want.
True. Anybody that thinks that the Labour Party will do anything about this abusive mess if they win in 2015 is looking for a hiding to nothing.
Anarchist already; but it didn’t stop them telling me to join the army.
Makes no difference who you vote for – we still get the government. Labour are no better, despite the noises they make, they’re just as keen on these “reforms” as the psychopathic tories & their poodles the LimpDems & the UKIP fruitcakes want to out-tory the tories.Best thing we can all do at the next election is write “none of the above” on the ballot paper. Hopefully then the whole rotten political edifice would collapse.
I think all the parties think UJ is a good idea.
Based on the total silence from the other parties about it.
They’ve been trying to get me to sign up to UJM since it started. I just keep refusing, citing data protection issues and telling them it’s not compulsory.
I have already signed up, I am not all that bothered about using their website as there is stuff on there I can apply for and its convenient when you have your CV on there (I have my address removed from it), its the snooping and monitoring aspect of it all that I will never give in to, I apply for plenty of jobs but I am not having them using their sanction machine against me because I didn’t apply for something “recommended” for me by their systems which was unsuitable because I am not skilled enough, half of them dont even let you apply without the right skills added which most users wont figure out and just be confused. Why dont they just tag us all and get it over and done with, it is what they seem to want, everyone being monitored, your job seeking activity, the food you buy. I think they will keep going and then the masses will start start shoplifting and rioting, that will be here soon enough.
Talking of tagging Nlyte has some association with RFID technology
I would print off the dwp documents and the info from consent site which confirms it is not mandatory. have the print out ready. If they still keep pushing in an aggressive way, mention the pcs union says it isnt mandatory, show them the print out from there, if it still carries on i personally would be tempted to ask to see their supervisor.
My husband is being forced into work related activity, and work programs despite the fact that he is on ESA on the work related activity group. He’s also been told if he doesn’t allow cookies and to tick that box he WILL be sanctioned, and what’s worse is, they are telling the truth, my husband has been sanctioned over Christmas. Contacted our local MP, and got a very nasty phone call from the DWP saying they will look into it but are dissapointed in him for contacting our local MP before them (we had called DWP dozens of time about this) in a very horrible tone.
They are a nasty piece of work!!!
P.S. Still being sanctioned until he ticks that box… living on hardship is proving too much, he will probably sign next week.
You should definitely publicise this case, people need to hear about this. I think you’d have very strong grounds for suing them as well, because privacy law definitely says he has the right to refuse. Brian Whelan at Channel 4 news has done some good coverage of Jobmatch stuff, you should be able to email him at brian.whelan.journalism at gmail dot com
Shiv Malik at the Guardian’s covered some of this stuff as well, I can’t find an email address for him but he’s on twitter at https://twitter.com/shivmalik1 You could also try emailing k.rawlinson@independent.co.uk
This deserves to be a scandal.
Yay. Well, I know a guy who was found ‘fit for work’ and on WRAG of ESA.
Tonight I got a message that he has died.
I would print out that FOI that says UJ is not mandatory and is voluntary and ask to speak to the JCP area manager.
Also if you can speak to the CAB.
Print this out (make a couple of copies for yourself as well), arrange a meeting with you advisor & jcp area manager and give them this :
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/139741/response/348938/attach/html/3/4675%20response%20pdf.pdf.html
Problem is when a sanction is running it cannot be stopped (you can appeal and get all your money back via a cheque usually 2 to 3 weeks after the sanction has finished)
Awww Dear looks like we might have another DWP stooge lurking here trying to make out Universal Jobmatch is not an unmitigated shambles while trying to sound like they are job seeker and fit in with other posters. Give up now it is not going to work 😀
There is what looks like a Similar DWP PR stooge over on the consumer action group website. Claims to be an IT guy & trainer at jobcentres but comes out with usual DWP script when people raise Concerns over security of personal data or other complaints about system. Suddenly started posting in a thead that hadnt been used in weeks Monday night. Same day as Jobcentres seemed to burst fully into life again on twitter 🙂 Userid is jbaker2009. Thread is here :
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?372689-Universal-Jobmatch/page14
Read from post #266 forward & Note the responses in detail 😉 Paricularly amusing is jbaker2009 claim that there are checks on employers posting on Universal Jobmatch which has been shown time & again to be nonsense.
Universal Jobmatch is a Job Website DWP/Jobcentres are trying to Force Jobseekers to use and place their Sensitive personal data on anyway they can by official misdirection,Threats of Sanctions, Threats of Daily Attendance for non use etc. Combine this with the links it will likely require via DWP Systems that could contain even more sensitive Personal Data it is not unreasonable IMO to expect good vetting of any employers using it not the non existent checks there clearly is now. Universal Jobmatch is not comparable to other Job Websites as a result. So Excuses like ‘other web sites have bogus/scam jobs too’ dont fly IMO. Jobseekers have a choice wether or not to use other Job Websites if they find them Buggy/full of Bogus Jobs/insecure etc, a choice DWP seems determined not to give Jobseekers over Universal Jobmatch.
Are you on about me there, I certainly am not one of those gits, if you did mean me 🙂
It’s not you! A comment further up near the top of the page about being ‘intensely relaxed’ about the UJ site & finding it very user-friendly sounds a bit like the writer could be on some form of commission – but to each their own. Anyone, like you and others who are already registered on the site are having to ‘make the best’ of what’s being offered up and so the more computer-literate they are, the better. They can set privacy settings/avoid cookies/clear them after browsing etc. There’s been lots of help with this shared already, but it’s not really a language I’m familiar with. I really thought cookies were something Americans eat ’til very recently (so I will need to become much more computer-savvy to survive the whole UJ/UC nightmare ahead). I’m going to be in the 20% for whom the stated intention is to make registration mandatory, at some furture date.
(Text below edited & borrowed from recent FOI Request replies):-
Official replies state that it has always been the intention to make registering on the site mandatory (“for some people”) & they also state:
“We intend to require those claimants to do this under a Jobseeker’s Direction, when some changes have been made to the service to fully support this.” “Current policy is that Work Programme providers can encourage [claimants] to voluntarily use Universal Jobmatch but they cannot require them to use the service. Registration being mandatory when a Jobcentre Adviser directs a Jobseekers Allowance Jobseeker to apply for a specific job only advertised/listed on Universal Jobmatch, as a Jobseekers Direction or a Mandatory Activity Notification.”
“Until changes have been made to the service, claimants will not be required to apply for jobs where the method of application is internally through the service only. In these instances advisers will concentrate on jobs which can be applied for externally and failure to apply for these without good reason could result in a benefit sanction being imposed.”
Happy Job Search.
DWP cut staff investigating fraudulent work program providers
anonymous
I had my benefits sanctioned every year for 7 years from 2 weeks to 7 months at a time, but at that time I seemed to be the only one fighting the job centre and jsa diktats with threat of sanctions and no hardship payments, yet I will still oppose them.
In answer to Baz regarding uj and workfare here are the liberal democrats trying to put a different slant on things yet can’t quite make up their minds what they support while insulting benefit claimants. .http://www.libdemvoice.org/workfare-liberal-democrats-27270.html
Thank you guy fawkes, I have given it a read, do you know who you will be voting for yourself? I know its quite early to say.
It’s also worth knowing that if people have already been pressured or tricked into ticking the box, then they can untick it later by editing their account settings.
Baz
I will be voting for none of them and certainly do not see ukip as an alternative although I would like to see us on a trade only basis with Europe not a federal Europe, but it seems the US want Britain in the EU.
A housemate votes BNP…. and we have Asian and African people in the house!
Hi Johnny,
A post of mine from Earlier hasnt appeared. Is there a problem with it ?
picked up by the spam filter for some reason, is showing now
Hehehe No worries Johnny,
guessed it was probably spam filters or similar.
I’m watching how the other half life, ‘Inside..’ a 5 star hotel, where they serve up lettuce with ants added to them.
& I’m sure that I read the person who was working on the IT side of Universal Credit has died.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/iain_duncan_smith/chingford_and_woodford_green#register
What’s happened to The Black Triangle website? Unavailable.
There is what looks like a nasty propaganda campaign against them the gist is that someone is. Saying they are stirring up fear and may cause ppl to take their lives and have blood on their hands as result and someone calling them extreme left wing organisation. I have been desparately trying to post the inflammatory post for a while now but it vanishes
One single lone voice in the msm, tellin’ it like it is. Owen Jones.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-welfare-bill-a-government-of-millionaires-just-made-the-poor-poorer–and-laughed-as-they-did-it-8443619.html
wireless.sys-con.com/node/2366429
18 Sep 2012 – “Nlyte Software, one of the leaders in the DCIM field, is well … Kenexa, Monster, SHL, SuccessFactors, Workday Among Scores of Vendors … The Right Cloud for the Job …
IDS has some connection with Nlyte software
jbaker2009 23:01 7th January 2013
You are welcome.
You do not have to tick the box to give DWP access. If you do not tick the box, the DWP have no way to view your account.
But why would you not tick the box? Makes it easier for you to show an adviser what you have been doing to look for work, they can only view the account when you are present, they cannot change any of your details and can only see information that you provide. The information on the site is information they have already about you, like your address and email.
There is no disadvantage in giving the DWP access.
Because I am unfortunate to be unemployed I am not a criminal and I do not want or have to have my activities being spied on. x
I am getting sick of this . There is something disturbing going on around black triangle group apart from BT blocking them last year I came across a thread claiming that black triangle were an extremist group and a very disturbing post made on that thread. Attempting to discredit them . Every attempt to post it here has resulted in it disappearing . So far four or five times it does not appear something troubling is going on indeed
Could just be a problem in your locality Bob. I’ve just went to that site and it’s working fine for me
is it this forum post by any chance?
http://dwpexamination.org/forum/general-discussion/are-black-triangle-an-extremist-group/page-10/
Scrub that first link, it’s about half way in to the debate. The link below takes you to page 1
http://dwpexamination.org/forum/general-discussion/are-black-triangle-an-extremist-group/
Yes well done and thank you very much for that. What is going on ? It looks serious . Maybe copy and post the comment . if this is black ops it shows how low atos sink to.
What you make of IDS shares in Nlyte software ? I think its related to monster jobs
Nothing would surprise me about what pies Iain Duncan Shite has his finger in. As it could be considered insider dealing it could be worth following up. It’s all wheels within wheels, and all sorts of funny business goes on with front companies, ghost companies etc
I haven’t read the thread yet, but I most certainly shall, as well as the comment – and I will post it here later.
Which comment are you referring to exactly Bob, there seems to be a heck of a lot of flak flying around on that site.
I can’t find anything on the Nlyte website that would indicate that they have any involvement with Monster, and it wouldn’t necessarily be anything sinister if they did, as they seem to be in the business of producing server management software, so that could be the only connection. But who knows what’s going on.
I think the appeal of Monster is that they were probably the lowest bidder for the tender, and the only way they could ensure they won the tender would be by selling a turkey – which we know they have. The fact that the DWP has put a nice shiny interface on the thing still doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s crap and not fit for purpose – it’s only real merit is that it was cheap. Monster saw them coming!
The crazy thing is that the old Directgov site worked far more efficiently. It wasn’t pretty, but who needs pretty for goodness sakes? Functional and efficient is what is needed. But it was probably expensive to run, as it was the DWPs own baby, the backend of which was the system used in Jobcentres for locating jobs and running the jobpoints.
It’s an old trick to try and cast a group out for justice as ‘extremist’ if they don’t agree with the government. It’s an emotive word designed to scare the living daylights out of the likes of your average Daily Mail reader.
I’ve quite often been described as an ‘extremist’ or a ‘fanatic’ for wanting to speak my own language in my own country: so disability campaigners agitating to be treated with simple human dignity are bound to be extremists, aren’t they? Wear the label with pride, parody the mentality of those calling the organisation extremist, it can be a whole lot of fun seeing the absurdity of it dawn on the faces of the uninvolved, or better, those half convinced and is a great way of winning allies.
It says far more about the sense of paranoia of those making the claims of extremism than it ever does of those accused of extremism. The term is usually used as a euphemism for terrorist, but those using it have tumbled to it that claiming a group like Black Triangle were terrorist might not have that neccessary ring of authenticity, or, crucially, credibility.
Black Triangle are most definitely also ‘subversive’, but that too is absurd. It may seem totally crazy, but in the early 80s the Special Branch even considered the Woodcraft Folk subversive: they’re a kind of non-miltaristic tree-hugging version of the Boy Scouts/Girl Guides. Perhaps a little to much on the tree-hugging side for me, but subversive? You gotta be kidding!
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“When I feed the people I am a saint, when I ask why they are hungry I am a communist”, the same quote could be applied to housing or clothing etc.This right wing government just does not want any opposition and are trying to shift the blame for deaths onto the left wing.
Why not generate thousands of profiles on universal job match and swamp every employer with fake applications. It would rapidly become unusable for employers.
Brilliant post Johhny. I made the same points to my JCP’adviser’ just before Christmas, trying in vain to elicit some sort of solidarity by also pointing out that the DWP were destroying her terms and conditions, cutting her pay and paving the way for JCP privatization yet could still find £20m to waste on an dangerously insecure website that must have cost no more that a few thousand to put together. She ‘thanked’ me for the feedback.
A friend of mine who builds relational databases reckons UJ wouldn’t have cost more that £10,000 – any other professionals out there able to estimate what the crock of shit might have cost? It would be interesting to get a ballpark figue to compare with the £20m spent – if we had a proper investiagtive presss they could expose this expensive disaster for what it is.
Probably a bit more than £10,000, but not £20 million……. or even £2 million.
What about the Data Protection Act 1998? How can a Jobseeker’s Direction force anybody to upload a CV to Universal Jobmatch for processing without consent? Or will the Jobcentre just say something along the lines of, “Well, you don’t have to upload a CV if you don’t want to but if you don’t consent to submit this data to Universal Jobmatch we’ll take away your income.” I’m not sure how this would play out in the courts. It doesn’t seem right to me that the DWP can coerce a citizen to upload data to Universal Jobmatch when the Data Protection Act 1998 states that such sharing of data can only happen with the consent of the data’s owner. How can it be right that the DWP can compel citizens to waive protections given to them by the Data Protection Act by threatening them with destitution?
How indeed? It seems that the DWP have been giving some serious consideration to the same question. They have replied to FOI requests (eventually) asking the same question, with variations of this explanation:-
“It is not currently mandatory for jobseekers to use the Universal Jobmatch service but it has always been our intention to mandate some JSA claimants to register with Universal Jobmatch and upload a CV so that they can make full use of the service.
We intend to require those claimants to do this under a Jobseeker’s Direction, when some changes have been made to the service to fully support this. Jobseeker’s Directions require Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants to take specific actions which will help them find work, and failure to do so without good reason may result in a benefit sanction.”
They “intend” exactly to inform claimants that they will take away their income if they “don’t comply” once they have made “some changes to the service to fully support this”. So, there must a way of using ‘not doing everything reasonable to find work’ to trump ‘individual’s right to privacy’ despite the Data Protection Act (a loophole? Change to legislation? rewording??) … Plenty of people are questioning this with FOIs and the same people will question these responses as they sound nonsensical – but are the ‘official’ line (this week) ….
I’m cool and the gang with looking for work it’s the way Universal Jobmatch surveils online activities and seems to have been deliberately booby trapped to encourage people to incriminate themselves, e.g., refusing to apply for a job that is too far away, and end up stripped of benefit that worries me. Even criminals have a right to remain silent! Why does the job seeking activities of innocent citizens have to be observed remotely by DWP staff unless it is to trip people up and catch them out and sanction them? It’s like something straight out of a Franz Kafka novel!
@Jim – Thanks for your reply. (Like most people who want to find sustainable work) I have no objections to needing to look for work in order to find it. I do object to the increasing erosion of basic freedoms, though. However the ideology is dressed up and administered, current policy towards the unemployed is vindictive bullying (& only that). The evidence points to the persons who are most regularly being targeted for ‘sanction doubts’ – far from being the ‘worst offenders’ (there’s no such category as far as I’m concerned but the JCP prefer this term) – being those who are less able and least likely to defend themselves; perhaps appeal. (At least in the first instance). Clearly the tactic is being used at will and across all claimants wherever the opportunity arises.
Kafka’s didn’t write ‘The Trial’ and other stories (have read just two of his books/couldn’t face reading more at present) for future use as a reference/guidebook (I wonder what he would think). What’s occurring now is that responsibility for job-hunting has been taken away from individuals (despite the constantly-repeated, false sound bites used in all JCP literature and quoted verbatim by ‘personal advisers’). It has now been embedded into a set of conditions which must be ‘complied with’ religiously, in order to ‘qualify’ for receipt of benefit. One ‘slip’ and money to live on could be withheld (in a cruel game of ‘wait & see’). Never mind that the bus missed, a family member, or you yourself were ill – no excuses stand – money will be deducted. Claimants are ‘allowed’ to be sick (unable to complete job searching duties/attend JCP) twice in a 12 month period (for a length of time not necessitating a fit note – but should the time extend the requirement changes to “sign off from JSA and claim ESA” instead). People might not at first realise this, until a time when they are too ill to attend the job centre/complete requirements. It could be in the small print somewhere – I don’t recall seeing it as part of the T&Cs (on which JCPs like to rely) – it’s sure to be in there somewhere.
UJ has to be seen in this wider context. Claimants are being treated as though they are criminals – by default – and not by a system that is trying to treat them ‘fairly’ – by one that wants to trip them up, removing their basic level of income where possible. Recently IDS talked about building ‘trip wires’ into the system. He’s quite open about it as he firmly believes that (Class of scroungers 2012-13) are all guilty until we prove ourselves innocent …. which of course, we could only do by finding work and/or by ‘handing over our souls’ in the meantime to our JCP adviser who we know, if we are honest, ‘has only our best interests’ at heart.
The whole thing seems inherently wrong to me and reminds me of the Catholic Church’s notions as per sins of commission (doing something wrong) and sins of omission (not doing something right).
IDS is supposed to be a committed Christian isn’t he?
Or should that be a Christian that should be committed?
Once upon a time claimants only got punished for doing something wrong, e.g., falsifying details on a form, whereas these days not only can you be sanctioned for doing “something wrong” like this but can also for failing to do enough “right things” to satisfy junior Jobcentre clerks! Clerical staff like this have been given impossible targets to meet by the DWP and some of them, out of frustration or panic, are bound to abuse their positions to bully, chivvy, threaten, and covertly sanction unwary claimants unjustifiably. (Philip George Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment showed such a tendency was present in many “normal” people.) Everything about Universal Credit and Universal Jobmatch seems to have been left deliberately nebulous so that claimants never really know what can be mandated to do and what they can refuse to do if they choose to without penalty: Jobseeker’s Agreements are supposed to negotiations whereas in reality they are more like a commands.
Vulnerable, simpler, unsophisticated people will suffer the most under such a regime because they will never be able to keep abreast of the ever changing scenery. How the Liberal Democrats can have supported such an attack on civil liberties and privacy and intrusion of the State into the lives of innocent private citizens is inexplicable.
It’s all very, very wrong.
Jim
This is what confuses me – how can they make you sign up when you quote the DPA? When IDS commented on 20 Dec 2012 was that just more of his lies and threats – not backed and we have all taken it as gospel? I understand the threat of a sanction, having experienced one I know the impact it has on your life, have they actually sanction anyone for not signing up?
They don’t say that most longterm JSA recipients are longterm sick or disabled, or that most sick/disabled people can’t get ESA or DLA.
They don’t say that kicking you off JSA ‘for being sick’, and telling you to apply for ESA, will lead most likely to being refused ESA. Or to be approved for ESA but only in the WRAG. The DWP staff are frequently off sick, on full pay, so you can turn up and find your signing slot cancelled. This often happens at Work Programme.
Yesterday’s paper had a front page with the headline mentioning ‘SKIVERS’ in big letters. Class action suit for libel?!
Basically they are saying that all unemployed and disabled people are benefit skivers and scroungers. If you are a working family you could be on benefits, so this lumps you in with everybody else; and maybe you are not working hard enough? Taking up too much oxygen?
Since Universal CrotchRot doesn’t have a facility for mentioning (on your profile) that you are disabled, the shitsystem sends you jobs you not just ‘can’t do because of not having skills/qualifications/experience etc.’, but jobs that are totally impossible to be done by a disabled person (or by somebody with your disability).
A magazine today had an item criticising a single mother for accepting money in exchange for her baby being used in ?advertising?. Since the jobs for baby stars require babies, and since people under 18 aren’t adults/claimants (and how does a tiny baby ‘manage its finances’ anyway?), she got the money. And she is on benefits. This work is temporary and not guaranteed so payments are a one-off. It says more about the country, that people would rather employ the baby than the mother. If she couldn’t get a job she probably got lucky to be picked for her child to be used. She’d be generating money for the family, which is meant to be the capitalist initiative-taking, entrepreneurial stuff they want us to do. Then whenever we take them at their word and do it, they kick us in the teeth.
They would rather that, instead of making a possibly sensible decision to do something to provide for herself and her baby, she was begging under a bridge. They would prefer it if she put the baby into care and took a job in a callcentre. They’d rather she was a prostitute, because that would fit in with the ideas they have about young single mothers.
Other mums have sold their baby to traffickers (for illegal adoptions), other mums have chucked their kid off the bridge.
Single mother. What they think of is probably a boozing, strung-out junkie, irresponsible, a ‘slapper’, ‘the village bike’. Someone who ‘can’t keep their legs together’. (Would anyone other than a masochist or a moron willingly go through 9 months of pregnancy and give birth, if they didn’t want to do it, to get ‘benefits’ and a mythical ‘council house’?) The family values bunch are saying women should marry the child’s father. Difficult if he is already married or partnered, in jail, or blown up in Afghanistan. Or unknown. Or her rapist/relative. And if alive and single, he could be totally unsuitable. Hence her singleness.
(Local courts incidentally in Afghanistan have a solution to rape and abduction of women and girls: marry them to the rapist.)
If you move in with your partner, no matter how much you love them, financially it’s crap because they instantly cut your benefits. Couples get less than two single individuals. Food in shops doesn’t have a ‘partners price’ and a ‘singles price’. If you’re starving on one person’s dole, you’ll starve even worse on a dole cut for being in a couple.
And if she didn’t love, or even like, her partner? It could have been an accident, when a condom slipped or tore, or she vomited her pill. It could have been rape. Maybe she was raped in her sleep and didn’t know about being pregnant till it was far too late for an abortion. And if she knows the guy but hates him now? Or they broke up? If she thinks he is a bastard? Being away from the father would be the sensible thing to do. Children growing up without a dad (if he’s a git!) are far better off than the millions of kids growing up in two-parent families with a mum and ‘one dad too many’.
With loving heterosexual couples: I don’t think they let JSA dads take time off having to sign on the dole and go to work programme, workfare or job seeking activity. JSA mums can get some time off until the child is a certain age. Working parents get it and dads can claim parental leave now. Aside from dads wanting and needing to look after their kids, they might have to if the mum is disabled or has other needs. JSA dads aren’t being treated as parents. So that creates the concept there’s only one parent, the ‘single mother’ they’re all so ready to jump on and demonise. Just the words ‘single mother’ when they know nothing else about her, are enough to make hundreds of assumptions about her ‘lifestyle’, intelligence, activities, morals, value…
Turn it on its head. Young couple, married. Have a baby. One day a car hits the mum and she dies. Instant single dad. Rather than put the baby in care, he wants to bring it up himself. But society is against it. But not so much actually said against single dads. But in practice a lot less support is given. But we don’t get headlines like:
-The curse of single fathers
-Single dads – a drain on society
-Single dads in benefits shame shock
-Stay-at-home dads and their disgraceful lives
-Immoral lone fathers claim benefits horror!
UJM is so crap, it could order partners (kids or no kids) to take jobs in opposite ends of the country. Or a long way apart. Even if with infinite petrol they managed it, how long could they commute with hardly seeing eachother (in particular on different shifts) before the relationship broke down? Are single parents screwed both ways? Put being a lone parent on their CV, they won’t be hired. Don’t put it, and they can fire you at interview or later for not mentioning it, or offer an impossible job. And if parents going into work can afford childcare, who wants to trust strangers (possibly unskilled and crap- perhaps workfare) to look after their kids?
Another newspaper story today (I think the front page of the Echo?) was about another new scheme from IDS. This one will have private firms, often the same ones in charge of work programme, put in charge of probation service! Their job will partly involve finding criminals and ex-cons jobs. Including workfare compulsory placements at charities. It ‘reassures’ that they won’t send the ‘most’ dangerous criminals to work in charities…. (Duh! How do they know somebody who was originally sent down for theft, fraud, vandalism, or fighting, isn’t also a secret paedophile?) They could send people to inappropriate places. The article called work programme ‘controversial’. I think this is a typo. They mean ‘a jumbo-sized barrel of shite’.
Maybe the paedos can look after the government’s kids and see how they like it then. If you get sent down for nicking things, and get a job where you then get caught for nicking things… do they send you to prison, and you come out and straight away go to nick something, or get another placement to steal from somebody else?
UJM seems to think Ireland is ‘local’.
How can it be right that they can threaten you and do carry out sanctions if you refuse to work for nothing, but they do.
i also printed loads of the do not sign leaflets,just before xmas, as loads of mates were told they had to sign up in the new year, it caused mayhem in our local jobcentre when they all took the leaflets in to show their advisors, and refused to sign up to it, but since then ids has changed the rules, making it compulsery to register for ujm, i will printing the new so do not sign leaflets and handing them out to everyone i know who has to sign on
http://www.24dash.com/news/central_government/2013-01-10-DWP-staff-sacked-for-using-social-media
my heart bleeds for them NOT, hope they get a taste of what they have put the unemployed through, workfare, bullying to sign their data protection rights away, and sanctions, homelessness, this news certainly put a smile on my face today, WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD OF THE UNEMPLOYED.
Went to above site, and read link. The site had a link to the story of the 72 year old landlord who raped the 15 year old girl as her ‘rent’. He’s been found guilty, but they have sentenced him to 4 years? Why not 40?
full apologies to “something survived.” Details in full posted at 9.25 pm. 23.1.13. The comment was supposed to be in reply to Pat who wrote a comment on 10.1.13 at 10.58 am. Tried to reply to Pat but for some reason I am unable to do so. If you or anyone else refers back to Pat’s original comment you will know what I am refering to. Full and sincere Apologies again.
Hi Something survived I have now replied to Pat. xx
Karma went looking for these people and sooner or late got them. xx
Hi PAT. Yes hopefully they will have a taste of what life is really like for the unemployed, they think it is an easy life do they. Karma does not descriminate against anyone and she pays anyone deserving of her a visit eventually, even D.W.P staff. xx
another link to my previous post
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jan/09/eleven-civil-servants-sacked-twitter?INTCMP=SRCH
I’ve read that the JC can track your activity by searching your name/details (the details they already know from your claim) without requiring the actual jobmatch site ID/password.
That is correct Ghost Whistler. DWP/JCP are claiming they can use that information only to check that some one has registered for Universal Jobmatch when the Jobseeker has not clicked option to allow them to view activity data etc on it.
Well They would say that would they not ? 😀
If any one believes they wont slyly behind the scenes look at the Backend Database information of Jobseekers looking for people to target for Sanctions wether they have consent or not they are seriously gulible IMHO.
Only safe thing to do Is DO NOT Register For Universal Jobmatch atall. They cant misuse Data they dont have in first place 😉
What to do? Where to go?
Most of the people that I have read on this blog site know something about history and it’s tendency to repeat if left unchecked. We know the deceit behind the political rhetoric and that there is no party in Westminster that is going to stop the onslaught on the common values of human decency that people here subscribe to in some form or other. The Labour party seems beyond redemption. It wasn’t just the Conservatives who were laughing and joking during the vote on welfare capping this week, the Labour front bench was at it as well during their mock Punch and Judy show for TV consumption. The Liberal party is simply beneath contempt. The BBC Daily Politics show that was supposed to report on the vote was also animated by the spirit of laughter.
The laughter will stop but I for one do not wish it done through violence. The London set, which now includes most politicians and the media, are totally out of touch with the storm that is brewing. It reminds me of the bunker scene in Berlin. When they knew the end was coming they choose to have a party and laughed the night away. As the old Jewish sage wrote “Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die”.
I remember the poll tax demo’s and how Thatcher was brought down in their wake. I remember the huge demo’s against Blair and Bush’s war on Iraq didn’t change anything. This time around the assault on the poor is taking place throughout Europe.
Well meaning people with good hearts think that recalling the horrors of the 1930’s and the rise of the Nazi’s is a form of extremism and counter-productive. Yet there were similar voices in the early 1930’s who saw the writing on the wall (literally) that sought to scapegoat elements of society and to highlight the cost of care for the disabled. They shouted loudly about the dangers but they were not believed, not even by the future victims. The present government put up bill-boards during the welfare capping debate doing exactly what the Nazi’s did before them. They think the average person is stupid and can be manipulated by crude slogans. Shakespeare had a good handle on mob psychology. He didn’t like them.
It takes articulate people who can lead, educated people who have a heart as once populated the Labour Party in this country.
Who are they? Where are they?
It must be so much easier to treat the whole thing as a joke (George Osborne could hardly contain himself) and to join in with the ‘game’ (Ed Balls & friends) in their workplace than it would be if the debate were being held at ‘ground level’. They are all really well-paid and can choose what to have for their tea when they get home (and what to drink with it) and so even where they are passionate about the ‘lives of others’ (some on the supposed left did sound genuinely appalled and passionate) – it’s not their own lives and the ‘sparring’ is all part of the ‘theatrical spectacle’. I completely agree that watching the televised ‘debate’ is just like MPs pouring rock salt into open wounds.
Universal Jobmatch is clearly designed to drive as many people off benefits as possible. The ruling elite fascists and their political lackeys, have convinced themselves that the welfare state has ‘spoiled’ us and made us ‘soft’ and ‘dependent’ which has made the population weak and feeble.
They believe that if they abolish the safety net, having to fend for ourselves’ (avoid starvation) will force us to become more hardworking and more resourceful. which will be humanitarian, because it will save us from our lives of sloth and dependence. They believe that once all the weak people have been sifted out and all the ‘deadwood’ has been cleared away, we will be strong enough to ‘compete’ with the rest of the world.
That is how these people justify their pathological greed, sadism and selfishness to themselves. They genuinely believe that the poor have to be sacrificed in order to ensure the country’s future prosperity, just like ancient peoples believed that it was necessary to make human sacrifices to the gods to ensure that the crops grow. They have convinced themselves that eliminating the welfare state is necessary ‘for the greater good’.
Pingback: Are jobcentres bullying claimants illegally? | Cautiously pessimistic
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/10/no_pre_ticking_eu/
makes for v interesting reading.
(1) You can search for jobs without logging into any account
(2) You do not have to apply for any jobs only on it
(3) It is not mandatory to register*
(4) Jobcentre instructed not to issue sanctions relating to it
(5) You can block all web tracking cookies and it will not function**
http://consent.me.uk/universaljobmatch/critica/
They are supposed to be in the media via investigative journalism challenging government policy and the public bodies that are following their orders like sheep – all they are interested in is repeating the insulting mantra’s all three political parties find hilarious.
I have never seen such cowardice and bullying from the establishment, from mad medics who are dictating everyone’s lifestyle from what they call a beneficial point of view, yet not a dickybird from them when the sick and disabled’s lifestyle is threatened by austere government policies,( it’s written into their contracts to keep schtum), to the queen that gives out awards to charities, that are clothing more than a third of the 7th richest countries children and adults in second hand clothes.
The housing debacle could be the straw that breaks the camels back, if it ever sees the light of day in the media – the sanctioning of benefits never did.
I think it would have blown up a long time ago had not the interests rates been been kept low by the BOE and “quantative easing”. The bond market is effectively rigged at present. If interests rates were not being manipulated mortgage payments couldn’t be met and those who are currently mouthing off about skivers would find themselves in the same boat. The government has to do everything to stop this happening because they know it’s a house of cards they have built.
I wonders why IDS had staked so much in UJM .usually these creeps have some financial interest going in it . I did a combi Nlyte and monster Google search and few sites came up with both key words . Why has he got sh
What the fuck is up with this void site posts go missing words disappear its messed up . I was wondering why ids had shares in that software company why do that ? I see he hates gays and supports fox hunting that makes him a psychopath on my book
IDS Has A (Wet) Dream
Of a land where if fox hunting is not allowed, gay hunting is. Replace the fox with gays and lesbians. Chase them across fields to be ripped apart by dogs.
———————————————-
Then IDS woke up. It had all been a dream. Oh dear.
He called for someone to wash the sheets, that were now stuck together.
couldn’t agree with you more John, also mortgage relief is not cut as far as I am aware for extra bedrooms either, like that of the housing benefit to those in the rented sector.
It wouldn’t surprise me if what you write is correct. People like me in council homes are skivers so why should I be subsidised unlike strivers who want their own castle.
Reblogged this on Launchpad: By and for mental health service users.
Sorry Alisdair Cameron I’m with the scientologists theory on psychiatry, it is being used to defame and institutionalize people.
It’s funny whenever I criticize right wing ideology such as home ownership, up pops references to mental illness or some other derogatory sites. I used to own my own home then got divorced, my parents own their own home and my mother who is doubly incontinent sees not only her savings but part of the home she owns with my father being ravaged thanks to the increase in care from£ 35,000 to £75,000. My father actually has my sister and her partner living with them at the moment because they cannot afford a rented property.
I think that baker guy in that forum is a stooge as he says there is no problem about ticking the box he is almost telling people they have a duty to tick the box.
Ok i was wondering why dpac were being monitored under the heading security and that. Info sold onto businesses.
Fact is we shouldn’t have to tick the box and under the law we don’t have to. We have every right under the LAW as everyone else, yet we have the fascists in power trying to seperate the unemployed from humanity like the nazis did with the jew, gypsies etc. Thing is, if this tricked worked before, then why are there not more people seeing the same method that Hitler and his gang used? I guess making the Unemployed/Disabled etc appear less human makes it easier for others to either agree with the propaganda or just go about their won business witht he attitude of it being “not their problem”
Does NCDE share intelligence or information with industry?NCDE deals with two types of information, or intelligence. The first is police intelligence, supplied by police forces, which is analysed by NPOIU to identify common incidents, tactics and people committing offences across the country.
This information is then fed back to the police forces concerned, to allow them to see the bigger, national picture and join up their investigations, if appropriate.
The second type of information is ‘open source’ information, gathered from public websites and the mainstream media. This is collated by NETCU and has two purposes.
Because domestic extremists don’t work within police force boundaries, NETCU collates information about up and coming events and protests, from public websites and gives it to the police force, or forces concerned, so they can plan their resources accordingly. NETCU also provides tactical advice and guidance in order to promote a coordinated and consistent approach to tackling domestic extremism.
Acting as a crime prevention unit, NETCU also supports industry, academia and other organisations that have been or could be targeted by extremists. They collate open source information to provide a bigger picture of the issue, as well as providing security advice, risk assessments and information that can help minimise disruption, disorder and criminality if there is a protest and help them keep their employees safe.
John
unemployed mortgagees, or state robbers like our chancellor, want to own their own castle but want it paid at the tax payers expense.
p.s. Since when did having a mortgage make you a striver , I thought it made you a debtor adding to the national debt?
To those who are planning to spread the message on UJ outside job centres, here is a document you might consider arming yourself with, as it puts in to sharp relief just what exactly an advisor is able to do:
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatdotheyknow.com%2Frequest%2F138593%2Fresponse%2F336508%2Fattach%2F15%2FDesk%2520Aid%25205.pdf&session_token=qoCTRXCJ3OQiXguxDRiipONyCPV8MTM1NzkxNzI1NEAxMzU3ODMwODU0
To get co-ordinated in efforts, a shareable, weekly spreadsheet rota is available to add dates by contacting nouniversaljobmatch (at) yahoo (dot) uk
Up-to-date info. is kept running and warning videos available for sharing at the nouniversaljobmatch youtube channel.
Posters for UJM now up at our local JCP but no one is being told they have to sign up or else, YET!
I signed on Tuesday with a Personal Advisor interview. When I was waiting I listened in to their conversations. They were talking about ‘customers’ (what a joke) accounts being bombarded with jobs from all over the country and how useless the site is. Then some poor chap came in stating that he had been sanctioned over Xmas and that he was ill (German Measles) he had been in contact with the Salvation Army who had provided him with food parcels. He was disgruntled as you can imagine that they had cancelled his appointment and he was refusing to go away stating that his Sanction was spent and that he needed the money now owed to him to feed his family. It is a disgrace that people have to put up with this shit. The joke is being referred to as Customers – well as a Customer I think their Customer Service is appalling . I thought the Customer was always right? And that they are protected by rights.
When I signed on I stated that I was not prepared to apply directly for jobs on the website. I told him that I had applied for jobs directly to the employer. He seemed OK with that and I showed him my evidence diary. Also due to a dispute with them I had a letter from the JCP Manager to remove from my JS Agreement the reference to the Universal Jobmatch site. I did not need to produce this. Then he went on to mention the Work Programme as I have been signing on for 1 year. I then asked him how would the WP benefit me and he said that it was mandatory. He explained a bit about the WP and I asked him do they get paid for this? I have been working for 1 day since October and it covers my JSA (my hours may be increased soon) so basically since then I have been signing on for my National Insurance credits. I then informed him that I thought that the WP would be a waste of my time and efforts and that I would be signing off. He did tell me that if I signed off for one month that I could sign back on and that the referral to the WP would then be dated to one year from that date of signing on again. Not sure if this is true. So if it is true and you take a shitty job from an Agency for one month then the WP can be avoided ? However, I think I read somewhere that they can refer you from day 1 of signing on.
@Guy Fawkes (1.27 post). Er,where on earth do you get the idea I back psychiatrists? Launchpad is a user/survivor group,and many,if not most of our members have had a raw deal from MH services. And as bad a deal ,if not worse,from the fucking DWP.
Alisdair Cameron
The fact that your name ‘launchpad’ has a hospital address and nothing else relating to what your organisation is or does on the link you claim to be your website, the fact that it cannot be found in direct enquiries other than references to the same name launchpad listed as an estate agents or market research company, leaves me a little suspicious as to what your aims and objectives are and who is funding you and why. So swear all you want, i will reserve my judgement for the moment.
Let me allay your suspicions, Mr Fawkes (and rest assured too, that, as you’ll see if you re-read it, my earlier swearing was at the DWP, and by extension IDS, not you). Holy Jesus Hospital where we are based 9and a photo of which is in the site masthead) is not a medical hospital, but a National Trust building, a former alms house (hence the hospital name) in which we and other community organisations and charities are tenants.
And I’m very puzzled as to your assertion that there is “nothing else relating to what your organisation is or does” on the website: okay it’s only a wordpre hosted site, because we operate on a shoestring, but all the info is there on http://www.launchpadncl.org.uk, and you navigate using the bits at the top, much the same as this site. We’re reasonably well known in Newcastle,and do rather a lot of campaigning and I was one of the speakers at the Hardest Hit rally that drew well over 1,000 people to Grey’s Monument.
Thankyou alisdair cameron, for some reason my computer was not loading the info to the first link you posted, have glanced through your new link and noticed that network business is supporting your organisation/charity. I am not going to question the reason for your existence given that their are national organisations like ‘mind’, it just seems that charities are springing up everywhere to replace statutory bodies, such as solicitors to deal with tribunals for claimants who have had their benefits or pips stopped, the same said tribunals are asking for 1 disabled claimant to sit on a 3 person panel to ascertain whether these benefits are restored, giving the illusion there is fairness on such panels – there isn’t and it is shown in the mental health tribunals themselves which are a 3 person, panel one of which is supposed to be independent but is outvoted by the other two that are not. Sorry to be so circumspect but when you consider that some people are being diagnosed as being mentally ill for nothing more than the fact that they are poverty stricken by sanctions or cuts to benefits is deplorable. Only today on the daily politics, an Aberdeen councilor Barney Crockett has called for beggars to be removed from their streets, whereas another councilor said they should be looking as to the basis for their begging and where are the charities, not where is the government, he said some were begging because they were mentally ill – NO- people beg because they are poor, why should mental illness be a separate factor from why others are begging? I would like to see the restoration of real justice and resent charities replacing statutory bodies.
Guy,I fully agree about corporatised charities and the ‘outsourcing’ to the ‘third sector’ (a horrible Blairite term to use charities as a Trojan horse for the private sector). What I’m encountering more often is the reverse of what you describe with people being denied benefits as their problems are dismissed by atos et al (look at this:http://www.katebelgrave.com/2013/01/these-people-are-not-shirkers/ for some of what we’re doing against atos.)
I do actually have many,many concerns and reservations about MH diagnosis,diagnoses and labels, and inveigh regularly against the pathologisation/medicalisation of life, but I consider that to be a slightly different issue to disability denial so as to stop someone’s benefits
Any links to 35 hours a week april ?
At a job agency we were made to sit at a screen all day looking for work years back then they reduced it to one day a week.
What if i don’t have electricity to waste on 35 hour job search.
Im surprised annon havent taken the site down for lolz
alisdair
Your right, outsourcing to atos which I do not consider to be legitimate medical assessments although sanctioned by government, is an absolute scandal for those that have been deemed fit when they are by their own and their doctor’s/consultants admission ill, and the deaths that has resulted from these judgements when their benefits have been withdrawn.
Quite,and there’s the rub, once someone at some point has attributed your difficulties to being mental health:The catch 22 of benefit reform
Support is meant to assist you to leave the house, engage with people and make your life as normal as possible.
If you use the support as it is intended, which in turn helps you to stay well enough to avoid costly episodes and hospitalisation, you are then considered ineligible for the support, leaving you vulnerable to relapse, further hospitalisation and incidentally vastly increased cost to the taxpayer (if that is your main concern), and massively increased likelihood of death.
Alisdair
Although I agree with the premiss of your argument, I don’t always agree that money can buy you your health and well being either, but transport costs help if you need something other than public transport to get around and ofcourse housing and housekeeping costs need to be met to keep people cared for and secure as opposed to mentally well.
Not wanting to leave the house does not equate with mental illness nor the need to be hospitalised or medicated, some people are by nature reclusive, but can also be productive from home if they are a writer, have a computer or a phone, some script writers had their best ideas and wrote scripts from bed, so what is considered normal? if you listen to psychiatry nothing, even raising your voice in anger is a natural reaction but not to the psychiatrist, writing poems I was told was not normal??? all of which is fueling a massive drugs bill for the nhs just like in America, and the hospitalisation of some deemed mentally ill is a method used to shut up anyone who is opposing their cuts or sanctions if they cannot criminalize you first.
I largely agree, which is why I used the formulation “once someone at some point has attributed your difficulties to being mental health”, that is to say, once you’ve been put into the system. What psychiatry has done too ofetn (besides the blatant abuses in states where it’s been complicit in suppressing dissent) is basically shrink the range of what is considered “normal” beyond reason and thereby ascribed abnormality to functional,rational,productive people.
(should have added though that by saying productive I don’t mean narrow, IDS-style economic productivity/being a drone.One can be socially,artistically,emotionally etc productive. And it’s not the be-all and end-all either,anyhow)
suppression of those that are calling for justice for the issues they are angry about either results in riots or in some states of America gun massacres. We need a more fair, open, yet regulated government and public bodies, something sadly lacking at the moment.
cannot believe what i have just read in the torymail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2260277/MPs-demand-32-pay-increase-week-capped-benefits-rises-1.html
I wonder where they get the idea that the “Average incomes in the UK are £26,500” Most jobs I see are between £12,000 and £15,000.
O,K,. Gang! I have left the niggling doubt about the legality of jobmatch snooping cookies on the back burner, and after several ‘rested’ (ya know the crack) seasonal
nights, here is my conclusion;
They are demanding you give up your rights enshrined in the european human rights act regarding privacy, and the right to keep it.
(Its a rite)
If you do not give up this right, you will be subject to different and therefore unfair treatment(and i do QUOTE I.D.S. ;’if I was an advisor, I would have THAT GUY in 5 days a week etc etc) Otherwise recognised ALL OVER and THROUGH the euro constitution as
“VICTIMIZATION”;
( Collins eng. dic;’To punish or discriminate against, selectively or unfairly)
, so there you have it.
These dicks wont let us leave Europe, so smack em in the chops with it.
If your advisor threatens you with sanctions, pull out a piece of paper and tell him/her to write down they’re demands,and what the punishment will be for non compliance.
Personally, I am going to buy a cheap voice recorder for this occasion.
to which event
They will probably terminate the interview on the grounds it breaches there rites and you are acting unreasonably, which is legally and obviously not the case,but it will serve as notice it will come from every claiment so watch your arse legally Mr/Ms advisor.
IDS’s little tantrum on T.V. has left him WIDE OPEN for a class action suit re victimization. Most unprofessional _
Before long DWP will supply you with generic CV which will read
Dear Sir I am a man and also woman who is young and middle aged I am white but I can adapt to being acknowledgments if it helps
Even ithough I have few skills i am willing to work at anything 24/7 in fact even when I am asleep I will dream about working . I am suing to work for nothing in fact I will pay the employer to let me work for them and to show the kind of non scrounger i am I am refusing benefits . I do not need money its the joy of helping companies I. Like . Had mpney been offered I would only waste it on food which takes up valuable work time consuming it. I am willing to work even after death
Ya musta been there, but I dont remember ya face from calor gas.
Was you a shunt driver or summat? Most o them guys actually got close to retirement tha knows! Kept out the snow an all that, lucky gits_
Ah,yes. Heady days indeed..
Its all coming back now_
20 tons per hour of gas bottles per man stacked 3 high on a 60 foot trailer for minimum wage in the snow, . Worked out at half a PEE per 100 lb cannister. £4 per hour!
Oh, how we laughed at the steam rising off us,
and cheating on the pinball table on fridays by lifting it up and putting
our steel toe caps underneath its feet! So, its fucked my foot, my knee, my hip but it was good fun, eh?
I never saw a ‘member’ of parliament turn in for a shift tho.
Strange, that. It was a good wheeze!
Any word yet if the Work Programme providers are going to be forcing ppl onto Universal Jobmatch too?
Work programme providers will obviously Not have access to any confidential info stored on jobmatch. So your answer is no.
Cheers I understand that WP cannot have access to your UJ account, but I was wondering if they could maybe give you a Mandatory Notice to register for it? I am trying to help a friend of mine who’s on the WP as he was told by the WP agent that he would have to sign up.
I don’t see how as it’s not yet mandatory – (or … is it .. ?).
DWP haven’t as yet explained the “changes to the service” that could allow them to override the Data Protection Act & allow them to mandate (“some”) people to register. Think it’s just bullying & relying on the pressure of having to find ways to politely say “no thanks – my reasons are ….”. This is just my understanding & I haven’t (yet) had any involvement with the WP – & nothing would surprise me. If I’ve understood Freedom Of Information requests/replies correctly, there’s no mandate available that has yet been explained (for ticking the consent to access box /even just for registering) – it’s getting hard to keep up without a law degree though, with so perhaps ask around as much as you can ….
Just returned from JCP where a very friendly and chatty adviser was deep in conversation with an unsuspecting claimant – couldn’t access the UJ account he had opened so was explaining how to go home & tick the box that will allow the access. The guy said he wasn’t too PC literate & his other half had signed him up but he would go home & get them to tick the box ….
It’s hard to let people know what they’re up against without a handy stack of leaflets (& I didn’t have anything like that) – & when they believe they’re being ‘helped’. The whole discussion otherwise was about how rubbish the site was & the jobs were millions of miles away/all required driving licence …. Adviser just agreeing & saying “hmm – it has been a bit like that this week …”
I don’t see how as it’s not yet mandatory – (?).
DWP haven’t as yet explained the “changes to the service” that could allow them to override the Data Protection Act & allow them to mandate (“some”) people to register. Think it’s just bullying & relying on the pressure of having to find ways to politely say “no thanks – my reasons are ….”. This is just my understanding & I haven’t (yet) had any involvement with the WP – & nothing would surprise me. If I’ve understood Freedom Of Information requests/replies correctly, there’s no mandate available that has yet been explained (for ticking the consent to access box /even just for registering) – it’s getting hard to keep up without a law degree though, so perhaps ask around as much as you can ….
Just returned from JCP where a very friendly and chatty adviser was deep in conversation with an unsuspecting claimant while I was waiting. He couldn’t access the claimant’s UJ account he had opened so was explaining how to go home & tick the box that will allow them access. The guy said he wasn’t too PC literate & his other half had signed him up but he would go home & get them to tick the box ….
It’s hard to let people know what they’re up against without a handy stack of leaflets (& I didn’t have anything like that) – & when they believe they’re being ‘helped’. The rest of their discussion otherwise was about how rubbish the site was & that jobs being recommended were millions of miles away/all required driving licence …. Adviser just agreeing & saying “hmm – it has been a bit like that this week …”
sorry – posted this twice.
Just watched questionable time and as usual we get the debate for public consumption after the bill has been passed and most are in agreement that it was wrong. How come they can’t see that when they come to vote?
I want to know where the 1 million private sector job vacancies are that nadine doris (dorries) was going on about?
They are not on UJ.
Because, Like I told yer last nite, you all vote for parties.
They have been swapping sides of house for donkeys.
It doesnt matter WHICH bunch of aunts are in power.
Remember the three words from the X files?
Google em.
These shits are there for the wedge.
They giveth fuck not about your Ant esq probs, as the bar is open.
The full ton needs to be spent by monday or its lost.
Kapeesh?
I live mst of my lfe in screaming silence; I will die therein, too.
I’ve just written an article on Universal JobMatch, and would very much appreciate your views. In particular, I’d like to identify who is in charge of the project.
http://ayeright.com/2013/01/universal-jobmatch-worst-job-board-launch-ever/
dzwasp
They probably are there under the heading CHARITIES work for nothing.
I should also point out that very few of the advertised vacancies can be applied for directly via the site. Instead a candidate has the option of calling a number, using the email address supplied of clicking through to the originating job board, from where the advert was imported. None of these actions can be recorded by the Universal JobMatch website, and there fore render any monitoring impossible.
@ Stephen
I’m using a public library which is blocking your site with the following warning:
“Virus or bad content detected. Sanesecurity.Malware.14565.UNOFFICIAL”
Still have their snouts in the trough..http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/mps-spark-fury-by-asking-for-20k-1528884
the advisers are using soft arm techniques, saying it will be mandatory so you might as well sign up now and get used to it.
can anyone tell me why we are even bothering to voice any objections to the free for all, snouts in the trough political class, or for that matter their
psychotic policies?
I’m sure there are decent folk in Westminster but it’s no longer the place for a person with a vocation to serve the public but rather just another career for a hireling who wants a very good living and doesn’t worry too much about ethics and hypocrisy. How many, who were motivated with the notions of genuine civic service, could even make onto the party poltical greasy pole these days? Even if they started out with some ideals they would get out soon or by slow degrees become corrupt. Greshams Law works in this sphere as well.
Sarah Teather has spoken up against what she believes to be unsupportable (the looming homelessness crisis). She stuck her neck out and voted ‘no’ – but she is a tiny minority.
I suppose that is why Lord Strathclyde and Lord marland have left politics to go into the private sector – now is that good money or bad money? whatever it is when it comes to politics the poor get hobsons choice.
There is so much to look forward to for those in the buy to let bonanza according to the tonight programme ‘generation rent’, especially as rent gazumping has replaced mortgage gazumping in the stagnant property market. Social housing is reliant on selling some of it’s stock before the government will even consider building a one for one house for social housing renters, now is all of this parasitical money go round, good money or bad money?
THe sell off of council house is to me the biggest single change that has affected society post WWII. The grocers daughter reckoned that the windfall to ordinary folk was a price worth paying in order to capture their “souls” and that society would now be based on the greed model. There is a tendency for bad folk drive out good folk in any kind of community, business, politics, charities etc and they tend to predominate in groups in which wealth is considered the reason for existence imo.
I find this an interesting reply to an FOI
“In response to the question you raise above we are aware that a small number of claimants may already have received a Jobseeker’s Direction in relation to Universal Jobmatch. However the use of Universal Jobmatch is currently voluntary and you can choose whether or not to create a profile and CV within Universal Jobmatch without a benefit sanction being imposed. If you do not wish to follow the direction or if you have already followed the direction but do not want to continue using the service please mention this at your next appointment with Jobcentre Plus. ”
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/139741/response/348938/attach/html/3/4675%20response%20pdf.pdf.html
”If you do not wish to follow the direction or if you have already followed the direction but do not want to continue using the service please mention this at your next appointment with Jobcentre Plus.” …
Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally concrete proof in black and white, straight from the horses mouth, that what i was telling people on here and other forums over and over again till i was blue in the face is the truth.
So i’m going to say it once again for old times sake……
FELLOW JOBSEEKERS:…IF YOU ARE GIVEN A JOBSEEKERS DIRECTION BY YOUR ADVISER TO FOLLOW A CERTAIN INSTRUCTION, – IF THAT INSTRUCTION CONFLICTS WITH YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT AND YOU CAN NOT BE PENALIZED FOR NOT DOING IT! IT IS YOUR RIGHT UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT TO REFUSE UNIVERSAL JOBMATCH.
Also, as for the latest verbal diarrhea from the DWP that it will become mandatory later in the year and that ”some” people will be given a direction to register – well that is also pure bluster and horseshit! All law under common law must be applied equally, so the DWP WILL NOT be able to mandate ”some” claimants to register and not others. Trust me on this, that nutcase Duncan Smith is talking out of his fat sweaty arse. The man is completely deranged and is losing his grip on reality. Unless/until the Data Protection Act is scrapped, you 100% do not have to register.
It’s felt like i’ve been banging my head against a brick wall trying to get this through to people but some just don’t seem to get it, or think they don’t have any legal rights or that a jobseekers direction is gospel and can never be questioned – WRONG!!
Thanks for the link Jeff – I have printed the FOI letter off and put it in my arsenel of growing letters of proof that Universal Jobmatch is not mandatory to show to the Jobcentre and Work Programme Provider.
john
I thought she sold off council housing to alleviate the taxpayer of funding council housing at a loss – but I disagree that those who bought their council houses were necessarily greedy either, as they could not afford to get on the private housing ladder, but that is where those in private housing want everyone to stay in the class they were born to, which for some of us now will be the gutter thanks to new tory policies.
Thatcher was an ideologue and the selling of council houses at massive discount was her way of bribing people to adopt her economic model. Council housing was one of her big assaults on “society” a thing she didn’t believe existed. The individual was now paramount and they were free to screw their neighbour by eschewing communitarian policies. Selfishness was in. That is was what “free” market economics is about.
Can you remember what the MIRAS rate was in 1979 when she announced the sale of council homes and the cost involved? I would like to compare this with the claimed figure for council house subsidies. Not that the value of such housing should me measured purely in money terms. There are diffrent forms of wealth and money is just one of them. I remember Oscar’s comment about people “who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” and that just about sums up Thatcherism as we have it today, despite all the platitudes and sound bites about caring etc.
I don’t think people who bought up their council homes were greedy, though no indiviudal is immune to that fault line, but something was lost on the way which seems to becoming a very hard reality for many unfortunate people.
I should add that I once owned my own home but chose, not through economic necessity, to move to a council house in an area where they had trouble giving them away (before immigration wave of the 00’s) and I would like to stay in such housing because it reflects my own community values.
Reblogged this on HUMAN RIGHTS & POLITICAL JOURNAL.
Guy Fawkes:
Britain has to stay in the EU – if we ever leave the EU, Britain’s government will be able to do what they want with people on benefits with no comeback at all.
Obi Wan Kenobi (Guy Fawkes) I thought you may find this link I have found very important via AVVAZ to Amnestay UK. This needs to be shared far and wide before the 13th-14th April 2013 before their AGM. In Solidarity. Keep up the Good fight!! 🙂
Posted January 4, 2013
Created by
Tony M. United Kingdom
To be delivered to:
Amnesty UK
Amnesty UK to protect the human rights of the sick & disabled
5,126 signers. Let’s reach 5,000
We Call on Amnesty UK to fulfil it’s remit and challenge the British Government in a court of Law, to ensure the Protection of the Human Rights of the Sick and Disabled..
Why This Is Imporatant
The sick and disabled are being denied human right by the British Government. On the 13th – 14th April 2013 Amnesty UK will be holding their AGM.
Let’s give them something to talk about.
Let’s give them millions of signatures so they cannot Ignore!!!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Amnesty_UK_to_protect_the_human_rights_of_the_sick_disabled/?fqpRheb&pv=7
Thought you would find this link a vip via AVVAZ to Amnesty UK 🙂 Needs to be shared far and wide before the 13th-14th April before their AGM!! In Solidarity Sister Kitty xx
Posted January 4, 2013
Created by
Tony M. United Kingdom
To be delivered to:
Amnesty UK
Amnesty UK to protect the human rights of the sick & disabled
5,126 signers. Let’s reach 5,000
We Call on Amnesty UK to fulfil it’s remit and challenge the British Government in a court of Law, to ensure the Protection of the Human Rights of the Sick and Disabled..
Why This Is Imporatant
The sick and disabled are being denied human right by the British Government. On the 13th – 14th April 2013 Amnesty UK will be holding their AGM.
Let’s give them something to talk about.
Let’s give them millions of signatures so they cannot Ignore!!!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Amnesty_UK_to_protect_the_human_rights_of_the_sick_disabled/?fqpRheb&pv=7
Thanks for that twinkle, lets see if it works in practice i.e. no sanctions for those that refuse – the dwp thinks it is a law unto itself towards some people and is getting away with it because there is little or no legal representation for them. They are also trying to repatriate laws we gave up to Europe so that they can undermine or get rid of them.
I have a horrible suspicion even though the FOI says no sanctions etc, that information will not have trickled down to staff at the JCP.
Who will still sanction you and then you will have to appeal (get all money back about 3 weeks after the sanction finishes).
The philosopy of the Conservatives is:
That everyone (regardless of being on benefits for whatever reason) should be able to look after themselves through hard work – Thatchers vision – Camerons vision – Well all this is based on the American benefits system – may I remind everyone, ‘Britain is not America and never will be’,
And they keep on missing the major problem – there are not enough jobs to go around.
I see more people are joining the dole q (honda & jessops).
dzwasp:
If your into astronomy as I am, trust me, I was looking in our local Jessops on thursday, they had a really decent reflector telescope with base mount, was around £350 now just under £100 – mega deals – if you have a few bob to spare – I got pretty much the same one with just a slightly bigger mirror on Ebay for £21 inc. P+P from Devon – Super Mega Deal!
When the 35 hours per week jobsearch rule starts in April, I will almost certainly get a sanction for non-compliance. I live in a rural area and I can’t afford a PC. We don’t have an internet café in the village. Our library is only open part-time and you’re only allowed a one hour session per twenty-four hours. The Jobcentre is several miles away and it costs nearly four pounds to get there by bus. On signing days, it is like a commuter train; standing room only. And what’s more, they only have one computer set aside for jobseekers to use. My Work Programme provider’s office is twenty-five miles away. And get this: they’ve got 1300 clients on their books but only twenty-four computers. I will be sanctioned for sure.
Even shit for brains IDS will eventually realise that this part of the scheme is totally unworkable. Apart from being wholly unethical, breaking as it will have to, if it is to be enforced, the right to privacy as granted under the European Human Rights Act will also make it illegal.
The present campaign is one of terrorising the unemployed and those claiming disability benefits, very little of the legislation thus far brought in is actually a legal requirement. No one has to sign up for UJM, and it would take a major change in the law to make it workable, even if suddenly people were obliged to sign up to UJM. It’s highly unlikely that the government would get away with changing the Data Protection Act 1998 as any changes would have to affect everyone equally, and I doubt that the wealthy, well educated or well informed would tolerate any changes that enabled the government to snoop on them, as would be a required change to allow the government to force anyone to allow JCP advisors to snoop on jobsearch activities. No, the government are relying very heavily on using fear and ignorance. Whilst I was waiting to sign on yesterday I overheard one advisor telling a claimant that they had to sign up to UJM or lose their benefits.
I can well understand how it is to not know your rights and feel that you have to sign up to what you’re told. But arming yourself with the right information, and not some hearsay crap your mate has told you can give you a tremendous feeling of confidence, and empower you.
It’s probably true that some kind of software could be written that could oversee that we all did the required 35 hours of jobsearch, but how long would it be before that system was hacked, or until some whizz created an app that did the searches for us? (After all, in order to ‘hit the target’ we’ll have to be e-mailing off our CV for a lot of jobs that we aren’t skilled/experienced/qualified enough to do, and that is seriously where a script could come into it’s own) But it’s my guess that the logistics of the scheme are it’s Achille’s Heel. It’s one thing forcing people into participating in this hairbrained scheme, but completely another setting them up to fail, and I would think that there’ll be quite a lot of dissent over this, even from within the ranks of the Tories themselves. Even if, by some fluke, it was possible to implement this scheme, (and how on earth will it be possible to organise the surveillance of some millions of people, just the unemployed alone account for 2.5 million, (and if we all decided to use their computers, that would probably mean that the government would have to find around 2 million new computers, plus somewhere to put them. BUT, it’s not just those claiming JSA that will be affected, as once UC comes in, those in work, but claiming UC will also be expected to be doing jobsearch, and as the maximum ‘discount’ they will get is 50% will still mean that they have to spend 17.5 hours a week looking for ‘more, or better paid work’.
I think even the Nazty Party would have difficulty in justifying sanctions when it’s the system failing, and not the individual using it, and fail it most assuredly will.
I wouldn’t worry, mate. People on Jobseeker’s are already supposed to be doing 20 hours a week of jobsearch which is pretty much impossible as Jobcentres well know. And how many people get sanctioned? Very few. As long as you do something and apply for a few jobs a week or whatever you’ll be OK. Not one single person will be able to look for work for 35 hours a week, day in and day out, week in and week out. Unless we all have to go to a centre every day and sign-in/sign-out how can anybody possibly have any real idea about how many hours jobseeking you’ve done? It’s all bollocks. Fuck ’em. Stay away from Universal Jobmatch and just do what you’ve been doing. The DWP are just trying scare tactics to put the frighteners on folk. A 35 hour a week jobsearch requirement is unattainable and unenforceable.
Glasgow here again. Small update if anyone’s interested.
I’ve signed on yesterday and there’s been a system error on my meeting time thus I had to wait for 40 minutes. Got some observation time.
All the people got pestered by advisors about feedback on Universal Jobmatch and forced to register if they hadn’t done that. One guy had been sitting there for about an hour as he didn’t take a note of websites he’s had his job applications from (I think he only had Gumtree listed). He had been grilled constantly by his advisor about how could he not use UJM. Gladly no one asked for codes yet.
When it came to me, I had my papers full of sites with all the hours counted up and it was fine but, yes also got asked for feedback. When I said that I had been using the site without logging in and wiping my cookies afterwards because of data scams/errors, I was told that it should be fine by now and the mistakes had been there only in the beginning.
I got back home and went on with the day THEN my mum noticed something odd about my next appointment. It’s this Friday, instead of two weeks later. So, apparently, they had changed it already. I have a DLA tribunal on Friday as well, this is all going to go obviously really smoothly.
Good luck to everyone and remember to hold your ground, list everything and stay the hell away from this vile site 😉 .
This government are making everything reliant on websites, to apply for social housing you have to be put into a band from +1 band(most urgent) to infinity band(no chance)then you bid on properties available to that band.
Nobody appears to have the ability to have access to all the available properties to let in their town it’s all filitered down to your band and the type of property you are not requesting but what you are being forced into due to down sizing. The whole system is ridiculous and manipulative.
Went to the Jobcentre the other day to find out some information about my sanction from the work program that no one seems to Know any thing about ( including me) and while i was there waiting for someone to sort the info out, I was told from my adviser at Jobcentre that the Department for work and pensions have such a huge back log of paperwork from the failed Work Programme that they have had to out source it to another company at your expense! Are they qualified to do this work and is it legal? Just looks like more tax payers money down the drain for the failed governmental funded work Programme!
If I.D.S is demanding that all J.S.A claimants spend 35 hours per week looking for work then I hope he is going to give us the expenses to do this. There is no way that on £71.00 per week I can afford to spend 35 hours a week on internet acsess There is no way in hell I can afford internet access for 35 hours per week. “No matter what anyone says or calls me, or what ever threats the D.W.P or I.D.S make to me that on. I do get C.T.C and C.B but that money is for my child not to pay for internet acsess, It’s not her fault I cannot get work, so she should not suffer, end of argument!. It is no good saying go to your local library as they are shutting down or at cutting their opening hours and you can only spend an hour there anyway using the computers. There are that many people looking for work and needing to use public services that there is no way we can all sit in libraries all day using a computer. That is not people not meeting their job seekers requirements “That’s just life”.
Also there is no way I am ticking any box to be spied on like I am some sort of criminal. By data protection and privacy laws I do not have to and not even I.D.S of D.W.P workers are above the law. xx
what law? there are no laws accessible to the poorest in society since they cut legal aid and I don’t hear any protests from the legal profession regarding this, probably because they have lots of work in the criminal justice system. The fact that there is no recourse to justice for the poor regarding social and welfare is itself criminal.
Well, the WP don’t like me applying for work via UJ, I was unskilled for a job the WP said I could do, the idiot at WP took a hissy fit at me. He told me the I had no chance at an interview I have tommorrow, and that I should apply for this vacancy I could not do. He was really abusive on the phone, saction talk and I am petrified, I have a yound child to support. I am sick with worry and its making me ill. The UJ, tells me to go to jobs 76 miles away, with no transport, or 100 miles away, and on minumum wage I cannot afford the train or bus – what am I meant to do. I want a job, but this is ridiculous.
I should also say that the benefit person I sign on wth told me I was late one day, and should turn up 15 minutes early for interview, that I must have been at home watching Jeremy Kyle cos that is what all unemployed people do, even though I had been @ my severely disable mothers house (injured in a work related accident), and that I should only phone her when I did not have an appointement to go to.
Lone jones
either your lying or the job centre you attend is taking the piss.
No its the utter truth, I am no liar.
Not sure why the WP would get angry over you going for an interview.
As the argument makes no sense at all, how would he/she know how you will get on at an interview?
You should not apply for jobs more then 90 minutes away (usually works out around 20 miles approx).
That is in the JCP guidelines and should be on your JSAG.
The UJ is recommending jobs – if you cannot get there due to outside of the 90 minute rule you do not have to apply for it.
So many jobs on the stupid UJ are way past the 20 mile mark (even if you choose 20 miles).
I was physically shaking by the end of the phone call, it was so bad. It was all about the vacancy he found – he would not listen to the fact I felt I was not skilled for the position that was on offer. Thanks for the information of the UJ and miles.
sounds as though they are not hitting there targets and hence not getting their money for getting someone into work.
If you have all the information to hand and as a print out about the job you are going for interview (contact email/telephone number and interviewer name, and also confirmation of the interview time and date) and also information about the unsuitable job (best make some pointers why the job is no good) and if the WP decides to make a fuss, ask to speak to your JCP adviser and take the evidence into them.
WP cannot issue a sanction directly, they can suggest it to the JCP.
What i meant about the 90 minute time/20 mile radius – actually that is the guideline the jcp has stipulated (think it is 90 minutes by public transport they use as the guideline).
One of the major issues I have is that 2 major towns are 90 minutes (approx 83 minutes away), but the bus does not get in until 8.55am which is useless for nearly all jobs in the 2 towns.
Not much I can do about that though (they made quite a few bus journey cuts and time adjustments around here).
Get a note of the persons name. Advise them you intend to report their offensive manner and rudeness to their superiors. Ask to speak to the supervisor. If this is refused or you do not get an satisfactory answer advise them that you intend to register a complaint with the Job Centre Plus regional manager. I don’t know if things have changed recently but the one I contacted wrote back with a letter of apology and promised that he had taken steps to avoid a repitition. The policy of Job Centre Plus is to advise Job Seekers from applying for jobs that do not meet the requirements of the company advertising the job because the same company is already bombarded by applications that do and have no need of useless spam. Put this in your letter to the regional manager if the local staff are giving you the run around. Meantime get the persons name who is telling you to apply for jobs you are clearly not suited for and advise them that until the regional manager sorts it out you will indeed apply but state quite clearly in the form of an apology to the prospective employers that Mr So and so of Job Centre XYZ has insisted that you apply but it this annoys you in anyway here is his contact details ……..
Job Centre Plus Regional Managers:
Click to access jcp-district-managers.pdf
has anyone seen the bbc 3 programme growing up poor – about 3 teenage girls who they consider to be feckless, one did a work programme of 30 hours a week, recommended by a charity to stack shelves – there was no job for her at the end of her 6 months cheap labour. One found herself in trouble with the law, she escaped jail but was fined £170 to be paid back out of £55 per week. The third was pregnant and gave up a beauty course. All three were struggling to furnish accommodation they had secured, one spending her housing costs ,so was also in rent arrears as well as paying a fine back and in danger of losing her shared house place.
These pampered pigs in troughs running government, have not only condemned them to living on £8 per day to cover heating , food,furniture,clothes, due to their inability to create jobs for anyone other than themselves, they are threatening them with withdrawal of housing benefit to the under 25’s. I only hope the BBC pay them plenty for the series, instead of frittering it away on pay settlements for caretaker director generals and compensation claims for hurt feelings.
I wish a I could be confident about the good intentions of such programs. The reality is it just stokes up prejudice against the underclasses amongst the supporters of the strivers/skivers paradigm. The BBC are becomming good at paying lip service to neutralality but to me, their are notable exceptions, they are increasingly representing a wealthy London mindset that has no real understanding or sympathy for people outside their own socio-economic grouping. I wonder what the IDS and Daily Mail Brigade think about the such programs? Reith fought for the independence of the BBC and whilst they still mouth the usual platitudes have you noticed how often they never ask the obvious question when it comes to welfare issues that undermines the lying propoganda of Westminster.
Have a look at the following link written by Rod Liddle the former editor of the BBC Today program. when he describes Owen Jones, a defender of the poor, as a “halfwit” and a “pig-ignorant idiot” and quotes, without censure his friends description of Owen ‘F****** third form arrogant public school infantile leftist ****, vile smug and self-righteous tosser…….’”. This to me ilustrates the undercover true spirit of what now animates much of the news now broadcast by the BBC.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/rod-liddle/2012/11/i-hear-owen-jones-was-on-question-time-last-night-was-he-awful/
Rod Liddle?!, you sure it wasn’t Rod Hull, love?
Liddle’s New Year resolution in 2012 was “was to become disabled”. He thinks everyone is on the make. Sick.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/owen-jones-hatred-of-those-on-benefits-is-dangerously-out-of-control-7763793.html
Rod Hull is dead. Rod Liddle isn’t. Sadly.
John
The only good intentions that can come out of this programme is the fee for these youngsters as I’ve already stated “i hope it is a good fee”. The program was meant to vilify.
I saw a documentary on the State propaganda broadcaster – the BBC, about foodbanks recently, showing a guy with a job and enough money for food pretending to be on Jobseekers Allowance and in poverty so he could scam free food for himself, who also pretended he didn’t have enough money for a birthday present for his son so he could scam some money out of the reporter as well.
Out of all the real cases of genuine poverty they could have shown, they chose to focus on this guy for most of the programme to portray people on benefits as fraudsters and scam artists and to reduce the public’s sympathy for people who have to rely on foodbanks. The BBC is the enemy of the marginalised, vulnerable and disadvantaged.
that is making my brain spin.
so this person was employed and had a job but decided to pretend to be on benefits to get free food?
How did he get past any checks at the foodbank (surely they must have some to prevent this)? If they did where did this person get the JSA proof from?
Also if he did have false jsa documentation then surely he could be brought up for fraud?
Or am I looking to far into this?
I don’t know about “Food Banks” but drop-in centres, run typically by Christians, never (at least in the ones I knew) asked for proof of anything as it destroyed trust and would have appeared mean-spirited. They generally served people with addictions, homeless, lonely people who wanted a bit of company. Maybe the profile is changing and people who once had good incomes/home but are now being shed as surplus to requirements bring with them whatever ethical norms they are used to. If they have been dishonest with their customers, ripped off expenses, and justified their ways on the basis that our leaders doing the very same thing then it will be of no surprise that they continue in their ways when the Food Bank offers them something for nothing.
I never saw the program but it sounds like another sly and malicious piece of broadcasting from “This is London Calling”
http://uk.proxfree.com/page.php?get=EVHd33nry0QRhE3rXn4C42XtnJJEZoMS46OvYLgtcMGQE9V7hyRCZeSDTrKiiRw6ZP6r4R3XjNrdNrobDG5RQw%3D%3D&sa=250a415c8&bit=1&fl=norefer
I think he was working and claiming JSA on and off.
During WW2 the BBC used to begin broadcasts with the opening line “This is London Calling”. I now think of that when I see them doing a sly hatchet job on welfare claiments. The socio-economic group of what I call the wealthy London mindset are nearly all reading off the same hymn sheet which is titled “No Higher Taxes For Us, Benefit cuts for Them”. Perhaps they will come up with a tap-dance and tune that we must all take part in to show that we are One Nation.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/owen-jones-hatred-of-those-on-benefits-is-dangerously-out-of-control-7763793.html
The guy they were highlighting was probably planted there by them anyway R33.
You’re probably right it did seem staged.
The people in the BBC programs mentioned above were actors, playing the role of real peoples real stories.
& jessops. Hmv. Adios! Dixons next?
Horsemeat dna found in beef burgers sold at tesco’s, iceland, aldi..
Thanks media. You lot recommended cheap meat, while you all are eating the good stuff.
P.S. The whole nation is being conditioned to save. “make savings, cuts, tighten the belt, etc”. When people mention saving, how about replying sternly “I do not want to save or make cuts. I want to be paid enough to meet my living costs, and be rewarded for the time I gave to work and the work that I do. This is non-negotiable.”
We are being conditioned into thinking that “saving” is a “fun” activity too: “Oh, look Tesda have 5p off their economy horsemeat value burgers, and wow, they’re on BOGOF too, use a money-off coupon and you save 10p. 10p – you could feed a family of four for a month on that 🙂 “
760220 910161A thoughtful opinion and ideas Ill use on my internet page. Youve certainly spent some time on this. Properly carried out! 128078
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I have been sanctioned since 27 Dec 2012 because i only applied for 5 jobs over the christmas, even tho I got a job interview from those few job searches, it was deemed to not be enough to continue claiming. I’ve had two more interviews since, yet still recieved not money. So I’ve been deprived of the means to feed myself, keep myself warm or pay my rent. Not only have they tried to starve me and freeze me to death, I am now in dept with my rent and could become homeless. I’ve only been signing on for six months after years of continuous employment, paying my taxes etc. Yet when you try to get help there is no-one willing to listen or care. It seems that the old nazi “I’m only following orders” attitude is alive and kicking, only now its our government and Its employees using it. This country is being run by dictators like Saddam Hussein, whose country was invaded by our government for his despotic suppression of his people, yet they treat us just as immorally. I doubt any of this comment will make any impression on the status quo, but at least you have some evidence of the crimes against humanity this government perpetuates. Thank you for reading my rant, chris mumby.
These sanctions given seem strange as it seems jcp advisors are ignoring there own rules (or we have not been given the full story).
I would check your JSAG and see if you have followed exactly what it says, also get as much proof of your jobsearch as possible and appeal sending off as much evidence as possible (copy of your JSAG, job search log etc).
My JSAG before yesterday was use internet job searching 3 x a week, check local newspaper for job 1x week and check local jobsite board 1 x a week
Now it is check UJ 5 x a week, check job agency boards/check in with job agency 4 x a week and check local newspaper 1 x a week.
I did more than that anyway so no problems there.
As for UJ – cv is set to private & only has my name and email address as contact details, no dwp access and use different browser to my normal one and clean up cookies using cc cleaner every time I finish using it.
Now to try and get a damn job.
Agencys are very fickle at present – think march/april hopefully more jobs will be advertised.
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