Details of Claimant Commitments Emerge And Show the Biggest DWP Farce Yet

A recent response to a Freedom of Information request reveals the first clear details of what will be expected of claimants when Universal Credit is launched.

The new benefit, which will be rolled out nationally from October, will replace all unemployment and sickness/disability benefits along with housing benefits and working tax credits.  All claimants who are unemployed or working part time will be expected to sign a ‘Claimant Commitment’ detailing how they will try to find a job or ‘more or better paid work’ if already employed.

Those who do not have a significant health problems will be mandated – under threat of sanction – to take part in Work Related Activity (meaning work, workfare, jobsearch or training) for 35 hours a week.  Single parents with children between the ages of 5 and 13 will usually be required to spend 24 hours a week looking for work.  Even those with serious disabilities or health conditions, currently in the Work Related Activity Group and claiming ESA, will have some form of mandated jobsearch.

Much of this activity will be centered around Universal Jobmatch, the DWP run website which is littered with spam, scam and spoof vacancies and could even place vulnerable jobseeker’s at serious risk of harm.  At present there is still no requirement to tick the box giving the Jobcentre access to your Universal Jobmatch account.

The recently released documents (linked to below and uncovered by @refuted) should be shared and read by all claimants, along with everybody in work who is concerned about redundancy – because this is what you will face should you lose your job.

Jobcentre advisors will have unprecedented powers to compel claimants to carry out whatever old bollocks they can come up with to waste unemployed people’s time looking for jobs which aren’t there.  Those who do not meet their Claimant Commitment could face having benefits stopped for up to three years.  For those with children this could be devastating, for those severely unwell or disabled it could mean death.

As well as outlining the rules concerning Claimant Commitments the documents also give examples of how the new system might work in practice.  A fictional Claimant Commitment shows how a claimant could be mandated to visit her local town centre twice a week to use Universal Jobmatch on the library computers*.  She will also be expected to hand in CVs to local shops whilst she is there.

This ignores the fact that many libraries – if you can find one still open – charge for internet access and that she may have to take a bus into town.  Astonishingly claimants could find themselves sanctioned because they are too poor to meet their job-seeking requirements.

The other aspect of her claimant commitment shows just how far Universal Credit has descended into farce.  How many shops does the DWP think are in this town she lives in?  Is she really expected to visit them every week, or even twice a week, to hand in a CV?  If there’s one way guaranteed to make sure you don’t get a job somewhere it’s acting like a stalky weirdo who keeps turning up every other day waving a new CV even after being told there are no vacancies.

And this is the key point.  There are no vacancies.  Whilst those in big cities could just about get away with ‘cold calling’ and visiting employers for 35 hours a week, in small towns this will be ludicrous.  Some of them only have a handful of shops.  Some only one.  Will unemployed people in remote areas be expected to spend 35 hours a week arguing with their local shopkeeper about why they should give them a job?

Such is Iain Duncan Smith’s obsession with punishing the unemployed for the failure of government, he has devised a system that is verging on parody.  And a system that will soon fall over as millions of claimants swamp Jobcentres to use computers, telephones and printers.

Jobcentres are already creaking under the strain of high unemployment.  There is no requirement to tell the DWP you have online access at home even if you do.  A recent response to another FOI request also confirms that there is no requirement to give the Jobcentre your phone number or email address.  It therefore seems a sensible idea not to tell the Jobcentre you have a computer, or a phone.  Demand to use theirs instead and watch Claimant Commitments collapse.

The rules on Claimant Commitments, including information about a seven day ‘cooling off’ period, and how you can demand a review of your commitment, can be read at:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/163018/response/398294/attach/html/3/CC%20Narrative%20short.pdf.html

An example of a Claimant Commitment is available at:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/163018/response/398294/attach/html/4/2451.Annex%201.pdf.html

*as the law currently stands on cookies, you can not be mandated to use Universal Jobmatch anywhere but Jobcentres, so without a change in the law, this aspect of a Claimant Commitment could be challenged.

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60% Of Claimants To Be Worse Off Under Universal Credit Says Child Poverty Charity

A report released this week shows that Iain Duncan Smith’s bodged attempts at welfare reform will see the incomes of the working poor, disabled people and parents savaged.

Universal Credit is to be gradually introduced over the next four years and will replace most of the main in and out of work benefits.  DWP Ministers have long claimed that the new benefit will make work pay, yet as details start to emerge about the endlessly complex new system, it seems that for most people this will be anything but the case.

The report produced by the Child Poverty Action Group, along with the TUC,  shows that 60% of households will be worse off under Universal Credit when other changes to benefits and tax credits are taken into account.  Disabled workers will be one of the hardest hit, taking a possible annual loss of almost £3000 a year.

Even those claimants who find themselves slightly better off when the new benefit is finally launched have already been hit by the Bedroom Tax, Council Tax Benefit reforms and the decisions to cap benefit increases – including housing benefits – at below both inflation and rent rises.  This week’s report also points out that despite Universal Credit having officially been launched, admittedly at just one Jobcentre, there is still no clear indication of how ‘passported’ benefits such as free school meals will be managed.

So even a claimant who is able to find work may still find themselves worse off as they are suddenly eligible to pay for school meals, prescriptions and other NHS costs such as dentists.  And this could be on top of any losses from the great Council Tax lottery under which some local authorities are demanding that people with virtually nothing be required to pay the same rate of tax as millionaires.

Perversely about the only people who may see a slight increase in income are low paid part time workers in a household where just one adult works.  Yet it is precisely this group that Universal Credit also seeks to attack with the ludicrous ‘conditionality’ element of the new benefit.  Part time workers will now be required to justify to Jobcentres that they are continually looking for more or better paid work or face vicious benefit sanctions.  Non-working parents will be expected to start work, looking for work, or even workfare, when their youngest child turns 5.  As soon as children turn 13 parents could be sent on workfare for 35 hours a week, with a possible 90 minute journey there and back.  A new generation of latchkey teenagers, abandoned to their own devices from dawn to dusk, will be one very visible result of this Government’s welfare reforms.

Far from ended poverty, one of the most laughable claims made about the introduction of Universal Credit, it will make life far harder for those with least, whether they are in or out of work.   And astonishingly the reforms will not even save any money – £2 billion a year in extra spending has been budgeted to manage the new system.  Only a true fucking idiot like Iain Duncan Smith could introduce a social security system that makes everyone poorer, including the tax payer.

And only a cynical piece of shit like George Osborne could sanction such huge sums of money being spent on a what is little more than a deluded vanity project for a failed Tory ex-leader.  As far as the Treasury is concerned, when it comes to harassing and punishing people just for being poor, then there is an open chequebook.  No expense is too great in the attempt to turn working class people into alienated wage or even workfare slaves – constantly fucking each other over for an ever decreasing slice of the pie.

The report can be read at:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/tucfiles/586/TUCcpag-report.pdf

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

How Universal Credit Will Incentivise Rent Debt

A perverse incentive in the Universal Credit pilot scheme has already emerged which will mean that social housing tenants who go into rent arrears will be able to have the housing element of the new benefit sent direct to their landlord.

Universal Credit will feature Direct Payments, meaning that council or housing association tenants will receive a monthly cash payment towards their rent.  At present Housing Benefits for social tenants go directly to social landlords in most cases.

This senseless move is based on yet another of Iain Duncan Smith’s pet obsessions, which is that housing benefits going direct to tenants will teach claimants to manage their money.

Housing Associations have been horrified by the changes, issuing warnings that they expect rent arrears to soar.  The DWP’s panicky response to this has been to decide that claimants who fall two months in arrears will automatically have payments switched back to landlords.

This means that tenants concerned about the impact of Direct Payments can simply avoid paying their rent for a couple of months.  This will automatically trigger their benefits to be directed back to their landlords, removing a stressful and senseless burden for already struggling claimants.

To be extra sure that their tenancy is not affected, claimants can keep hold of the cash and as soon as the two months are up then simply pay off the arrears.  Alternatively they could arrange to pay back the money owed in installments and use the two month’s housing benefit as an interest free loan.

It is not clear if tenants will be switched back to Direct Payments once rent arrears are paid off.  If they are then they will just have to stop paying their rent for a couple of months again.  As long as there is a continuous willingness to pay, and arrears stay around the two month mark, then few social landlords will launch formal eviction proceedings.  And just in case they do, the canniest tenants will make sure the rent is safely in the bank to be handed over any time the situation gets a little too hot for comfort.

In fact with Housing Associations also set to take a hit due to the new payments system, it would even in be their interest to support tenants to go into short term arrears. Social landlords are likely to ignore rent arrears once they hit five to six weeks, knowing that the trigger point, which will  clear up any future rent problems, is just a fortnight away.

This is exactly the kind of perverse incentive that the Government promised would be brought to an end due to welfare reforms.  In truth it will be the first of many as 50 year’s of steady development in the Welfare State is thrown away overnight in favour of Iain Duncan Smith’s endless back of the envelope crazy schemes.

The DWP have made clear that this arrangement may not stay in place as Universal Credit is fully rolled out.  The alternative however could leave some social housing providers on the brink of bankruptcy as the most marginalised tenants – who may have well documented drug, alcohol, gambling or debt problems, are given a huge monthly cash sum intended to pay their rent.  The reality is for some this will be a temptation they are unable to resist and lead to huge rent arrears.

Ultimately this will mean more evictions, which will be devastating for those tenants most in need of help, and hugely expensive for both social landlords and the tax payer alike.  Those evicted are likely to be shunted into the far more costly private sector or even face the extortionate rents charged by temporary accommodation and hostels.

Iain Duncan Smith and Lord Fraud are about to learn a stark lesson which will no doubt teach them exactly why the welfare system was quite complicated.  Unfortunately by the time that happens it will be too late for all of us, as the Daily Mail inspired delusions of two desperately out of touch rich men plunge millions of claimant’s lives into chaos.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Universal Credit Begins With A Fraudster’s Free For All

Today marks the launch of Universal Credit, the all encompassing change to the welfare system that was furiously scribbled down on the back on an envelope after Iain Duncan Smith watched an episode of Shameless.

The changes, which will prove devastating for many of the lowest income families, are as inept as they are callous and likely to lead to unprecedented chaos.  The decision to restrict the roll out of Universal Credit to just a handful of claimants from one Manchester Jobcentre shows how even DWP Ministers are running scared of the new digital by default system.

A gushing press release from the DWP already reveals one major flaw even in this small trial.  Addressing concerns that many, if not most, claimants do not have internet access at home, the DWP boast:  “Eight computers will be available at Ashton-Under-Lyne Jobcentre Plus to help people who do not have access to the internet, and over 130 computers will also be available at certain libraries and council offices in Tameside.”

Making a claim for Universal Credit will involve providing huge amounts of personal information to the DWP via the internet.  Many claimants will have never used a computer before and have little understanding of online security.

It is unlikely Iain Duncan Smith, or Lord Fraud, have ever used an internet cafe or library to access the web.  If they did, they might have noticed that it is not uncommon to visit a site such as facebook or yahoo and find the person who used the computer before you is still logged in.

This is one of the reasons that banks warn:  “As you cannot be certain about the security of public wireless networks or computers in public places (like a library or internet café) you should be cautious about using internet banking services in these situations. Never change your security details while using a public wireless network or a public computer.”

Far from just changing your security details, such as your password, the DWP seem to be actively encouraging people to make their entire initial claim from public computers.  In some cases this could mean the next person to sit down at that machine could have complete access to a previous user’s Universal Credit account.  Even if the library or internet cafe uses software to clear caches and remove passwords after each session (and not all do), anyone looking over someone’s shoulder will be able to steal their log in details and gain access to their account.

This is not the first time Iain Duncan Smith has played fast and loose with claimant’s online safety.  The government job search website Universal Jobmatch has already been plagued by spam, scams and spoof vacancies.  This hasn’t stopped IDS throwing caution to the wind and not just recommending people use libraries to access Universal Credit, but leaving many claimants no other choice.

For all the DWP’s talk about getting tough on benefit fraud, they don’t appear to have a clue about protection from online fraud.  Whilst there is no secure way for people to access their Universal Credit accounts then Iain Duncan Smith has created an identity fraudster’s free for all that could turn into a living nightmare for some of the most marginalised people in the UK.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

DWP Get The Builders In – Third Universal Credit Boss In Just 4 Months Takes Charge

The DWP have appointed the former  boss of a building firm to run the beleaguered launch of Universal Credit.  Howard Shiplee, former director at construction firm Laing O’Rourke replaces David Pitchford who had only been in the job five minutes after the death of previous Universal Credit boss Philip Langsdale over Christmas.

The new benefits system, which depends on the most complex IT database ever constructed by any Government has been plagued by difficulties.  Due to launch this month, that launch will now only take place in one single Jobcentre for a handful of new claimants – using a bodged system involving manual data entry and spreadsheets.

Several other key senior staff left the project last year as the IT behind the sweeping benefit reforms rushed headlong into predictable chaos.  The truth is that getting the computer stuff right was only ever half the battle, and it’s a long way from right yet.  Some reports have even claimed that  IT staff working on the launch have been told to down tools by the DWP.

New boss Shiplee appears to have no experience in managing IT projects.  He certainly has no experience in benefit administration, social care or housing – three areas of expertise you might hope for in the boss of a benefits system set to impact on 5 million people.  Although the word is he can knock up a pretty decent loft conversion if you slip him and his mates a few notes on the quiet.

In a statement on the DWP website Shiplee claims:  “I’d also like to record my gratitude to Laing O’Rourke for expediting my release to take up this exciting challenge.”

It sounds like they couldn’t wait to see the back of him.  Universal Credit is already desperately behind schedule and over budget and now  Iain Duncan Smith has decided to put a builder in charge.  Shiplee says he’s on the case, he just needs to nip down the yard for a couple of hours but he’ll be right back so get the kettle on.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Telling Truth About Universal Credit Would Be ‘Mental’ Admits DWP Chief

“I’m not going to give you anything other than the official line. I’m not mental.” Graham Mowat from the DWP Universal Credit directorate.

A senior member of the DWP team currently bungling welfare reform suggested he would be ‘mental’ to say anything other than the official line when questioned whether Universal Credit would really be rolled out in October this year according the public sector website 24dash,

Mowat made the shocking statement whilst speaking at the National Housing Federation Finance Conference. People with mental health conditions are likely to be some of those worst affected by the new social security regime as the use of ever more punishing benefit sanctions are inflicted on those judged not trying hard enough to find work. Mowat’s choice of language reveals the flippant attitude at the DWP towards those whose lives are set to be plunged into chaos by the new system.

Mowat also reportedly gave an explanation for the apparent disappearance of Lord Fraud’s budgeting support for so-called vulnerable claimants – first reported on here over a month ago.

It seems that the Treasury has finally cut off the money supply – which is particularly revealing in the wake of accusations that work has stopped on building the complex IT system that underlies Universal Credit. 

One thing seems certain, which is that the very visible chaos at the DWP is nothing compared to what’s going on behind the scenes as Iain Duncan Smith’s endless brutal and bodged schemes unravel.

Universal Jobmatch Goes Mandatory

The scandal hit bodged Government spam site Universal Jobmatch will become mandatory in the next few days.

It seems that despite the well documented security problems, which still exist, claimants could be given a Jobseekers Direction to register an account with the site from the beginning of March – some Jobcentres seem to be saying that means tomorrow, the PCS Union have said Monday.  There should still be no requirement to tick the box giving the Jobcentre access to your account.

Internet cookie legislation means claimants can still refuse to use the site from their home computer – and there is really no need to tell the Jobcentre you have a home computer.  Jobcentres will be providing Internet Access Devices for those unable or unwilling to use a home PC.

DWP staff training documents have recently been acquired via a Free of Information request and are worth reading.

The documents are unclear as to how advisors should respond if a claimant refuses to agree to the website’s terms and conditions stating:

“If a user does not agree to the terms and conditions they are directed to speak to their adviser to discuss their reasons for declining.  The claimant will read the disclaimer and then scroll to the lower edge of the page to accept the conditions. “

One interesting point raised in the document training Jobcentre staff themselves on use of the new devices is the risk of identity fraud from people ‘shoulder surfing’.   Staff are warned that areas where the machines are used should be monitored to prevent this.  And they are right.  Internet cafes and libraries have no such protection.  Therefore those without computers forced to access Universal Jobmatch as part of their Jobseeker’s Agreement would be advised to request to only do so in the Jobcentre.  Truth is even if you have got a computer you might as well sit in the Jobcentre and use theirs, especially with heating bills being what they are.

And so the chaos begins.  If millions of people are to be expected to use the new website, and many, most or even a few only elect to use it in Jobcentres, then the system will quickly reach meltdown.  An earlier FOI request revealed that: “Nationally the total number of Internet Access Devices purchased is 2176″.  That means for JSA claimants alone there is just one computer available for every 700 people.  These are the computers Iain Duncan Smith has said he will haul people into Jobcentres to use everyday should they refuse to allow the DWP access to their Universal Jobmatch account.  Whoops.

For the latest info on Universal Jobmatch read, share, tweet and keep an eye on:
http://consent.me.uk/universaljobmatch/

UPDATE: consent.me.uk (@refuted) on twitter makes the important point:   “DWP can only mandate #UniversalJobmatch use & registration @ Jobcentres. No where else, inc Home, Library, Cafes, Cell phone etc”

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Bodged Government Spam Site to be at the Heart of Benefit Reforms

DWP documents confirm that the Universal Jobmatch website, the government job search site plagued by spam, scams and spoof vacancies, will be at the heart of the new conditionality for claiming benefits.

Lord Fraud’s recent begging letter to local councils asking for help with the Universal Credit shambles reveals the first scant details of how the new benefit system may (or may not) work in practice.

The document features a “claimant’s journey” which details how people will access the new benefit.  Claimants, many of whom will have never used a computer or don’t have access to broadband, will first need to open an online Universal Credit account.  It is anticipated many people may have to attend some form of training or support from local authorities or other agencies to learn how to make an initial claim.

Claimants will then be expected to provide the necessary documents for the claim, such as proof of identity, information on sickness or disabilities, details of children and any income or savings.  This is also likely to include the vast reams of evidence required to claim Housing Benefits, such as Tenancy Agreements and in some cases even bank statements.  It has not been explained how claimants will be expected to provide this information, but it sounds like another trip to the Jobcentre.

After the claim has been submitted claimants will be scheduled to an interview.  At this interview they will lectured on what they need to do to look for work and be “made aware of the support available to them including Universal Jobmatch”.

Only then will a decision on a Universal Credit claim be made.  This is Lord Fraud’s idea of simplifying the benefit system, by moving:  “claimants towards self service and automation and away from face to face delivery”.

The document also gives information on what will be expected of claimants to maintain a claim.  This gives the clearest indication yet that DWP snooping via the bodged Universal Jobmatch website will be at the heart of the new benefits regime. Lord Fraud’s currently non-existent advisors are encouraged to:

“Ensure claimants are aware their obligations in receiving UC eg to look for work, and of all the support available to them to assist them in finding work including helping them to set up a jobmatch account and create a CV/sign up for job matching”

When Universal Credit is launched, five million people will face the same job-seeking conditions as those currently on unemployment benefits.

Part time or low income self-employed workers will be expected to constantly look for ‘more or better paid work’.  There will be unprecedented powers for the DWP to force single parents and sick or disabled claimants into endless ‘job related activity’ – which could include workfare.

The only possible way the DWP can police this draconian regime is to spy on people’s job seeking activity via the Government jobs website, Universal Jobmatch,

It is currently not mandatory for claimants to register with Universal Jobmatch, although Iain Duncan Smith has said that it will become so at some point this year.  Even then however,  unless Iain Duncan Smith changes privacy laws, claimants will not have to give the DWP access to their accounts.  According to the department’s own figures, only around half of claimants so far have ticked the box which allows jobcentre staff to monitor use of the website.

It is believed that the DWP will attempt to subvert privacy and cookie laws by expecting people to use computers inside Jobcentres to look for work on the website.   These are Jobcentres and computers which will already be overwhelmed by people making initial Universal Credit claims and forwarding their monthly income details to the DWP.  It is also expected that unemployed claimants will still be expected to continue to sign on fortnightly as they do at the moment.

The upcoming chaos is hard to imagine, even for those who have followed the shambolic welfare reforms.  Imagine a busy Jobcentre, seeing three times the number of people than they do currently, many of whom will be seriously unwell, or have kids running round.  Then cram in your local civic centre or Housing Benefit office.

On top of that throw in a packed internet cafe full of people who in many cases have never used a computer.  Some of these people may have literacy difficulties, some may not be able to read or even speak English, some will have drug or alcohol problems, many will no doubt be furious due to missed payments or delays.

Lord Fraud, with his gilded toff’s existence, knows nothing of this world.  For the rest of us it is already all too familiar.  There is no mass recruitment planned at the DWP to deal with this extra workload.  Jobcentres and benefit offices are already creaking under the strain of recession.  Many of the agencies Lord Fraud expects to help so-called vulnerable people make claims for Universal Credit have closed due to cuts.

Many have expected the IT behind the new welfare system, which depends on the largest and most complex database ever constructed by a government, to be the main obstacle facing Universal Credit.  In truth, even if it works (stop laughing),  it is only the beginning of the DWP’s problems.

Read Lord Fraud begging local authorities for help at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/uc-local-service-support-framework.pdf

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Food Stamps Abandoned … For Now

The bill to introduce a food stamps style scheme has been abandoned by the attention seeking wannabe spiv,  Alec Shelbrooke, who dreamed up the scheme.

Shelbrooke has attempted to make a name for himself by proposing all benefits should be paid on ‘smart cards’ with the Government having control over how claimants spent the money.

This ludicrous idea came despite Iain Duncan Smith’s insistence that all benefits be paid in cash on a monthly basis.  Both ideas are equally stupid.  Under Shelbrooke’s plans claimants would have been unable to access telephones, stationary, hair dressers, launderettes, and crucially internet access – making it not just impossible to look for work, but also use the new ‘digital by default’ benefits systems.  Under Iain Duncan Smith’s obsession with ‘direct payments’, even those with drug, alcohol or gambling problems will be given Housing Benefit – the payment which claimants can now have sent direct to landlords – in a monthly cash sum.

Shelbrooke’s bill was due for its second reading in early March but has now been withdrawn by the MP.  This follows revelations that Lord Fraud’s smart card and jam jar schemes for so called ‘vulnerable’ claimants have also been abandoned.

Whilst some local authorities are considering smart cards and vouchers for the soon to be scrapped Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants, it seems that any national roll out of a food stamps style scheme will not be happening this during Parliament at least.

The inept clowns at the DWP can barely manage to run a website or welfare to work scheme without fucking it up as publicly as possible.  The last thing Iain Duncan Smith needs is back-benchers like Shelbrooke trying to make a name for themselves by proposing a system that manages to be both the direct opposite of the Government’s current welfare policies, but is also equally shit.

Shelbrooke will now disappear back down the sewer he came from.  With any luck Iain Duncan Smith, Lord Fraud and the skiving Employment Minister Mark Hoban, will not be far behind.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Lord Fraud’s Debt Trap Has Been Abandoned As He Begs Local Councils For Help

It now seems clear that Lord Fraud’s debt trap, under which claimant’s struggling to manage the new benefits system would be expected to pay for budgeting support, has been abandoned.

Last year the bungling toff launched a tender exercise for ‘financial products’ to help claimants manage the change over to Universal Credit.  Typically this was an attempt to hand over yet more of tax payers cash to profit hungry private companies who would be given the chance to run claimant’s financial affairs.  A range of proposals were threatened, including jam jar accounts and smart cards.

In a major u-turn, it now seems that this has all been abandoned and Lord Fraud is attempting to shift the problem onto Local Authorities.  With less than two months to go before the first claims for Universal Credit are processed, a major – if potentially disastrous policy – has been scrapped and nothing put in its place.

A document released by the DWP (PDF)  sees Lord Fraud begging local councils to help rescue him from the shambles by asking for help designing services for the most vulnerable claimants – something that should have been addressed months ago.

The appeal for help gives a hint of the shambles behind the scenes as DWP Ministers find out exactly why the benefits system was quite complicated.  With no prior understanding of the social security system, Lord Fraud really is making it up as he goes along.   Rent payments will be monthly, except when they won’t be, payments will always go direct to claimants, except when they go to landlords, the benefit will be digital by default except when it isn’t, and all Housing Benefit claims will be centrally handled by the DWP, except for the ones that won’t be.

Some of the more intractable problems, such as providing a broadband based service in an area that doesn’t have broadband cover, are glibly glossed over:

“Rural areas where broadband is not yet widespread may also present a special challenge here that will need to be managed with local support.”

What does he expect, fucking telepathy?

The only sliver of good news for claimants is that when the unravelling of Universal Credit begins in April this year, only a tiny number of claimants will be affected.  The initial pilot will only include new, single Job Seekers Allowance claimants in a few postcodes in Manchester.  These are claimants who by and large will have recently lost their jobs.  This pilot will tell the DWP nothing about how Universal Credit will work in practice with groups which require more support.

Millions of people’s live are set to be plunged into chaos as Universal Credit is expanded over the next few years.  The ongoing comedy show at the DWP will be anything but funny as Lord Fraud and Iain Duncan Smith’s bungled reforms demolish what’s left of the welfare state.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid