Last night the BBC ran a pitiful report which was little more than an advert for the welfare-to-work sector in which they begged the tax payer for yet more money.
The report was based on information from ERSA, the trade body whose job it is to lie on behalf of private sector poverty pimps like A4e and G4S. The sector is whinging that they aren’t given enough money to find people jobs through the floundering Work Programme and that only 10% of sick and disabled claimants have found a job via the scheme. Obviously, the industry claims this isn’t their fault.
Whilst it is shocking that the BBC should effectively provide a free lobbying service for a multi-billion pound industry, of equal concern should be the contempt shown once again for the role of official statistics by the DWP.
The figures used in the news report did not come from the DWP, whose role it is to provide statistics on the Work Programme. They were leaked by the shabby cowboys in the welfare-to-work sector in a crude attempt to influence public opinion with unchecked, unverified and very much unofficial statistics.
The truth is that these numbers are not really relevant to the performance of the Work Programnme. The key measure of success is whether people are finding long term work on the scheme – and the DWP are dragging their feet on telling us whether that is the case.
With a range of benefit sanctions at their disposal, it is not difficult for the welfare-to-work sector to bully someone off benefits to take up a week’s temporary work. But this means very little if they are back on benefits a fortnight later. And, astonishingly, even if these statistics are accurate, then the job entry rates they are achieving are atrocious. With long term unemployment soaring ever since the Work Programme began, it appears that even those finding work through the scheme are quickly replaced in the dole queue by someone else becoming long term unemployed.
Given the welfare-to-work sector are using these figures to beg for more money you might have expected the DWP to be at least a little bit pissed off that they are leaking unverified statistics to the media. As the tweets above reveal, this is far from the case. The DWP are using this industry information in a desperate attempt to mislead the public into thinking that the Work Programme is a roaring success.
The Code of Practice for Official Statistics is clear (PDF). It is the DWP’s job to: “Issue statistical reports separately from any other statement or comment about the figures and ensure that no statement or comment – based on prior knowledge – is issued to the press or published ahead of the publication of the statistics.”
Now the DWP may be unable to control ERSA, who appear to have been given free rein to bang out any old statistics they can cook up in the hope of more cash. But they are responsible for their own twitter feed. The Department has repeatedly been rapped over their misuse of official statistics by the UK Statistics Authority. They don’t appear to have learnt a thing so don’t believe a word they say.
Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid
the void 
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Why is it that everyone is against us? It is not our fault we are disabled, we want support not anger, we want help not pushing down into the ground, don’t people realise that they too could be disabled when they awake tomorrow or on their way to work or the shops, just think if it was you?
Difference between a Striver and a Skiver = one day.
Difference between fit, healthy and disabled = one day.
Difference between disabled and fit for work = one visit to ATOS.
Difference between life and death = one cross party government.
Are the government technically alive?
It’s SO hard to tell.
I too have noticed what I call the “Cinderalla factor” in regards to the ridiculous and cruel attitudes of some peope towards those who are suffering.
In the twinkling of an eye, someone suddenly becomes guilty in the eyes of some despite neither their behaviour or person having changed (nor their circumstances apart from their age). In a nanosecond they go from being regarded as angelic and deserving to underserving when they come of age, and then the situation gets reversed in another momentous and ridiculously interpreted nanoecond when they are suddenly considered worthy again as seniors or pensioners.
It just goes to show that how some people’s assessment of others going through hard times has nothing to do with truth let alone love.
Worthy or unworthy? As soon as you hit pension age they think you no longer matter. They take you off JSA (even if no guaranteed pension), and stop helping you look for or find work if you WANT/NEED to work. There’s also a belief that everyone gets Alzheimer’s on their 65th birthday. Yesterday normal, today a Gouda-cheese brain! Talking down to old people, happens most of the time. Can’t get a house or loan as you are too old, can’t get insurance or easily travel. Opinions don’t matter, so everyone except the old person gets a say about where they will live and how. Even if you could last till 95, no retraining available and no apprenticeships, though if you are under 75 or so they will still expect you to be looking for work even if apprenticeship type jobs are the main sort of jobs on offer. Pay no/less tax so are not really a full person. A useless eater… Bed blocking is what you are accused of in hospitals. Like it is the patient’s fault. Blamed for being widowed, alone, not having a carer. Blamed for your own accident/illness. Blamed for not recovering fast enough. To stop bed blocking, patients get sent home alone, far too early and with minimal or no care; and many get worse (often rehospitalised) or die as a result. Lots of simple medical or dental procedures (even if on the list for decades) are suddenly denied on grounds of age. ‘We don’t offer that’. Basically ‘put up with it till you die’.
Your pensioner vote counts if you are voting Tory or marching with EDL banners, or in one of those England-first pensioner parties. But if you are on a leftwing demo you are ‘a mad old git’. Councils start telling you what you can or can’t have in your house. They can order you to destroy/sell/give away your personal items. Not really part of society because you don’t go to nightclubs… (assumption). Visiting your GP can be seen as hypochondria or whining. Types of work are limited. If you want to work in an area not common for older people, there are barriers to employment: attitudes that you should not do the job.
Disability benefits get stopped. This is crap, you do not suddenly stop being disabled. Benefits should be for everyone.
@something survived micro barnyard chasms or what
I got this comment from another blog site i subscribe to…Check out the comment about tories are open and upfront. And thats a reason to keep voting for them?
” Yet again, I find myself at one with R McD. “Liberal”, in politics as in life, is very often anything but, as we have experienced in our green and leafy borough over the last 30 years or so. Its really quite difficult to know what to do or say. If you express an anti LibDem view you are immediately pounced on and castigated as a right wing chip on her shoulder Tory.
It Ain’t Necessarily so: As Topol repeatedly told us in South Twickenham; “Labour can’t win here!” He was right, so that would have been 3 wasted votes. UKIP and Independents? Pointless, another 3 wasted votes. Abstain from voting? OK for politicians but not for us, we are branded as apathetic. What’s left other than voting Tory? – Right wing, chip etc! As usual, AnonyMouse and others on this forum prove just how right RMcD is. Liberal is just a word, behind which those who wish to impose their vision of society on us, hide. At least the Tories are open and up front.
Which leads neatly into the thumbs up/down thingy – I have either bored a lot of people rigid or have irritated the cycling activist/LibDem lobby group who lurk out there in cyber space and pounce en-masse on anything they don’t like. 8 thumbs up for AnonyMouse’s latest contribution to the debate – *yawns*? Who would know? The good/bad news is that I am impervious to these sort of brickbats, I don’t have a support group and will continue to challenge those who deserve it as long as Twickerati allows me to do so.
Alexis
THEY ARE TAKING THE PISS …
http://www.chrisspivey.co.uk/?p=12791&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChrisSpivey+%28Chris+Spivey%29
I’m not afraid of anyone on earth so quite happy to use my own name. I’m Paul Cox and until four years ago had a 24 + years as a long running temp for numerous employment agency’s on the south coast.
Thanks to the economic climate all of that came to a finish, I was working minimum 40+ hours every week for a minimum £7:00/ £7:50 per hour with guaranteed overtime at time and a half Mon/Sat. Double time Sundays and bank holidays. Like many others I am expected to accept, and be grateful for minimum wage at £6:19 per hour for 30 hours or less per week. NOT BLOODY LIKELEY Iian Dipstick Smith.
If the economy is in such a poor state that we all have to be paid less then it’s for you. YES MATE YOU!!! And all M.P’s to set an example. You can start by evidencing to the voting public that you all take a wage cut of 15% and a 15% deduction in your M.P’s state and private pensions.
We live in a very competitive and uncertain economy Iian. Don’t ever expect your job to be safe when U.K.I.P win the general election.
James Purnell one of NEW LABOUR’s welfare reform zealots, is now in a high paid position at the BBC. I am sure their are plenty of others like him now involved with the BBC who are only too happy to lay into the sick and unemployed. Newsnight last night for example in my view “Allegra Stratton” seems to love the word cuts when it applies to Benefits.
Yes. Stratton is always going on about “… the Chancellor has to cut another 12 billion from spending…” (when in reality he doesn’t HAVE to but is CHOOSING to do so) and most of these cuts “… must come from Welfare because it is the biggest budget…” (no it doesn’t, it’s a bloody choice again). I well remember this woman mauling some poor single parent about claiming benefits, implying that she could work for her money if she wanted to, only to discover that the poor girl WAS actually working but not able to earn enough money from her job to survive.
Come on folks.
Stratton is true blue Tory through and through.
When the offical statisics on the Work Programme Private Provider performance are released next week, I’m sure Channel 4 news will be all over it – I just hope Krishnan Guru Murthy gets stuck into IDS or Hoban live on air.
We can but hope- however, it wouldn’t surprise me if they dodge out of it.
Good angle. I attacked this story over on Vox Political last night, and anyone interested can find the article here: http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/work-programme-providers-plea-is-an-insult-to-everyone-they-have-mishandled/
Reblogged this on Vox Political and commented:
Johnny Void attacks the Work Programme story from last night, taking the view that the organisations involved are playing fast-and-loose with the statistics, which is a good angle to take.
It’s free rein, not free reign. I shall still share this blog though. Thanks for telling us.
This shower weren’t voted in and they act as if they answer only to God. Free reign might actually be more apposite.
the basics is that there must 1st be jobs to take…as there are none..then how does…paying a contractor help, no extra jobs are going to be created..and any available jobs will be taken by those who best suited to them… i can never get my head around what these company’s actually do…if someone could please show me i will be very grateful…what is this special insight that these contractors are claiming that they have?……get their hands on medical budgets,eh, to do what with exactly? i simply don’t get their role and i am baffled by it…i can think of no reason for their role…or how anyone else can see or claim that they have a role…
If they were not doing this they too would be unemployed,and part of the statistics.
murray..yes i know i’m on e and sa…how can their function be seen to have any value…by others is beyond my comprehension…and i am not stupid by any means…it is why others cannot see they have no purpose…
They do:
Nothing, nada, nix, nowt, zero, nuffin’, a number between plus one and minus one. When not doing that they do completement rien. With added helpings of fuck-all and sweet fanny adams.
Amazingly they manage to find time for:
Big lunch breaks
Telling the jobseekers that they (jobseeker) are shit
Watching movies on the internet (in the time they are allocated to and paid for finding people work).
Scratching their balls
Had to attend one of A4e’s notorious jobsearch sessions earlier this week. Whilst there, I witnessed an exchange between one of their ‘advisers’ and a ‘customer’ in which he said that he ‘didn’t give a sh!t whether we attended or not, as he got paid anyway.’
a4e…exactly..the wrag group is senseless…they try all kinds of ways to gain implied consent…i rung them up and said it was not suitable for me…that was it they agreed…
A number between ‘+1 & -1 with a +1/-1 error of margin’ – brilliant.
I am at a4e, they have told me they are not there to get you a job, they are there to get you job ready.. essentially they do bugger all then when you do get one they claim the credit and money. work prog companies were supposed to use their contacts to get people jobs sort of like a job agency, but there are no jobs
Tell them they have wasted too much carbon and so to get them oxygen-ready they must be put in a safe with no oxygen.
The programme did not really question the premise. What if it is wrong to force people to work and this so-called training?
They act as a legitimate face for the scurrilous laundering of government (our) money to their pals in the private sector. I thought everyone knew that was their role?
I’m not sure that they do have a role, other than the purely ideological one of undermining JCP thus making a case for full privatisation of the JCPs role.
It’s just part of the neo-liberal notion, however now discredited, that has it that the private sector performs better than the public in all spheres.
These companies will never manage to succeed, as we all know there just aren’t the jobs out there.
This .pdf about the Scandinavian implementation of workfare is interesting, as it does mention the scheme brought in in the UK under Blair, which is basically what we have in place now with knobs on. The conclusions are particularly alarming, as the whole point of these schemes is to humiliate, and to create a category of workers who are forced to do work that any worker under ordinary conditions would refuse if they were offered the work under similar conditions. I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me that this is extremely dodgy ground as it involves active discrimination against citizens who should be treated equally. The document puts it far better than I can, and though it’s a few years old the fundamentals are still the same.
It quotes research done in the USA and I’m now going to follow some of that up.
It would help if I included the link
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/ses/info/publ/workfare.htm
Also it must cost DWP a great deal more to pay them than it would cost to have them on benefits,so there is no comprehension,as to their existence.
ok murray.. at least i have agreement from one who i trust, they have no function at all…thanks for the confirmation…
Your Welcome.
which begs another q how are the public taken in by their lies?
The public are taken in by their lies beacause it is easier to blame those around them, than government. Avoiding therefore the idea that the blame may lie, at their own feet of inaction and apathy.
But the public are not taken in by it… the “working” public just don’t care at all and are under the well orchestrated con that “contracted out” is always better than “in house…” something that all the big companies have decided is not true and does not work as its way to inefficient and has to many overheads of procedures, time, and cost overhead.
The big companies might like to pretend that they “outsource” but the reality is that although the staff might be in India they are now in house departments directly managed and run by the company… which cuts out the overhead of paying another companies profits for a slow turn around of business critical systems changes and impossible to define process plans…. while all the time selling their outsourcing services to HMG on the basis that its “better and more cost effective.” haha fucking haha suckers.
When you’ve got 1700 applications for 3 coffee serviing jobs.
6000 applications for a handfull of custoer service, and
Supermarkets inundated with CVs daily – some times even before the shed is even built!
Surely it’s time that Hard Working Tax Payers woke up and realised it’s just a Multi Billion £££ Scam – on them.
another fm…and these sharks want more money to do what they do, when they cannot explain they do in any case…and they get it..they are the benefit scroungers…
if I was the poor HR person all these applications land on, I’d be tempted to pick the first one out of a hat and recycle the rest. If they even scratched the surface by looking at hundreds, there’d be no time left to do their job running the company’s HR.
I was once seconded to HR, Was told just bin them all, Bin every cv they get, and use the lie we will store them.
‘File 13’.
Off topic- if an employer is harrasing me for access to my employment records can i charge a fee for this? ie £100 (for my consent).
PP…. Worth a try, but you may find yourself looking for another job quite soon.
They are parasites nothing more. They don’t care if they force people onto the street begging so long as they collect their fee. This country has become morally bankrupt never mind fiscally. They will reap what they sew these traders in misery.
john d…”run through a few verifiable typical cases, so i can get a grasp of what you do”…might be a question for a reporter to ask…instead of senseless bullet word speak..ie “that we help the hard to help find work”…immediately blaming the victim….for having no job…and we need more money, so we can help them more…as if the victim can spontaneously step out of there disability….”i have an energy sapping disease”.their answer.”if you just made the effort you could overcome it”, one is left speechless by their nerve or stupidity..never make my mind up which, until recently…it is nerve, the pure rudeness of their, answers…
WPP:”You know those legs you lost on an IED in Afghanistan? That was careless of you wasn’t it? Now as you know we are a religious organisation, and you are mandated to convert to Christianity and pray till your legs grow back. If they don’t, we’ll sanction you.”
I found this in the Provider Guidance:
“15. DWP acknowledges that you may employ individuals who originally start out as a Work Programme participant. This is acceptable; however the
strategic intent of the Work Programme is to place participants into
sustained employment that extends beyond the duration specified for performance and payment purposes. It is therefore not acceptable for you
to continuously turnover your employee base with Work Programme
participants, merely as a means of claiming job outcomes payments.”
Click to access wp-pg-chapter-9.pdf
If the DWP is pointing out that it not acceptable for WP providers to fill their offices with WP participants the problem must be massive. How many of the jobs were with providers!
I have seen no end if jobs advertised by A4e to work for A4e. I bet this problem is much bigger..
It’s relevant so I’ll post it here. Had Wank Pogrom today. The staff can hardly spell, and don’t know how to work their own computers. (They used to make me do THEIR washing up, till I got badly scalded one week. Epilepsy plus full kettle, bad combination.) So the jobcentre or should I say blobcentre, wasted all of my week so far, and want me there tomorrow all day. They said I had to go to work programme. Work programme said both I should be there and shouldn’t be there. 2 weeks ago they said come in a month, but 3 days ago jobcentre said go on Thursday or be sanctioned. Till I get totally confused. One guy said I don’t have to be there today, another said I did. Anyway they signed me as present, and were as usual slow in getting me a form to record my jobseeking activity. With minutes to go before they closed, they got me the form and I had to hurry to fill in every detail of 4 nonjobs off of universal tosspants or wanksplotch. This is fairly usual. Universal crotchrot wasn’t working properly. It listed 1500 jobs (not in region; after I specified region), and when I tried limiting the search area it wouldn’t let me do that, and also deleted the region and went back to nationwide/china. So I went to region again but the results were still all wrong from our old friend universal jerkwad. It was also slow and sometimes jumped several pages of results at a time. Universal knobcheese came up with some really silly jobs like dog groomer (don’t like and badly allergic to dogs), selling satellite TV (if you are here you tend to be: got it already; don’t want; or can’t afford.), beauty therapist (they generally only hire women, not ugly disabled men, and I don’t want to do it anyway), etc. The U on the new logo of UJ is like the U of Unilever, which makes me think of toilets. One of the jobs I put down on the form, paid much less than the dole. Only a complete idiot would take it, or somebody forced to take it. You’d lose your HB and have to pay full rent (mine around £65/week), before travel costs and bills you would be doing 40 hours a week and getting £60 a week. Out of this £60 left, you have to pay travel, bills, work clothes, laundry, council tax, and that frivolous luxury called Food….
2 or 3 of the 4 jobs required a car driver and owner. 2 required you to be like half my age. In fact none of the 4 were remotely close to possible ones I could do, but the other 1496 jobs were even less possible (or ones I’d already applied for).
Enough bitching at universal scrote-wart, for now, as I’m trying to conserve my energy to slag off the work programme.
What really pissed me off; is that suddenly after coming to the end of two years in which nothing resembling help was ever mentioned or offered, let alone provided, I was told today to:
They want us to write an essay about how the work programme has helped us.
THEY WANT US TO WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT HOW THE WORK PROGRAMME HAS HELPED US.
I’m thinking of handing in a blank piece of paper.
Another rule is that there can only be positive things in the essays.
So if forced to put something, I was thinking, I’ll put: “They have a kitchen where I am sometimes allowed to make coffee. They have a large selection of crayons and marker pens in several big pots. We don’t get to use any of them but sometimes we are allowed to look at them which passes the time for when UJM is not working, which happens a lot of the time.”
Or how about: “There is a floor. There is a ceiling. There are walls.”
In my ‘group’ there are mainly ex or current street homeless people. Most people in the group use drugs and alcohol. The environment is very macho, not in a good way. It’s all-male and in our wing of the building there are only male staff. A lot of the group are ex-prisoners, some recently out of jail.
That’s the context, how about the long walks there and back? Or its lack of disabled access? The staff lecture given to us the other month comparing a computer to a clitoris. The staff and service users whose every other word is Fuck. The staff toleration of racist, ablist, sexist, homophobic etc language from service users (on occasion staff even colluding in it). Their expectation on me to clean their building though they or their paid cleaner should do it and I’m not insured to.
I told the staff about how the jobcentre want me to go on a basic skills course (despite tertiary qualifications several times over), in English and Maths. I speak better English than the people at the jokecentre and am a writer. And was a journalist in the NUJ once. Also maths: I can do basic maths; and have dyscalculia but that is no reason to order me onto a course. A course won’t cure it or my blackouts, which work together to mess up my ability with numbers, so I have to take more care and time. And they didn’t acknowledge dyscalculia was a problem in the past every other time I mentioned it, said I was lying. Now they say something they previously said I lied about, is real enough to mean I’m ‘thick’ and need to learn to add up. They are thick. I know about maths and how things are done, but when having to actually do it I get stuck. Any number task, particularly in time-pressure, adds to stress, and the stress makes my blackouts worse. So (example from today) trying to add and subtract money in my head, when every few seconds I black out, is REALLY difficult. A strobe light is the best way of explaining my consciousness, at the times when I’m getting the most and fastest blackouts. Divs in Lidl thought I was shoplifting but I was trying to stay upright and concentrating. Trouble is the more you concentrate, the more you black out…. Ironically put me by a real strobe light and it doesn’t affect my epilepsy. After I worked out the correct price they changed the price at the till, usually it goes higher so I have to put things back, but it went about 60p lower. I then had to go round twice to buy pasties, which I’d put back, as on the labelled price they were 1p too expensive. After the adjustment of prices, I had enough for pasties, so I went back to get them. I felt, great why not get two packets? But! I still was 4p short of being able to buy two.
I think this is an area where George Osborne would struggle, as he can easily fuck up a national budget. IDS and Mark Hoban don’t know how much milk or bread costs.
WPP staff at least said ‘why do they want you to go on a basic skills course and basic English and Maths course.’ Possibly, if you have not been paying attention to your OWN industry, it is because the work programme is shit, the jobcentre is shit, and the people that run it are shit. Because they want to tweak the figures. Because they want it to look like we are all thick and uneducated and watch Jeremy Kyle. (I’d watch Jeremy Kyle too – explaining the evils of worklessness from the inside of a tank of hungry sharks; shortly followed by the sharks’ rebuttal.) In 2011 at the start of my current 2-stretch (!), I was criticised by the same WPP for being too clever and for getting 100% on their tests. Because the WPP require you to start from ‘thick’ and later make an improvement. So it looks like they’ve ‘educated’ you.
I have learnt: nothing. (oh that’s wrong I learnt lots of words to describe gay men, from other service users – guess they all just assume and that’s why I’m still in one piece.) (Would jobcentre like me to write all these informative terms down?) I also learned: not saying anything when people are slagging off gays, immigrants etc. as it’s 2 miles unguarded road on which they can then ambush you. That a lot of people are really fascist, racist etc.; but I knew that already.
Should I add to my essay on ‘things to thank them for’: being called (indirectly) turd-burglar and that’s one of the nicer things said; the weird guy from the group that has started following me round and stalking me; getting ill/exhausted from going there; having to repeat the same jobsearch I spent all day doing three days earlier at the JCP? The way that while on our mandated jobsearch at the WPP, others in the group:
watch or read porn; scratch their balls; jerk off; sleep; smoke; take drugs; drink alcohol; come in on drugs and alcohol; spit; constantly swear. (Not obviously all simultaneously, or they could go on Britain’s Got Talent) UJM sends them jobs to apply for like Chemistry Lecturer, Physics Professor, Laboratory Supervisor.
One week one member of staff told me to have another coffee, so I did. Then his colleague saw me drinking the second coffee, and said I didn’t have permission! (I wanted to say: oh really? 5 minutes ago the guy across the table was watching ‘big jugs’ on the internet and had both hands down the front of his pants, pulling away, it was under the table but still fairly obvious to anyone meant to be supervising us. And big jugs was not an archaeology show… if you are worried I’m drinking coffee I was told to drink, why aren’t you concerned about that? and if I don’t drink the coffee I could be done for Noncompliance or Failure to Participate, or disobeying an order.)
I suppose in a way I don’t blame him (the literal wanker), we were meant to be using jobwank/UJM, so there’s not much difference. But if I had accessed a site ‘of another kind’ (adults other than women), I’d have got in trouble, but topless/naked women was okay….
And staff at WPP were very slapdash in policing. On the same day one person would be let in, another would be told to go home and come another time, another would be turned away, another would be sanctioned. On days when people were sanctioned, often they were sanctioned for arriving too late, but arrived before people who were not sanctioned. Some people were sanctioned or warned over punctuality, who had been on time, just to massage the figures. At the start I used to get it a lot because I’m disabled and take ages to reach the place.
Or in my essay do I tell the truth and tell exactly what a pile of wank it is?
something survived …
(It must have been a long 2 years) …
… I have been there with the pasties (although they were probably scones) a few times. In ‘two for one’ scenarios, it feels so much worse to be only a few pence short, knowing you could have bought twice the amount and the difference that can sometimes have make.
An Essay? – have they completely lost the plot? As in the ones traditionally meant to have a beginning, middle and … an end (?!) – how’s that going to work? Including quotes wouldn’t be a good idea by the sound of things. What is with the ‘in your own words’ assessment in place of some kind of a ‘tick box’/set questions’ exercise? I can only guess that it’ll be less easy to quantify – not possible to collate/analyse all answers into an overall picture if everyone just hands in a subjective, open-ended series of comments …
Are you thinking of writing x2 versions and hold onto the ‘alternative/real’ version for future reference/publication elsewhere at all (or are you about to be asked to sign the official secrets act/swear an oath – of allegiance to WP)? (A blank piece of paper would be too good for/wasted on them … ).
* have made.
Dear Jobcentre and work programme, here staplegunned to this letter are a pair of pants. Since many of your staff are illiterate it seems, I thought it only fair I write my essay in nonverbal format for their benefit. The title of my essay is, ‘Work programme is…’
(essay attached)
Clue: Rhymes with ‘ants’
Why on earth were you doing their washing up? I sure as hell wouldn’t do the washing up for staff at my local A4e- the lazy b*stards can do it themselves!
~@something called BEST – not sure if they still exist but their name was misleading – a few years ago, I was ‘asked’ to wash up more than once, (along with a.n.other person/s). It’s not likely that telling them to go & do it themselves would improve the atmosphere & there’s a power-play involved however ‘nicely’ someone suggests/asks you to do tasks that are obviously not the reason you’re there … I also remember the more computer-literate people routinely helping others without any experience to log on, update CVs etc. while the ‘job club’ staff stood around chatting.
… Thinking back now (it was about 4/5 years ago) the person ‘running’ the group was an (ex) conscript from the same ‘back to work group’ – constantly wheeled out as an example of ‘look what this person has done; if they can do it (find a way into work), so can you, and here is the living proof …’). This person’s boundaries/professionalism were hazy at Best.
If they want ‘customers’ to do their washing up for them, perhaps they wouldn’t mind if a bit of water ‘accidentally’ got dripped across the floor or into the electrics.
B.E.S.T. = Business Employment Sevices Training, now called Interserve Working Futures. They have 13 concentration camps in the UK.
At least they realised they couldn’t really stick with the original name …
Wankers’ Orrible Rack-Stretching Time (WORST).
ITW (Interminable Time Wasting)
Interserve Is Not A Word, and Means Fuck-All
Electricity: gets everywhere with water, or vice versa. 2 days awake, sorry.
Noncompliance, reason 1 as in sanctions. You don’t know you broke a rule till it’s too late, so that’s the sadistic fun to be had with sanctions. You worry any act or omission could be termed noncompliance and get your benefit stopped. Deliberately disobeying orders is probably pretty close to the top, somewhere above coming there naked and somewhere below sticking an axe in their face. None of these will look good on your CV.
Reason 2, they collectively worked out that I, as the quiet nonviolent small intellectual veggie peace one, am now wing bitch. You do the math, as Gibbs on NCIS would say. Apparently this happens not just in jails but in the army, ships, submarines etc. One guy gets told (like the secretary in an office) to make the tea. SO glad I’m just cleaning the kitchen with my hands and not cleaning certain other things with my mouth. (If you think that’s picky, think of a straight girl. She likes men but should not have to go with all men that want sex with her.) The realisation that even the ‘nicer’ staff are incompetent at their job, came very soon. They seem to know it’s shit, so don’t appear to entertain the possibility for a second that I might inform the DWP/JCP of their openly committing fraud in front of me by falsifying official documents. It’s like they don’t care. They ask me to fix their computers. If it had been 80s computers the me of then could have helped, but now I’m hopeless.
They have a mantra and it was like, ‘you have to be job ready and get a job’ but they write down they or you have done things that never happened. Including things that could not have happened. Me ‘but I was 2 miles away’.
I taught computers in a4e to abut 15-20 people because their “computer teacher” didnt want too not that he was busy he just didnt want too. I even was asked to do tech on their computers as they didnt have the time to contact their tech centres.. The only thing i learned at a4e was to COVER MY BACK at all times.. and Trust no adviser there..
@eric greenwood i call it the A4E WELFARE REFORM PROJECT since to me it looks like they engineered it all…and yet they fucked up big time..how does that work?
s/survived…are you not on e and sa… or is this a sore point..
Another firm no one should trust is CIPD who are in the human resources game. They trot out labour statistics about employment rates. Recently they were trying to spin the yarn that there were some 300,000 new jobs that suddenly showed up..upon closer scrutiny it was found these jobs had been advertised for some time and had been repeated and modified with change of title or location but same one. Whats strange is that this self same organisation a few years ago was predicting doom and gloom and mass unemplyment for a complete decade !! Of course this was when labour was in govt. So here we are five years later in same decade they spoke of and hey the the economy is on the mend with these magical jobs appearing from nowhere. But if anyone should have doubts about loyalties that CIPD have with this regime that rule us..just after the last stats about the failed work program were published the head honcho of CIPD was saying that the work program was still a pretty good scheme and we shouldn’t give up on it. I wonder why he said that…
No I’m on JSA and always have been. It’s illegal for them to put me on it, but it’s against the rules for me to sign each fortnight. I know full well that even if I suddenly found a dream job, that wanted to hire me, I’m too ill to work. But because I don’t get DLA/PIP or IB/IS/ESA, i have to be on JSA and sign that I can work, which is obviously bollocks. I don’t like having to sign because I don’t agree and it isn’t true. They force me to sign, because if I didn’t sign I’d have my JSA and HB stopped and be evicted and starve. I hardly term that consent. Also because of ME/CFS my health is unpredictable, I can have a good day followed by 5 weeks of bad days. No employer wants that.
Of disabled people, most DON’T get any disability benefits at all. Of people on JSA, many are disabled. Of longterm unemployed, the majority have at least one significant disability or health problem. On the work programme: Depending on what group you end up in, 50% to 75% or even 80% of the group can have a disability.
Our current WPP group:
If you don’t count alcoholism and the effects of drug addiction and living on the street, it is roughly 50% disabled. If you do count those, it is 95% disabled. The only placement available is in Construction. So see how well suited the people on our work programme are, to becoming builders. JCP has now been issuing orders for some of the alcohol and drug using men with the least mobility problems. The orders say that despite the misgivings of the WPP and the construction company (which is itself dodgy), these men are to be forced into indefinite Workfare on the building site. An asbestos site. No training or proper PPE. Several have mental health issues. All are likely to drink, smoke and take drugs all day at work as this is what they normally do, and they can’t stop. Because the WPP’s performance figures were so crap, I heard that in August they lose their contract. The staff still get paid huge sums though, despite the fact that in 2010-2013 they have found no jobs for anyone (paid jobs). It is a sub-contract of Working Links. Rumour has it that we are to be sent to G4S next.
Insurance doesn’t cover Workfare people. Has anyone addressed that?
Construction firm does not care about using workfare, or about the fact that untrained people with little or no PPE are on their site (botching things up) while drunk, smoking and taking drugs, possibly during a psychotic etc episode. The main people that care are some of the paid builders but their contracts don’t let them be in a union, and they already risk unemployment so can’t say much. Their jobs are going because workfare costs nothing and there is no insurance to pay.
Comp to name the building, they should call it Workfare Towers. If the corner-cutting and botching is bad enough, the building could fall down.
I forgot to say: At WPP on Thursday I swiped a handout from a life skills course. Will read later and tell people here how dumb it is. It has things like wordsearches. How is that helping you find work?
In other parts of the same building they teach you how to go to the toilet and how to wipe your bum. (Not us but a learning disability group at the same WPP) A mixed sex group: but they (WPP) don’t care about dignity or privacy (‘they’re mongs, so who cares’).
I’d like to send IDS on that specific course and film it. Make him do a video diary on his bum wiping lessons and make him describe in detail how he wipes his bum. Put it on a loop tape in every jobcentre. It’d certainly get more people coming to the jobcentre. Their popularity ratings would soar. In fact part two could be filming him on the toilet.
It’d be even more popular.
If anyone thinks this is intrusive, then intrusive is what the government and their agents do to unemployed people and disabled people. If it is unreasonable for the public to demand full colour closeups of the private parts of IDS etc while they are on the toilet, it is also unreasonable to demand the things currently required of people on benefits. If anyone’s seen the internet news, the USA is introducing compulsory urine drug tests on all benefits recipients in several states. Probably also to be done in front of an officer (I think ‘officer’ is a typo and should read ‘pervert’). As well as pregnancy, other health conditions are revealed by these tests. It’s bad enough to ask employees to undergo it, but they don’t 100% have to do the job. If on benefits, you have no choice. If you refuse because it’s private/it’s perverted, or if you are forced to do it and fail, your benefits all get stopped AND you can be evicted, jailed, sectioned, sent to rehab, lose your kids, all of the above.
Some rightwing people want the tests over here. Nobody should have to do it, USA or UK. Fascist or what?
Okay if you are a pilot or something there is a case for testing your blood/urine for alcohol and drugs. But in private!
The middle class don’t have it done to them. If it is not tolerated by them, why should the underclass have to do it?
Did you ever consider using a concealed camera? I think you need to start recording all of this as evidence. I would not put up with it myself.
s/survived…
that is a major issue…the warehousing of the sick on jsa…a scandal…
Sounds utterly appalling. However, the paid builders on the building site do have the fundamental right to join a union as it’s illegal to prevent anyone joining a union, as spelled out here on the GOV.UK site:
https://www.gov.uk/join-trade-union/trade-union-membership-your-employment-rights
Though having said that, as a recent Panorama programme pointed out, the construction industry is notoriously anti-union, and according to some interviewed on the programme, people are still being blacklisted.
Your last point is very good – and is a major question over the morality of workfare in the first place, as everywhere it has been implemented it has meant the creation of a grade of worker, those forced to work for benefits, who has fewer rights than a worker who would normally do that kind of work, fundamentally begging questions about the equal treatment of all citizens. Workfare is wrong on the basis that it creates this kind of division.
@sibrydionmawr mcalpine were notorious for blacklisting construction workers especially when they brought up health and saferty issues..in fact blacklisting only stopped not so long ago when a company was raided for storing tons of files on workers…
Yes Bob, I saw the Panorama programme about it
@sibrydionmawr and this was long after the notorious ‘economic league’ that got closed down years before…
Well Bob, you as well as I know that these things are allowed to go on until it becomes public knowledge and the resulting scandal forces the powers that be to act. I think it was pretty telling that only the guy who worked for that agency that was the subject of the Panorama report got prosecuted, and that it was, allegedly, the big companies that paid his fine…
@sibrydionmawr and thats why they are called ”the powers that be”…
oh btw i received this in my email today ..it was from a labour MP’….you’d know him….this is what he told me:
“Robert,
I’ve just read the updated list of new legislation planned for this Parliament. These are all REAL Bills being proposed in Parliament by REAL Tory backbenchers.
Honestly.
I’m not making this up.
– Abolish sexual harassment claims in the workplace
– Bring back capital punishment
– Rename the August bank holiday “Margaret Thatcher Day”
– Ban the burka
– Privatise the BBC
– Scrap the Department for Energy and Climate Change”
there you go..they are having a larf surely…..
SS….You should maybe think about writing comedy or satire,I have not laughed so much for ages,although its a serious subject, I just couldnt help myself.Keep the heid up.
Tragedy as comedy..a very British tradition…
Do write comedy and satire. A good quote is from Steve Bell’s ‘If’: “I can’t satirise this shite any more”, because it was getting too close to reality. The difficulty is when you write sketches and people think it’s documentary: and when you write an honest account of something that happened people assume it’s satire. And when stuff that was satire or fantasy becomes real: Pauline from League of Gentlemen’s Job Club, naked cameras/scanners, underpants bombs, arse bombs (Saudi Arabia).
On the above MP’s letter:
1) Abolish sexual harrassment claims in the workplace
Go along with this. After it has come into effect, go straight round to the offices of the person who proposed it. (Be heterosexual but be of the same sex as your target politician.) Sexually harass them. While pointing out that under their law they cannot do anything about it. As it is their workplace. Tell them they brought it on themselves and secretly enjoy it. Film it and put it on YouTube.
2) Bring back capital punishment
This would be great. Let everyone over 16 vote by text like on a talent show, on who to kill this week. Do it for immigrants in detention centres.
“Mahmoud is a dirty filthy asylum seeker from Sudan. He says he’s been tortured, but he’s obviously lying. Shall we a) hang him, b) burn him, c) feed him to dogs? Vote now!”
“After two years of being a single mother, Leah has committed a worse crime: she is pregnant again! Should we a) Kick her teeth in, b) squirt acid up her,
c) Take out mum, toddler and unborn baby with a rocket propelled grenade? Vote now!”
“This couple are disabled and claiming benefits. Should we a) tip them out of their chairs, b) Feed them to the rich, c) Incorporate them into a road while alive? Vote now!”
3)Rename the August bank holiday “Margaret Thatcher Day”
Capital punishment for all those who do not observe this holy day. Money to be spent from your benefit on building a personal compulsory shrine to her. Jobs to be created filming you 24/7 and watching you to make sure you do not use it as a dartboard etc. New range of Margaret Thatcher merchandise. Relaunch Trooping the Colour in a new Thatcher version.
4) Ban the burka
Or allow burqas but only as compulsory attire for Jeremies Kyle and Hunt
(Junta). And for any male politician who voted against burqas. If funds don’t allow, all such people to simply have bags over their heads. This serves a dual function: it stops us seeing them, and it spares them the ‘upset’ they claim is caused by having to look at a black person. Added function of being useful for falling down open manholes.
5) Privatise the BBC
Launch a Freedom of Information Request to find out the names and addresses of all politicians who voted for this policy, to be cross-checked against a list of all those who have not paid their television licence fees. Backdate their fees.
6) Scrap the Department for Energy and Climate Change
This might have a point: Department of Nuking and Greenwash. For ‘Energy’, read ‘Nuclear Power’. For ‘Climate Change’, read ‘Reasons to go Nuclear’.
We need an independent environment department without divided loyalties, or such a blatant conflict of interest. It needs to be acting in the interests of the environment, for the environment’s own sake. The spindoctors should be sacked, as then more money could be spent on environmental projects that create decent jobs and actually help the planet.
@Johnnyvoid when you have time. can you do a piece on localism act. As to me its been introduced to prevent certain people ie poor folks from moving into slightly better boroughs. It also seems to me that councils are trying to get out of their duty to prioritize homeless persons and ‘reframing’ it to suit ‘people who contribute to the economy’ the reason i mention this is because I am suffering the fate of localism as the borough I am trying to relocate to is citing localism act by claiming i have no local connections there despite the fact I havd friends and an offer of voluntary work there of which I now learn can help with housing points which is useful for me. Sadly I only found this out after they kicked me off register. So I am appealing. Problem is that by this action it leaves me stuck in premises that is making me more and more ill thus fucking up any chances of working. My GP has offered to help as he knows ho ill I have become at this place. The tories policies are contradictory..bedroom tax forcing you to move and localism bill preventing you from moving..are they really that stupid? Ok I post this from hounslow council a while back.
Re localism ,
“Presently some applicants view a homeless application as route to permanent social housing . This change will strengthen the view that a homeless application shall be last resort and will not automatically lead to a permanent offer. The change will lead to a reduction in the use of council leased temporary accomadation and increased use of private sector placements although there may still be a problem with securing accomadation within London LBS rates.”
Landlord Newsletter June 2012 Hounslow.
Stuff the poor into private landlords homes…where they can be fucked over…how kind of them.
Yes Bob, I really do think they can be that stupid. Sad to hear of your predicament, but it’s pretty typical of how uncaring the system has become.
The business of placing the homeless in private sector accommodation has been in place for quite a few years now, especially with single homeless, and the rules were changed significantly in 2010 that made that increasingly the case with families too, as part of new regulations lessening the statutory obligations of local authorities towards unintentionally homeless – if a private let is refused on say, the grounds that it isn’t council or housing association property, the local authority is seen to have discharged it’s obligations to the family and thenceforth they are regarded as intentionally homeless.
@thanks SIBRYDIONMAWR i am not sure if that helps as i am concerned about ‘going private’ and being fucked over by a scamming landlord..mind you housing associations arent that reliable either..thing is since that local authority has turfed me off the register either i risk going private or put in an appeal but its this bloody issue around localism ie ”establishing a connection’ thats holding me up…any ideas i am trying to volunteer for a charirty in that area and ive been told that might help……with the points system..
I’m not sure how the points system works any more, in that it works at all, now that this bidding thing has been brought in in an attempt at making the system fair. What I do know is that even with the points moving will still be bloody difficult as on paper at least you will be seen as ‘adequately housed’ I would think, despite the situation you are in driving you slowly crazy.
The localism aspect is a huge barrier that isn’t going to be an easy on to get around, and I would guess that it’s too soon to know how it will work out, but it seems to me that it represents a tightening up of the system, which has always favoured a local connection.
As we all know, the fundamental problem is that there is just not enough social housing available.
Sorry I can’t be of any more help than that, but If I come across anything I’ll let you know.
@sibrydionmawr thanks i need advice pretty much..we’re pusing the health issue big time as that is all ive got to go on atm…i do have friends in that borough, plus ive produced photowork for that council and they used that as PR for their borough plus a well known charity wants me to volunterr for them..ironically it centred around me actually living there which would help the volunteering which in turn as i have been since told the volunteering would help the moving..!!! round and round it goes…..
Good luck with it, at least you don’t seem to be on your own, which is good. Hope it all works out well.
@sibrion ha i am on my own with it all that has a lot to do with my problems
So you could be told your landlord will be ‘Arry the ‘Omophobe or Roddy the Racist, Betty the Bigot or Katie the Crook, Charlie the Cowboy or Penny the Pirate? And have to live there? Even if they and/or their tenants abuse you, and they rip you off and endanger you?
@something surviced the all the residenst have severe mental haelth problems,,,one has been hospitalised several times for smashing up his room..another shouts his head off all day all night in a deranged way too which is very distrurbing..
WHO IS THIS BRENDAN O NEIL FUCKWIT?
He claims anti welfare reform campaigners have lost the argument…
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100168469/this-exploitation-of-suicidal-people-is-a-new-low-for-campaigners-against-welfare-reform/
Am I missing something here? In the BBC link in this blog it says Bromford Group, a non profit housing association has been trying to ‘help’ long term unemployed into work…we they are a housing association not the fucking DWP or jobcentre ..perhaps people will be paying their rent at JCP next? Is this fucked up and why do housing associations have incomes officers and send you leaflets about finding work ? All they want it the rent ffs surely…bollocks this is..
@bob, at my HA there is someone who’s called something like ’employment support officer’ (can’t remember exactly). The HA ran a 2 week ‘workshop-type’ event that was casually mentioned during a supposed ‘visit to see if there’s anything that needs doing house-wise’/general chat to all properties.
… Went to this – as ‘you never know’ (included it in work search) & it’s every bit as bad as you’re suggesting (if not worse). There was a really heavy-handed, psycho-babble led approach (‘we know what’s good for you and if you just get into the right frame of mind/re-write your cv’s etc. … ) from start to finish. At the end, organiser(s) wanted our emails addresses & afterwards asked whether we wanted to be sent any ‘useful’ information regarding potential work/’opportunities’. (Some of us – more gullible than others – might have agreed, even suspecting it wasn’t going to be a great idea) & the upshot of saying ‘okay’ rather than ‘no thanks’ was a constant scatter shot of emails – each less appropriate than the last. From potential jobs at large companies (retail/energy) – that seem to be listed on a job site (not UJ but somehow a bit similar) to courses for people in specific age-ranges (not appropriate), ‘opportunities’ for specific groups (eg. minority ethnic) – not appropriate and etc. etc. (This person is on a mission but it’s a very misplaced/misinformed one) & is a housing worker.
sn.. that seems to tie in with atos counselling of scottish council staff?
sn..seen “on the water front”, a real eye opener…palin did a spoof using aforementioned scence setter back drop music semantics…my life’s, harder than your life..etc
? counselling the councillors. It’s unnerving when they start to stray into areas of your life that they were never expected to be ..
Might have seen On the Water Front (is it with Marlon Brando?) but not recently enough to remember how it goes) & not michael palin’s version – will look out for them.
sn..sorry, palins spoof was connected to hovis advert…not brando..
so now we have a bunch of salivating dogs waiting to tear each other apart over work fest,”candidates” ie the sick/unemployed/underemployed…so unites stance is now no longer a mystery…
obd ~ see what you mean now, & mp’s spoof does ring a bell.
That seems to be about right, we are all just fair game/fodder for programmes etc. set up to justify newly-invented roles/expanding interference into our lives. I thought I was just renting a house from these people – but no, they want to help me to become a better person while they’re at it – as if the JCP/DWP aren’t offering enough ‘help’ already …
I was fairly naive (back then – 6 months ago) & thought there might be some ‘separateness/independence from JCP’ but there was someone brought in specially to talk up the merits of UJ … most ‘invited guests’ were more interested in discussing the bedroom tax, strangely enough …
i can see all jc+, work being held by councils, to be farmed out to contractors…with some in house processes going on…
For the past twenty years housing associations have seemed to hover around this area, and many would positively welcome more involvement. If they could get a piece of the workfare pie currently taken by the likes of A4e G4S and other that are failing, they would be in for a financial windfall, and that’s the bottom line. There is something very scary about the way that housing associations have slowly changed over the years, from being essentially a self-help alternative to local authority housing in their early days they have become increasingly corporate and greedy – take a look at the way that housing association CEOs are paid, and how much they are paid, and also that in times of extreme purse-string tightening there are some who feel they can afford to embark on building swanky new headquarters buildings for themselves. Though housing associations do receive some grant from the government, the percentage is now quite small, and nowadays money has to be raised on the open market. The only real income that housing associations have is rents, which is sometimes ‘boosted’ by service charges, which can in some cases be quite substantial.
I think that whilst there are some in the housing association industry who would welcome an increased role in the welfare system, that mostly at the moment it is probably government working in the background to push housing associations towards more of this, and most will comply, as it means more money.
@sibrydionmawr yeah i know about the HA CEO salaries ..i wrote about it on here !! but yes its all getting murkier by the minute..as you say its like a big pie that all these spivs are trying to cash in on..thing is they are sodding useless at it..but wtf they dont care if the money is up front..even the payment by results is bollocks as they screw up and still get paid…but its like harassment after a while..you want them to fix something in your home as you pay rent but there they are on your case banging on about getting a job when theres little of that…money for old rope…
It’s more wank. Get a job, and your housing provider evicts you for being too well off. Or not getting a well-paid-enough job. Don’t get a job, and they evict you for that. Even if your disability, caring or other responsibilities etc are reasons for you not getting a job. Or the fact there are no jobs, or none you can do. Or no employer agrees to hire you.
@something survived i am wondering if that will happen..being evicted because you are disabled and not able to work…housing assocations are to do with housing they are not the dwp..
s/something..we’ll all have to do a fit and proper person disclosure, before any thing else can happen..ie get food or accommodation…etc
BREEDING DISCONTENT and why the ‘philpott argument’ is bollocks
http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/04/benefit-cuts
If they did away with the Work Programme and MWA – the tax payer would save £5 Billion overnight.
We need to get that statement on the newspapers headline story.
VERY VERY IMPORTANT – STOP PRESS!
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think everybody has missed the obvious, I have been looking through all the releases by the DWP regarding Universal Jobmatch and all it states is:
You are ‘Mandated’ to create ‘A Profile and Public C.V. on Universal Jobmatch’.
Once you have done this (as far as I can see) – There is NO mandate to use Universal Jobmatch to search for a job.
This is why I think the DWP have left Paragraph 82 in the Universal Jobmatch Toolkit – maybe they have had to leave it in by law.
———————————————————————————
Actively Seeking Employment:
82. We cannot specify to a JSA claimant how they provide us with records of their jobsearch activity and Universal Jobmatch will not change this.
Click to access Universal%20Jobmatch%20Toolkit%20as%20at%2005%2003%2013.pdf
There may not be an explicit mandate to use UJ to search for a job but that doesn’t mean they won’t (because they already do) use a Jobseeker’s direction to make you use it for searching.
You can look at UJM but if you don’t see anything then that’s it. To order people to use UJM rather than other sites would be in breach of competition laws. I have registered on it have a look but rarely see anything suitable to apply. I use other sites. Universal Jobmatch where I am at least, is full of non-existent fake opportunities (company confidential), self employed positions with such as Betterware; where they expect you to pay them a few hundred for their ‘golden’ opportunity to distribute their leaflets offering goods already available at the supermarket for a tenth of the price, old expired jobs, and jobs repeated about 20 times with just a different area just to fill up board space to make it look as though there are plenty of jobs out there.
Universal Jobmatch is quite frankly crap!
@JD and dont trust the labour statistics firm CIPD (look them up) phoney figures and big fans of workfare..
I detest labour as much as the Conservatives. The choice these days is ConDems or ConLabs (whoever you vote you’ll get the Cons).
@JD i meant the labour market statistics not the party…it s the phoney tripe that comes out every now and again about how the economy is improving haha because all these magic jobs have suddenly appeared….
This ‘Company Confidential’ (sic) must be a massive outfit. How come they aren’t on the 100 Share Index????!
The supposed purpose of the Work Programme was to get unemployed people into “sustainable” work, i.e., paid work of an acceptable standard for, I believe, six months or more. What they were talking about on the BBC were “breaks in unemployment” where people move into temporary, sometimes VERY temporary, paid work and then back onto Jobseeker’s Allowance and roll back onto the Work Programme immediately.
The real question as far as the Work Programme goes is how many people have moved from unemployment into paid work which lasts for six months or more.
Last year the WP success rate after 14 months was 3.5% on average.
Does anybody really believe that about seven months later this has increased by a factor of almost ten?
Shouldn’t journalists verify statistics given to them are honest and accurate before broadcasting them?
If after 14 months they have a percentage rating og 3.5% then logic suggests (if they stay at that percentage) after 28 months the amount of people on the Work Programme will have doubled but the percentage will have halved to 1.75%.
It did not say how much the jobs were actually helping the economy, what they were jobs in, and how well paid or whether part time or temporary, or fixed term contracts. Or what the jobseeker felt about all this (the least imnportant part!).
What the DWP and Work Programme Providers should have done is reduce the intake of people to 25% of the first 14 months, then the percentage would have doubled to 7% – but they are to thick to think of that one.
“Wave of suicides in Italy as social conditions deteriorate”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/21/suic-j21.html
There are two suicides in Italy we could support,
That of Silvio Berlusconi and that of Alessandra Mussolini.
(if the name sounds familiar it’s because she is exactly who you think she is descended from, if that makes sense.)
On the plus side, Berlusconi jailed!
Reblogged this on Dawn Willis .
“No such thing is likely to happen. Instead, as 2013 progresses, a further downturn will become visible through the orchestrated statistics. This time the Fed will have to get the printed money past the banks and into the economy, and inflation will explode. The dollar will collapse, and import prices–as globalism has turned the US into an import-dependent economy–will turn high inflation into hyperinflation. Disruptions in food and energy deliveries will become widespread, and a depreciated currency will cease to be used as a means of exchange.”
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2013/06/20/the-rational-market-myth-paul-craig-roberts/
annos…capitalist fools…
Teacher: OBD I really must correct your spelling. You have written ‘Annos’ when clearly it should be ‘Anus’. This is now merged with ‘Atos’ to create a giant super-anus.
I wondered why there was so much shit flying about!
R Soles..
Sorry to Annos for misreading and making a joke, I met somebody yesterday with a name like Annest
DWP = lying scum. Shame on them.
Id love to know which mps are making cash through atos, they seem to have a grip on the entire political class
Police were called by staff at a firm that assesses whether people are genuinely too ill to work – after a councillor stood outside their offices offering free advice to claimants as they arrived.
Workers at Atos – the company controversially employed by the government to make sure everyone claiming incapacity deserves their benefits – contacted the force because of a “demonstration” going on at Mann Island.
But police just found two men handing out leaflets and no sign of a demonstration.
Wirral councillor Joe Walsh, who is also chair of the network of Trade Unions Congress Unemployed Centres, and welfare advice expert Terry Craven said the incident happened after one claimant asked them if they would accompany him to his medical.
But the Atos staff are said to have refused to carry it out if either of them were there – even though claimants are allowed to take a friend in with them.
Cllr Walsh said he and Mr Craven were accused of “threatening and upsetting people”.
He told the ECHO: “We were just advising people before they went into their medicals of what they should be aware of.
“A guy asked if we could go in with him and they said ‘no’. I asked on what grounds and they said his benefits might be affected. And when we asked for them to put in writing that his benefits would not be affected by what had happened, they refused.”
Mr Craven added: “All hell broke loose. One of their people came out saying they weren’t going in if Joe was in there.”
Atos began running the assessments on behalf of the government under Labour. Claimants must go undergo a 15-point examination – including whether they can pick up a coin from the floor – and the results of the assessment are used to decide if that person is fit for work and should be taken off sickness benefits.
But there has been criticism that people are having support withdrawn when they are too ill to work. The ECHO revealed in 2011 that up to a third of people on Merseyside who appeal the judgements are successful in having them overturned.
In one case, a truck driver who was going blind because of a brain tumour was declared fit to work.
A Merseyside police spokesman confirmed no-one was breaking the law when officers arrived at the Port of Liverpool building yesterday morning.
A spokesman for Atos said: “Claimants are very welcome to bring someone to an assessment with them.
“Normally this will be a friend, carer, social worker or healthcare professional.
“We are aware that there was a protest outside our Mann Island assessment centre this morning.
“We are trying to understand exactly what happened and until we’ve ascertained all the facts we can’t comment further.”
How long are the government and their corrupt little goafs, going to be allowed to get away with this?
lisap…thank you for this post
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Desparately Spinning. Check out the stats mentioned in the comment threads and the links posted there @Johnny
http://watchinga4e.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/desperately-spinning.html?m=1
IS THIS SOME OF THE REASONS WHY DWP DONT WANT WPP LIST PUBLISHED ? those close links with DWP and Work program providers…Check this guy out folks…
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-mason/14/97/a24?_mSplash=1
Boycott Workfare seem to have this list covered pretty well and so do Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_organisations_who_have_participated_in_workfare_programmes
quotes from steve mason (ex A4E) “Contributed to work of Lord David Freud regarding welfare reform (he claimed to have got many of his ideas from A4e and specifically named Mark Lovell [A4e Executive Chairman] and myself for our contributions)”
“• Regularly worked with DWP to help them to form ideas and strategies (mainly disability-related) ”
“• Contributor to the Tory-led Committee for Social Justice, chaired by Ian Duncan-Smith, looking at reform of the Welfare State, culminating in the publishing of “Breakthrough Britain”.
“• Member of the Workchoice consultation group with DWP”
“• Worked with DWP on Work Choice; Specialist Support into Work; and Pathways, the way forward.”
• Contributed to Professor Malcolm Harrington’s first two reviews of the WCA, including working directly with Professor Harrington.
“• A key member of the Work Programme Mental Health Group – established at the request of Lord Freud, the Minister for Welfare Reform. The Group has the interest of Downing Street and the Prime Minister. The work of the Group will conclude with a mental health toolkit. The Minister will launch this in November 2012.
• A founder member of the Supported Employment Coalition, chaired by Liz Sayce (CEO Disability Rights UK) – joined at the direct request of IDS (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) ”
“• Designed A4e’s customer journey and provision methodology and played a leading role in the bid development process”
Sorry but am I getting this riight? A4E a well known crooked outfit is / was pretty much running the DWP policy..why didnt they just let A4E run the whole DWP since that is what DWP is running the department for,, not us silly old unemployed bods..is this why DWP doesnt want us to know about Workprogram providers?? it makes you wonder dont it?
It certainly does make you wonder. This is what happens when Government’s work hand-in-hand with Business. The involvement of the Private Sector and the influence of their concerns inevitably undermines Democracy and erodes our liberty. The whole rotten system is corrupt as fuck, and eventually it will be exposed and will fall…..I hope.
@OBI is not the list mate is the ‘the degree of influence of policy” to put it mildly…
it makes you think these spivs are have designed the show all for themselves..which of course they have..
Sorry!
@OBI WAN KENOBI Just hold that thought for a second A4E the most criticised the most villified of all WP providers was in downing street and govt departments forming the welfare reform policy including Atos WCA and ..
““Contributed to work of Lord David Freud regarding welfare reform (he claimed to have got many of his ideas from A4e and specifically named Mark Lovell [A4e Executive Chairman] and myself for our contributions)”
For fuck sake wtf is going on folks??? ..its like the mafia running running the country…more on that later…
Their all in it together – snouts in the trough – it could be called ‘The Welfare Gravy Train’.
@OBI we ‘elect’ thse wankers fuck knows why and it turns out they arent running the country for us..but on behalf of corporates to profit by . but its us lot that suffer…now put that into perspective with info we have..imagine the 3 hour debate in parliament about ATOS WCA cruelty and in the back ground lord fucking fraud doesnt give a shit about these deaths etc because…..A4E was instrumental in setting up the fucking ATOS WCA…and he got all his ‘best ideas’ from them..??
His profile reads like ‘I am a tosser and all my friends are tossers.”
Capita, A4E, and all the rest. What is ‘Doing Work Differently’? Winning entry in a competition to see how patronising a slogan we can come up with regarding the employment of disabled people?
@something survived it looks like he was showing off about all the govt bigshots he has met…”look at me-i’m the guy who designed the work program” bad move mate as you will get beaten up..oh wait he left A4E and is a freelance ‘cuntsultant’ welfare to work bod (scum for short)
What we really need is a string of whistleblowers, especially in the DWP.
Everyone hates this government. Why are they still here?
Like an unwanted house guest who’s overstayed their welcome they just can’t take the hint that it’s time to go.
Like someone who gatecrashes your house, brings in other gatecrashers, slags off your house, eats your food, shags your fiancee and then shoots you in the head. (Monty Python, ‘The visitors’)
Because some turds take a lot of flushes.
@landless peasant its more pernicious than that because you have a profit making cowboy company like A4E working hand in hand with DRUK..a ‘disability rights’ organisation..i kid you not..???…
@obi wan kenobi ask peter bottomley about ”whistleblowing’ thats a story in itself i can tell you..just think ‘double agent’ or similar….
the government is now a board of directors, looking after shareholder interests…that is their function…
But they seem to forget that we the British citizens are the shareholders and they have a duty to be good stewards – they are, in part, trustees of UK Inc..
Sadly they behave (just like some previous governments) like insiders in a hostile takeover. Unfortunately a lot of people’s lives are being ruined in the process. I wish they would change.
harassed..they do not forget…they just do not care a damn…they are immoral…
@DONKEY i think its worse than that, what we have is a bunch of clueless fuckwits who have no idea about poverty (i include IDS in that ) to the degree that they let profit hungry sharks bamboozle them with utter bollocks and let them pretty much run the show…they probabaly are idealogically are on the same level too of course….’let the market decide ‘!!!!….despite the blindly obvious that the fucking market hasnt got a clue either…
chewie..they have no morals…they do not care..it can not be worse than that…we are nothing to them…
@donkey well theres that too..whats so frustrating is that when you post stuff about such matters people are shocked and angry of course but just feel powerless…..like they wanna do something but dont know…what to do…surely there must be something…..
chewie what shocked by what i say, or by what is actually going on?
@donkey fucking everything where do you start? child sex abuse? privatisation of the planet? .workfare spivs running govt..? tories bringing back hanging? margaret thatcher day? we are at war…..
Donkey…They are not immoral, they are just BAD BASTARDS.
should i tell my adviser when i go that the provider they sent me 2 2 years ago and got the sack after my induction as i was worthless to them no cv no way to even fake 1 as nothing is nothing and the only thing id put on my cv is name and addr so i dont want that for the public to see so im left with an empty piece of paper for my cv. again.
also whats with them wanting bank statements? as i have on line banking and dont receive statements any-more n like fuck im letting them log in to that.
is it going to be 6 months of hit squad then back to the wp for another 2 years ffs
@super ted the daily hate was telling us that claimants were handing in shopping lists to advisers and with notes saying ”i dont want to work’ …
With banks if you share your details/account with a third party they can close your account for making yourself a target.
@super ted the daily hate was telling us that claimants were handing in shopping lists to advisers and with notes saying ”i dont want to work’ …
lists of what? if i gave my adviser a note saying that id get a 2 week sanction from my jcp if my job search is not filled in.
o look just seen that the providers want more money as it dont work what a surprise that is and i even put on a letter to my provider 2 years ago saying as much haha
they need all shutting down as this is just a joke now money down the drain over and over they failed so why they not lost all there contracts?
@SUPER TED its called ‘propaganda’ ted its drip fed on a daily basis…so the drones can soak it up and believe the tripe to make themselves feel superior..
Fill it in. In poo. ‘You have no rule specifying the medium we can write in.’
sod tht if i want to piss them off id sign on in a Nazi ss uniform like in hell boy got the mask as well pmsl;
so if i tell the jcp that i have not spent 1 day at the provider they ordered me 2 they cant stick me on it again straight away or do i still go to the hit squad?
cant see it being any good tbh all i want is to do a course with recognised quls but no they rather spend the money on a privet company prob spent enough over the years to send me to uni for 15 years for what they spent so far.
anyone done a foi to see how many job payments the providers have revived so far cash wise?
the DWP need to actually start working along with employers instead of lying to the customer, that through the work program we are going to find or get work, which is total bull. as on the work program for the last couple of month i have yet to have gained employment and had any professional help from my provider. as the vast majority of unemployed are British and a lot of the new jobs are being prioritized to the over seas this is having a big impact on the local economy and the local population in finding work and being able spend locally, and with most of the work being advertised through recruitment agencies who only can give 0 hour contracts with no job security and min wage we are screwed
so fuck the gov DWP work providers the agencies
MORE WEIRD GOINGS ON IN THE TORY CAMP IN RICHMOND….DESELECTION TIME !!!
http://twickerati.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/twickenham-councillors-naylor-and-salvoni-selection/
joke is if i put my real cv on ujm site for all to see it will make me unemployable for the rest of my life and if i lie on a cv its fraud and will be sacked if found out.
with ujm site my clam for jsa is incompatible with the new rules as i cant give them a cv with nothing on it can i?
cant lie as its fraud
hit squad = fucked when i go see them cant use ujm as i cant produce a cv to be job matched to so using just that site for me to find work is impossible and it says on my action plan i have no cv or anyway to provide one so what they going to do?.
prob why the wp told me to fuck off n do 1 pmsl also noticed loads of ppl filling my jcp must be the first wave of the wp coming back n its rammed to bursting point the hole lot is going to be crashing down around them soon enough 🙂
cant post on the main site as it wont let me any more 😦
@ Super Ted
Don’t worry. If there’s nothing on your c.v., the JCP will put you on a work experience placement 😦
Well we Now have ‘experimental statistics’ on workless from our kind govt..
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/census-output-area-data-on-workless-benefit-claimants–2
“Bank of Spain calls for elimination of the minimum wage”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/22/spai-j22.html
There has been talk here in the UK about doing this (it is going to happen, soon), workfare is going to play a part in providing cheap labour to employers in a much bigger way then it is now, it will become the accepted norm, they have planned it all out to the last detail. The global scale of this evil is truly staggering!!!. Where is the left when we need them…Fighting each other in perpetual civil wars.
“London Metropolitan Police demand water cannons”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/22/lond-j22.html
As the old saying goes…”Preparation is nine tenths of the job”
So next time some bolshie mums do a protest about not wanting their kids killed by speeding cars, the hose will be ready….
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J.V. – up to you, but you really need to do a section on the new regime at JCP’s when people have finished the Work Programme – there’s some very important info on Ipswich Unemployed Action – I have already contributed a fair bit to it.
Please give a mention to Andrew Coates on IUA.
Hello All ..got any free time ? Why not pop along to the CAPITA Welfare Reform Conference in manchester and let them have your own thoughts..theres Also one on disability benefits…why has capita got Its fingers in so many pies i wonder ?
http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/public-sector-conferences/employment-skills/full-conference/article/welfare-reform-conference-2.html
Lord Freud/Fraud is in there, open season on that screw up!
@obi WAN well Now lets see how much influence A4e had over welfare reform..yep lord fraud again..plus cameron et al..
http://whoslobbying.com/uk/a4e#meetings
“why has capita got Its fingers in so many pies i wonder ? ”
Keep reading down the post’s to get the answer…
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6382&st=0
@annos thanks. There are people attending this conference talking about us using statistics and made up stuff to msjr themselves look clever and to do More business deals and grab more público money therefore it seems to me that unemployrd people and others suffering under this crap have a right to be there and speak up and let these bastards know what Its really like..i am suggesting that this event be circulated to as many activists and groups as soon as possible and make their prescence felt ..how would you like to be spoken about without the right to challenge?
Can BTC. DPAC boycott workfare etc get to this crapita conference ? If they refuse them entrance then it will just show that they just a bunch of ignorant money grabbing self serving arseholes that they are
Hey DWP and Cameron, if you are monitoring this website:
Here is a sensible suggestion, why not set a basic minimum wage of £25,000 per year, regardless of the job, for any job – this will benefit the govt in so many ways.
1. It will get rid of the pathetic UJ website – which by the way any criminal orgaisation can pose as an employer – regardless of your assurances that it is secure – are you stupid, IDS – COME ON, IT’S RUN BY MONSTER .COM my mum’s purse is more secue than that!
2. It will bring in more taxes and N.I. contributions
3. You will run out of jobs before you run out of people wanting to do them
4. The economy will grow from 0.2% to god knows what within the first year.
5. These are sensible suggestion’s/ but you and your paymasters don’t want sensible suggestions/ you the Conservative Party have to abide by your paymasters rules or you won’t be able to stand for any election, because they will cut you off (financially) IN A HEARTBEAT!
@obi WAN Isnt something obvious here?
4 major contributors to welfare reform
1 atos corrupt and contribute to deaths
2 crooked A4e
3 unum provident..outlawed
4 monster jobs fraudulent
All in it together
Bobchewie:
I know this, you know this, but until the workers of this country actually lose their jobs and have to face the new draconian measure’s at any Jobcentre whilst making a new claim, They won’t realise.
Nothing is gonna change until people within our govt. circles make it happen due to lobbying or humanitarian crimes that are already happening courtisy of the distgusting fu**ing coalition govt. (unelected).
Here’s a legal question: Does this country or even an individual have to go along with the laws that an unelected government have laid down in law?
To my way of thinking, the previous government laws would stay in effect until a clear and outright winner (which ever party that should be) wins outright with a majority.
Heres a really mad thought ..millions of really sick and genuinely ill people are found ‘fit for work’ by Atos ..then on top of that according to phoney statistics firm CIPD there are less work absenses due to sickness..so you go from being desparatley ill to being fit for work then as result get a job and become super healthy..amazing !! I guess we wont be needing that silly old NHS After all..as working our guts out 24/7 will cure us of all diseases and conditions and employment will soar…except for those doctors and nurses who wont be needed obviously….
http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/01/29/sickness-absence-falls-by-nearly-a-day-annual-survey-reveals-2012-10.aspx
Thacther created the dog eat dog mentality,and that’s the society we live in – until the cuts affects you ! I’m alright Jack – lost patience
So your another DWP/JCP brainwased idiot!
Enjoy your time working 35-40 hours a week at some despot’s whim.
Please let us all know where you have to slave for that many hours for you inadiquate dole payment.
For you = Your.
Atos are the same people who get you sacked from your job because your employer tells them you are too sick and disabled or that you’re a health hazard.
@something survived ah yes we all know about the Atos revoving door-its a bit like the revolving door of MPs who leave the job and work for the company who lobbied them..
Zombies that keep coming back or (better analogy) turds that keep bobbing back up even after you’ve flushed.
Mandelson.
See of these activists organisations can contact the conference organisers to see of they can attend and contribute . And of they get turned down ..make a Bloody great fuss and ley ppl know that bastards make decisions about others behind closed doors as Its a private club
I’ll tell you right now Chewie, I’m off from this pisspoy of a country that is supossedly Great, as in Britain, what a bloody joke we have become in the international community. A 2 millon win on the lotto and I’m outta here forever mate – will never come back.
@obi WAN sadly its same in other countries..these sharks are international . A4e have operations in france .and atos are international too…
Chewie – it really won’t matter if you have a couple of million in the bank – I would suggest India for a few weeks, just to get your bearings and then work out the best country for the money you have – bear in mind that a Lotto win is Tax Free.
Running away wont solve anything i prefer to stand and fight
You’re staying then 😉
FOI request on disability benefit fraud statistics ..”the request was partially successful” so thats ok them..
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/disability_benefit_fraud_statist
The ball and chain is whinging again – however it’s not an unplesant task – Yippe Ki Ya – as Bruce Willis would say!
Nookie Time – If I survive this – I’ll be back!
Reblogged this on HUMAN RIGHTS & POLITICAL JOURNAL and commented:
in Solidarity!
Went into the JCP Thursday(new Adviser) and asked her”As I will be finishing the WP soon,can I get a look at the Training or Work Placements available?” She gave me a confused look and asked what I was talking about, I mentioned Mark Hoban’s “Hit Squads” She replied “Who is Mark Hoban?” I dutifully pulled out the DWP Press Release and showed it to her, an even more confused look..”Where did you get this?” DWP Website.. Enter the Manager,”you may have to attend daily” Great,what will I be required to do? We will check that you have used UJM..Great can I use your computer..Sorry they are broke,you will have to print out screen shots..Can I use your printer? Oh sorry I forgot your computers are broke,how will i do this?…Use the Library..Will you pay for this? Also can I have a Weekly Bus Pass?…For what?..To attend daily as I am only required to pay for my bus fare to sign on and >10p per copy at the Library…We do not have the funding for this.
I’m pretty sure that they CANNOT mandate you to use Universal Jobmatch unless there is an Internet Access Device available for you to use at your Jobcentre.
I’m sure I’ve seen a Freedom of Information Request stating this.
Can anybody help?
hey everyone yeah ok..just throw more money at the poverty pimp trade….just keep it flowing …arseholes..
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/taxpayers-cash-being-dished-out-1956047
Universal Jobmatch Toolkit: 22.03.13
Issuing a Jobseeker’s Direction to mandate JSA claimants to
create a profile and public CV in Universal Jobmatch:
52. However, for legal reasons, you cannot issue a Jobseeker’s Direction to
mandate a claimant to create a profile and public CV unless a DWP IAD
service is reasonably available to them should they need to use one – for
example, because they do not want to accept cookies and therefore need
to have access to a device on which cookies have already been accepted.
53. You also cannot issue a Jobseeker’s Direction to mandate a claimant to
give us access to their account – this is their decision not ours.
Actively Seeking Employment:
82. We cannot specify to a JSA claimant how they provide us with records of
their jobsearch activity and Universal Jobmatch will not change this.
Click to access Universal%20Jobmatch%20Toolkit%20as%20at%2005%2003%2013.pdf
I’m pretty sure they can’t mandate you to use Universal Jobmatch to search for jobs period. The mandate only states you have to create an account with your profile and public CV -nothing else.
Tell them your computer is broke!
They have to provide IAD’s otherwise they cannot give you a direction to even use UJM. They have to pay your bus fare if it is not your normal signing day. They cannot specify how you show them evidence.
There’s a lot of misinformation coming from them it seems. Don’t worry, the Decision Maker will know straight away that they are getting above themselves. Don’t let them bully you.
Thought so. Giving so much power to Jobcentre managers and clerks was always going to end up like this wasn’t it? With people being lied to, bullied, victimised, tripped up, trapped and so on and so forth?
Batshit-crazy Tory is crazy – Mark Littlewood, DG of the Institute of Economic Affairs, wants the names of all benefits claimants (including pensioners) published on a website for all to see.
Derp.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2346714/Why-Osborne-publish-names-benefits-claimant–pay-An-incendiary-idea-save-500m-A-DAY-welfare-bill.html
He used to be a libdum.
http://liberator-magazine.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mark-littlewood-too-extreme-even-for.html
I suppose i’s one way to reveal the real unemployment v. vacancies numbers.
a f m
they keep pushing the welfare template, in such extreme directions that even the less astute to it’s burdening affects, will see that it is no longer welfare but all out attack on the poor/sick/unemployed/underemployed…and anyone who does not agree with this purple fog…so often wrongly referred to as politics…in the one party state, we are now in…
The “burdening affects” also effect those above, – local shops and small businesses, housing associations.
‘Round ‘ear in the last few weeks I’ve noticed local shops have got chairs in – behind the counters – for the staff! GOs recovering economy is going into relapse.
“With the Future Jobs Fund nearly half of participants were back on benefits as soon as the six months of their placement were up.”
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2013/06/the-work-programme-is-working.html
If someone wants to tell Mr. Fibbs, (politely) that with the wp the figure is nearly 97%. back on benefits.
@another fine mess-does the toryhome site know that delusion is an illness not a blueprint..
a f m..looks like they want us on the chain gang…building houses roads…perhaps we are in transi-tory phase awaiting hand over to who ever “wins” the next “election”…”oh brother, where art thou”….
@donkey i hear striped suits will come back into fasc-ion soon..
Will the daft twat accept any responsibility when any claimants are beaten up/houses firebombed/kids bullied at school as a result of this crazy proposal. And has he not heard of the Data Protection Act?
Utter C…… clot. This plan would say who lives where, and cause people to be evicted. It would say who is disabled and what their disabilities are. So burglars could rob them and pensioners. It would say who has kids so you could perve on or kidnap their kids. It would say where the violent exes of people can find them to kill them. Where women live and can be raped. If it published their disability benefit, that is like publishing their medical notes. Which is illegal. It would identify people in witness protection or who had to relocate in similar ways without state help. It would show who had a foreign name and where they live to be killed. If they were listed as not getting disability benefits, it would be used as proof you are not disabled, even when you are disabled. It would be used every time you travelled (even to conferences on jobseeking, and jobs fairs!), volunteered somewhere, went to hospital, attempted to have a holiday, stayed with relatives, got married, had a kid, bought a television, shopped for food… It’d lead to students being kicked off courses if colleges don’t want to have students on benefits. Dodgy healthcare staff could use the data to sterilise you or fail to resuscitate you, give you the wrong treatment, neglect you, or murder you. Others, like hackers, could fake evidence that you are a paedo (see ‘Casualty’ story recently). Hacked/faked data is more believable if they have some real data on you. It’d show who is in relationships with who, and who is a child’s parent legally and biologically. It’d show who is in a gay relationship. So rightwing groups would set fire to the house with them inside, or torture them. If he wants real names on the site, , Iain Duncan Smith and Grant Shapps are just 2 colleagues who don’t use their real names.
Apart from that though …
No one cares
Firstly: They don’t even publish details like this for criminals!
(Is Littlewood implying that benefit claimants are WORSE than felons?)
Secondly: The Data Protection Act prevents such disclosure.
(Littlewood rarely has a fucking clue about anything he talks about.)
I wonder if Littlewood would be up for a website showing earnings, holding, income and tax paid by everybody in work? I mean if it’s within the law what’s wrong with knowing how much money your MP or neighbour is making and how much tax he’s paying?
As far as I can see this just makes Littlewood look like a dick.
Which is a good things as far as I can see.
seems that comments on that thread agree he is talking out of his arse
samwise g..it would be interesting to strip and analyse this story…
Prefer to strip and analyse the dickhead that came up with the proposals. If he doesn’t like that and finds it humiliating, we should say: But if you have nothing to hide…
Yes I sponsored for years, at £20 a payment I think, a child in India. Are there no safeguards to stop child-endangerment git-wizards like this, from getting contact with children? I was on the dole and I paid every penny of it. People said people on the dole are not meant to do this. Or read books, or pay for their own education.
Smug git thinks he can pay £12 a month (his sandwiches probably cost £12) and he’s saved the world. And never has to have a conscience for longer than two seconds a month. Poor child that got his money…. If that girl in Cameroon grows up and has a gun and blows his head off… ‘by accident’? Actually money goes to the community not directly to the child, to avoid singling families out and making inequality.
something survived
Have you seen this comment and info by ‘angel of retribution’ accusing the cps and a police officer of homophobia?
A tale for the times we live in – an ordinary, honest woman who was punished by the DWP for attending a job interview…
http://notinthepink.com/2013/06/23/this-is-your-government/
Samwise, just read the article you linked to & I am lost for for words. Camoron witters crap about “doing the right thing” ie. getting a job, then someone trying to do just that is sanctioned for a MONTH, as a job interview apparently isn’t a good enough reason to miss signing-on time! How is this going to encourage anyone to apply for any of what few jobs are available from fear of being left destitute ?
This craphole of a country’s descent into the cesspit is complete.
“This craphole of a country’s descent into the cesspit is complete.”
Not even close. Wait until they pull us out of Europe and all the legal restraints that currently affords us disappear. Then you’ll really see the cesspit being filled in, and we’ll be at the bottom of it.
NHS privatisation is turned into good news for employment..how much lower can they sink ?
http://uk.m.yahoo.com/w/ygo-frontpage/lp/story/uk/894908/coke.bp%3B_ylt=A2KL8w95QMhRvRUA.Bsp89w4%3B_ylu=X3oDMTFyNHVjZDdrBGNwb3MDMQRjc2VjA21vYmlsZS10ZARpbnRsA3VrBHBrZwNpZC04OTQ5MDgEcG9zAzIEc2xrA3RpdGxl?ref_w=frontdoors&view=today&.tsrc=yahoo&.intl=gb&.lang=en-gb
This has happened to me.
BROKEN BRITISH POLITICS – CAMERON ONLY KIDDING HIMSELF
David Cameron’s insistence that class and background should no longer matter have failed to persuade the public according to a Government-backed study showing most people still believe it is “who you know” that counts.
Is there any wonder – Lets forget about the Lies ,Media manipulation and Corruption .Does Cameron actually believe that we the Public listen to a word he says .The coercion of MP’s to vote how the Government want by Whips who threaten them ‘their Gravy Train ‘careers are over if they don’t toe the line .The Education from Blair just how corrupt Governments are taught us a valuable lesson “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” .Public – what Public ,its us who are in this together we don’t include them .Cameron if you are so naive and we believe you ,your not worth your salary ,you haven’t a grasp of the job .Let another BS take over who has a better script writer.
http://brokenbritishpolitics.simplesite.com
my jcp has decided to turn off all of the job points permanently and has a a4 bit of paper on them to use ujm site.
asked if they was going to provide computers for the 35hr a wekk job search and was told everyone will have to use the library for that now and give them permission to look at what you do each week.
told adviser that you have to pay at the library after an hour to use the net.
o i thought it was free let me put that in my notes that might be a problem.
told adviser that under the data protection act it is not mandatory for me to use it, where is the sever located and how can i send a complaint to the ico if there is a breach of my data on that site.
told again it was mandatory, i said what i said is the law so what you saying ill take it to court?
adviser said im not getting in to that i say that’s why your boss is going to lose at court again lol
am i on the work programme yes
do you have a cv no or nothing to put on it wp offers no help and wants more money to do more than a library.
ill put that in my notes and see what’s going on as thats another big problem
i say no point i finish in a few weeks i want my exit report as they offer nothing training wise and as i was worthless to them hardly go at all.
told sign on n fuck off think i pissed um off big time 2 g4s was in there so prepare for a disaster.
forgot to say i also have to put my ni number on my job search sheet from now on and had to sign another bit of paper its the same 1 id sign when they kept changing my sign on time.
They now seem to expect people to have and use their own PC/printer to fulfiill their directions/rules. Cheeky bastards!
I’m pretty sure they can’t mandate you to use Universal Jobmatch to search for jobs period. The mandate only states you have to create an account with your profile and public CV -nothing else.
OWK Yes agree. I haven’t even created CV as was never told to. Absolutely useless waste of time anyway no genuine employer wastes time sifting through UJM CV’s. I was once s/employed myself and the last place I’d be looking for staff would be there LOL.
I think UJM was first created with good intentions of having our profiles and CV’s online for employers to browse through and nothing more, but the DWP have perverted the original idea.
I doubt employers have time or inclination. Seems the jobs I apply they’re swamped with applications most straight to the bin I suspect.
I have sent an FOI requesting confimation on this to the DWP, will let you guys know the outcome.
told my adviser i have no cv or anything to put on it as well and got no answer to that 1 after a look on its computer.screen.i got a ummm out of it though duno what that means ummm
my jcp now has no way to look for work and no adds on the walls lol so its as much use as the wp and costs a fortune to run utter madness r they that stupid that they want staff put at risk ???
do computers run on air dwp says yes and 35hr a week job search please wtf?
if they want a riot there going about it the right way im going to need a fucking force field to sign on soon
freedom-of-information-request@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
24 June 2013
[FoI ref No 2822]
Dear XXX
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 21 June which has been copied below along with our response.
I know it is mandated for people claiming JSA to create a Profile and Public C.V in Universal Jobmatch, however from what I can see it is not mandated that people claiming JSA have to use Universal Jobmatch to search for a job.
Can you please confirm this in plain english (i.e. Yes or No)
It is not mandatory for JSA claimants to use Universal Jobmatch to search for a job. However, JSA claimants are expected to do all that is reasonably expected of them to actively seek work. As part of this, we would expect them to look for work through as many different sources as possible. This may include using Universal Jobmatch if it is reasonable, taking into account their circumstances, including whether they have suitable access to the internet.
If a JSA claimant refuses to use Universal Jobmatch to search for a job and as a result, they are unable to demonstrate they have taken all the number of steps to look for work on their Jobseeker’s Agreement without good reason, then benefit may be affected.
Additionally, JSA claimants who have a Universal Jobmatch account (either through their own choosing or through being directed to create one by an adviser by issuing a Jobseeker’s Direction) can be required to apply for any jobs advertised on Universal Jobmatch that the adviser thinks the claimant is capable of doing. If the claimant fails to apply for any of these jobs without good reason, then benefit may be affected.
Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act
If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing freedom-of-information-request@dwp.gsi.gov.uk or by writing to DWP, Central FoI Team, Caxton House, Tothill Street, SW1H 9NA. Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF http://www.ico.gov.uk
Reblogged this on kickingtoryassonwelfare and commented:
lies, damned lies and coalition lies . . . great stuff from the excellent Johnny Void
we got 8 library’s in the hole city and half of them dont have computers to use so how the hell do they think its going to work?
our wp only has 4 to use anyway and to turn off the job points is just crackers a job centre with no jobs advertised wtf?
what they going to do if you cant get on a pc cos there’s a waiting list a mile long and only allowed 2hrs free each week and have to book it a week in advance so no 35hr job search then 🙂
that’s what I warned on 17th June about my JCP turning it all off.
So there you have it:
read the FOI above and you will clearly see that it’s NOT MANDATORY to use Universal Jobmatch to search for a job.
@OBi WAN kenobi Check out this link
http://infoism.co.uk/2013/04/the-experiences-of-one-jobseeker-in-using-universal-jobmatch-a-worrying-sign-for-universal-credit/
Just checked the link, UJM is complete rubbish, the JCP’s should have just kept on using the old Jobpoints.
@OBi WAN Heres a scary thought what if we get mandated to apply for these privatise the NHS jobs even though most of us disagree with the whole thing..if we objected we’d get sanctioned can ppl object to jobs on political grounds ?
Well you can object according to the rules, but it is not enforced. And a problem if there are lots of things you object to. I’ve had my dole stopped for saying I’m a pacifist when they made me apply to recruit children into the military. I got threatened when they’ve tried sending me to nuclear power stations or abattoirs, though I’m antinuclear and veggie.
Objected but was sent, to work scheme with the Scouts as the WPP. I disagree with the patriotism, colonialism, Christianity, ablism, monarchism,
and most of all homophobia. Many more examples, like animal killers.
@something survived. Do you remember at school we had careers officer Who asked you what you would like to do based on your interests. Now Its just about a job..anyjob even though you have no enthusiasm or aptitude…ppl slaving away moaning. About benefit scroungers doing a job that they hate..and blaming others….
Let’s get the word out.
That was a quick response! They make it up as they go along that’s why it is so easy to tear to bits. Presumably they mean jobs the advisor gives you in person if you have denied access to your account? You have only to say you looked at it but didn’t see anything and you’re covered. The competition laws would prevent them from making it mandatory to use. I do look at it and if I see a job I’ll apply but there’s very little on it (of any worth) agency stuff usually. Garbage!
UJM is mandatory
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/universal_job_match_mandatory_po
Yes maybe (as they say depends on personal circumstances – whether you have a pc (willing to use) or they have IAD’s available) but nothing says you must use that site above other sites. If I just used that site I wouldn’t be able to meet my job application target (only seen about 2 or 3 suitable jobs on it in the last 3/4 months).
It says in the work and pensions commitee report that ERSA had been releasing their own figures to make themselves look good… DWP should have told them off but no they didnt because DWP let the industry run it all.
This gives you an idea from this quote..
35. Sean Williams of G4S, a relatively highly-performing
prime, argued that shifting market share would bring about swift
performance improvements, as G4S had demonstrated in relation
to its own subcontractors. He believed that the market share shift
mechanism should be implemented by DWP as soon and as “boldly”
as possible.[26]
Its all about fucking market shares not peoples lives…
It is mandatory to create an account with your profile and public CV, but NOT mandatory that you actually USE UJM to search for jobs on it.
@OBi then the guy in the link was lied to..not only that mandated to open account in UJM and not use it makes it useless ..
Obi since you may use your own PC and Its mandatory for you to open an account on UJM then how will they know you have done that? Will they pay everyone a visit to check?
They ask you for your email account that you signed up with and they find your account with that (they don’t need you to tick the “permission to see my account” box to do this). They don’t strictly need this because they can also search by other methods, such as your name. But if your name is Smith, they will complain!
@lucozade you may use an entirely different name in your email address..so how would theycfind it and Also get your password ?
Lucozade:
You are NOT REQUIRED to give the JCP your email address or phone number.
DWP Central Freedom of Information Team.
e-mail: freedom-of-information-request@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Our Ref: VTR 2437
12th June 2013.
Dear XXXX XXXXXX
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
It is not mandatory for a person claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance to supply Jobcentre Plus with an email address and home telephone number. There are currently no plans for any third parties to be given direct access to accounts on Universal Jobmatch.
If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
DWP Universal Jobmatch Team
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/162766/response/398234/attach/html/3/FOI2437%20Response.pdf.html
Obi, you have to be able to read through their words. Yes, technically, it is not mandatory to provide email and/or telephone number to have a JSA claim. However, you have a contractual obligation to be doing ALL that you can to find work. They use this to argue that if you don’t provide a way of being contacted immediately by the Jobcentre, you are limiting your ability to find a job. This would be because they can’t contact you to tell you about a job that’s being interviewed for that day, for example. That would be an immediate sanction.
Your FOI is unusual in that they don’t include that rider. Look at other similar FOI responses where they say no email, telephone etc. is required and it is usually immediately followed by that warning.
UJM must be the stupidest thing thats so ill thought out. First you are compelled to use and fraudulent website full of junk of Which you can use on your own pc. Them told you dont have to use it for job search despite the fact that you are meant to do 35 hours searching with it and for them to Check using cookies but then realising this could be illegal ..then for them to check youve opened an account and for them to Check by getting your email address and password then realise that people are told they should never give email addresses and passwords out to anyone…and to think they had one consultation excercise Which amounted to one document written by a dot com entrepreneur. Hopeless. And stupid
Basically the lucky ones will be those that have not been mandated to open a UJM account, I have found that if you take your written Joblog (ES4 JP) with you when you sign on and show what you have done to look for work, they don’t tell or push you to register with UJM, as the adviser has to use their own decresion.
But, I have seen people who have no proof of looking for work, when sat in front of their advisers given a Jobseekers direction to register with UJM.
The upshot of this is, always take your proofs with you when you sign on – simples!
Obi did you see the work and pensions commitee report on workfare i posted Its very revealing
I saw the report, I don’t think that the W&PSC have any teeth, I don’t think they can actually sack someone even if wrong doing has been found to have happened.
They make recomendations. As if anyone pays attention to them
looks like my jcp is trying to con as many ppl on to it as they can get away with prob why they turned off the job points with notes on saying to use ujm somewhere else.
got an older foi but it says the same thing nice to have a updated 1 tho but i shot them down in seconds of them even utter the words ujm, must of thought i was stupid pmsl or my box had a red flag seems to have made a return lol
the only thing that will come of this is utter chaos for millions of ppl all done for money.
obi if my provider forges my exit report ie not been there 1 day lol who do i comp lane to as they took the ref fee and done nothing with it n binned me instead.
also ask Andrew why i cant post on iua site?
Super Ted:
If that happens, initally go see your Jobcentre manager, then go see CAB, but the onus will be on you to prove they have forged it, by forged do you mean lied?
i can get 2hrs a day at my local library that’s it have to go to internet cafe and pay if i want more time than that round here.
jcp lost the plot or what lol
If they can’t provide IAD’s they can’t make you use UJM. I don’t mind using my own computer to search but the day they start getting arsey with demands (i.e 35hrs jobsearch or removing the privacy option) that’s when I’ll get rid of my pc and demand they provide one for me!
EVERY ONE SHOULD SEE THIS
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmworpen/162/16205.htm
Well. what did they expect? A miracle where 1000s of of jobs would appear as if by magic?
This is stupid what if govt told you it was compulsory to use Facebook on your own computer in the privacy of your own home…ppl would go nuts and complain ..whats Next? You must not watch tv or meet friends or go shopping. Because in your home you must do what they tell you…
JD – The 35hrs jobsearch thing is for Universal Credit, which doesn’t come in to force until October this year.
Is it? Well that’s only 3 months. That is the stupidest idea ever they’ve never heard of the saying quality not quantity?
Lucozade well observed Its a catch all situation using that rider means they can get away with anything ..even breaking the law data protection act? It needs looking into
well they wont get a bank statement from me as ill drop this bomb on the stupid fuckers:)
Ask the company if they will accept a printed Online Statement that has been stamped by one of the cashiers in our branch
Contact us in branch or by Telephone Banking (if you are registered) on 08457 555555 1 and ask us to post you a printed copy. There may be a small charge for this service. and its 10 quid a copy haha
Reblogged this on nearlydead.