Tuesday 29 January 2013

They Are Not Idiots, So What Are They? - TLBs?

We do not have Work for Your Benefit or Workfare schemes in this country ...
"We do not have Work for Your Benefit or Workfare schemes in this country. Workfare is an American term used to describe employment programmes which force all jobseekers to work at a certain point of their claim in order to continue to receive benefit."
DWP here say that we do - JSA MWA AND ESE SCHEMES – FURTHER GUIDANCE FOR DECISION MAKERS ...
"Meaning of Work for your benefit schemes

3 The “Get Britain Working” initiatives, i.e. mandatory work programmes, such as the MWA and ESE schemes fall within the meaning of “Work for your benefit” schemes."
Government Lies In Response To Workfare Petition
 
Nigel

Thursday 24 January 2013

Read It And Weep 2


*****

RIAW 1, here.

*****

2013

*****

Forced Labour (WP/WF/WCA), Welfare, Entitlements and General

*****

Doctors in Blackburn hand out food vouchers to hard-up patients (LT)
 
Thinktank Recommends Issuing Benefit Cash On ‘Prepay’ Cards
 
Thinktank recommends issuing benefit cash on 'prepay' cards (Guardian)
 
Claimants to Pay Council Tax: Will this be the Coalition’s Poll Tax Moment?
 
Implementation of benefit cap starts in 4 London boroughs from April
 
DWP can run, but they CAN'T hide
 
There’s No Pay At The Y-M-C-A!*
 
Bedroom Tax – overcrowding more illegalities and perversities

The Bedroom Tax just doesnt measure up…and how to get around it!
 
Affordable Housebuilding Collapses – and it’s going to get worse

PCS trade union sets police on disabled activist for campaigning against the government
 
Government ministers announce plan to deter immigrants to UK by making it as crap as possible

Government ministers announce plan to deter immigrants to UK by making it shit  

Immigration: Romanian or Bulgarian? You won't like it here (Guardian)
 
See sample of new negative ads about UK for Romania and Bulgaria

LTB label for disabled and jobless people 'offensive'(BBC)

LTB (Lying Thieving Bastards) 'Label' Given To Disabled Claimants, BBC's Panorama Reveals (HP)

LTB = 'Lying thieving b******s': BBC documentary lifts the lid on offensive code used to describe disabled and jobless (Independent)

The Great Disability Scam, as told by Kate (BBC)

Watch: “Lying, thieving, b******s”… Whistleblower reveals sick views of Work Programme contractors

Panorama’s ‘great disability scam’ – companies get fat while the disabled are punished

BBC Panorama tonight: LTB’s (‘Lying Thieving Bastards’) is the new acronym for disabled jobless at DWP Work Programme provider Triage Ltd

Lying, thieving bastards, How the Unemployment Business Sees Us

Is the Work Programme solving disability unemployment? BBC reports on ‘parking’ accusations and more

Back-to-work firm attacks offensive behaviour claim (HS)

Soldier left suicidal after DWP accused him of faking injuries, tribunal told (Guardian)

ESA SOS: the world's silliest interview
 
Programme to help Redbridge people into work labelled a ‘miserable failure’

Work Programme Coordinator
 
Lord Freud: 3 million families will be better off under Universal Credit
 
Improving Employment Outcomes with Lord Freud and Mark Hoban MP (Video)

Disability benefits: Lord Freud to ‘clarify’ assessment regulations

The Work Programme: experience of different user groups

The Work Programme: experience of different user groups (DWP)

LTB label for disabled and jobless people 'offensive' (BBC)

Panorama’s ‘great disability scam’ – companies get fat while the disabled are punished

BBC Panorama tonight: LTB’s (‘Lying Thieving Bastards’) is the new acronym for disabled jobless at DWP Work Programme provider Triage Ltd

Dundee injured war veteran fighting for Disability Allowance

GPs and DWP-AtoS: ‘Picking up the pieces’ by Dr. Margaret McCartney FRCGP (Glasgow)

The AtoS Death Toll ~ Occupy London

Disabled Soldiers denied benefits: We’re the first ones to starve the first ones to die The first ones in line for that pie-in-the-sky

DWP tells ex-soldier with one kidney on thrice-weekly dialysis to go back to work or lose benefits

Disabled by grenade – soldier fighting for benefits says he is being accused by DWP of faking his injuries

Disability cuts: the big picture is terrifying

Disabled People and the Holocaust

Nazi persecution of people with disabilities and what this means for us today

Transcript: Bedroom Tax Debate Westminster Hall Wednesday 23rd January 2013

‘Disgusting’: Family’s outrage at bedroom tax on severely disabled girl who needs her own room

The Bedroom Tax: The Unkindest Cut of All?

The truth about social housing

3,300 Dundee households to be hit by ‘bedroom tax’
‘No eviction for bedroom tax’ campaign endorsed by Shelter Scotland and Scottish TUC

A quarter of tenants subject to “bedroom tax” now being forced to leave their homes reports N.W. England’s biggest social landlord

Shelter identifies England’s top eviction ‘hospots’ – top 15 in London
 
Welfare News Round-Up – 26th January 2013

‘April will be a very cruel month if you are on welfare benefits’ by Harpy Marx

Spare bedroom tax – your stories

The spare bedroom tax: a mess of contradiction and impossibility

Britain is experiencing 'worse slump than during Great Depression' (Telegraph)

Austerity may be hitting many, but it’s the homeless suffering most acutely

'Stealing to eat' cases increase as austerity bites (Guardian) 

Welfare News Round-Up – 25th January 2013

The 'bedroom tax' could light the touchpaper of protest (Guardian)

My time on the Work Programme
 
Osborne: Blames the snow and eurozone when growth is down, takes the credit when it’s up

Osborne blames too much ‘snow’ for his putting the UK at risk of a triple-dip recession

Have the Tories stuck their heads in the sand – or somewhere else the sun doesn’t shine?

Why are you complaining? The economy is running exactly according to plan!

This depression is the longest in modern history, so why is the economy still creating jobs? 

DLA to PIP: What’s in a clause? Sometimes quite a lot—as disabled claimants will find out when they are tested for new PIP benefits

Call for ATOS failure stories from 38 Degrees (Shouldn’t be hard to find)

Jobcentre Staff To Be Forced to Sanction Themselves!

DWP seeks ideas on how to punish 5 million people in work

Extending labour market interventions to in-work claimants – call for ideas (DWP)

Working together to help job-seekers in Grimsby
 
Work Programme Co-ordinator
 
Govt must tackle over 50s unemployment as SPA rises

GDP down 0.3% – economy flatlines through 2012
 
Osborne or the IMF – who do you believe?

'David Cameron's minions at No 10 might be advised to look at early retirement for one of his favourite but most over used statistics.

Half of retailers plan to cut staff numbers by April 2013 (C4)

A "hidden tax" on the middle classes: who's paying for our social care system? (FC)

Cameron busted on debt claims (C4)

Welfare News Round-Up – 24th January 2013

Disabled by grenade - now soldier fights for his benefits (Guardian)

Compare and Divide

Bedroom Tax part 5 – why social landlords need a rocket up their a**es!
 
Bedroom Tax – part 4 – more perversity and why it will ADD BILLIONS to the welfare bill
 
Philip Hensher’s Crass Hypocrisy and Benefit Lies Exposed

Work and Pensions Committee announces forthcoming evidence session on the Work Programme: experience of different user groups (CSC)

Charities involved in unpaid work schemes 'named and shamed' on website

Work Programme participants classified as "employed" (FOIR)

Reeves: Tories “may be attempting to deliberately mislead the public” over stats and government’s record

UK unemployment falls to 2.49 million

UK unemployment falls as private sector jobs hit all-time high (Guardian)

Unemployment: the key UK data and benefit claimants for every constituency (Guardian)

Unemployment: The Key UK Data And Benefit Claimants For Every Constituency

ILO report: unemployment to get worse in 2013

Lost Generation

The Shadow State: The "dehumanising, degrading" treatment of disabled people (NS)
 
DWP memos: Work Programme sanctions collaborators and no more ‘signing-on’?
 
Disagree with me, sure. But don't wish me dead (Independent)

Philip Henscher whinges on (and bloody on) after being taken to task for writing harmful garbage

Freedom of Information request 2012-5058 (FOIR)

St.Helens DWP Work Programme Spend per year (FOIR)

Analysis: Govt's response to Frost sickness absence review "disappointing"

Work Programme
 
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Universal Credit

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Universal Credit - welfare reforms
 
Green, K - Universal Credit
 
Goodman, H - Universal Credit
 
Reynolds, J - Universal Credit
 
DWP answers key questions on Universal Credit

Universal Credit: Preparation & Implementation (Manchester)

Universal Credit

Paying the housing element of Universal Credit direct to tenants in social rented housing (DWP)
 
Opinion: landlords should get systems in place before Universal Credit
 
What is Universal Credit? How will it affect you?
 
Statistics on people and households claiming Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and other benefits: Plans for 2013-2017 - Consultation (DWP)
 
Universal Credit – the ace up Duncan Smith’s sleeve?

Universal Credit budgeting advice
 
Rent arrears could rocket over 50% under new welfare plans

The inanimate object now preying on you…

Supporting tenants ahead of Universal Credit

Universal credit suggestions sought
 
£2.2bn Universal Credit project: boss passes away after just a few months in post
 
Universal Credit. The Basics explained.

What is Universal Credit?

The only good thing about universal Credit

Universal Credit Update
 
*****

Universal Jobmatch

*****

How many have revoked consent re Universal Jobmatch? (FOIR)
 
Universal Jobmatch ‘implementation updates’ (FOIR)
 
Probe after firm vanishes with job-hunters’ money (BN)
 
Universal Jobmatch – What should it do?
 
Universal Jobmatch Service Gets Off to a Flying Start
 
Universal Jobmatch Worse than We Thought

PCS Concerns re Universal Jobmatch

Complaints Procedure re "mandatory" Universal Jobmatch (FOIR)

Nigel

Monday 21 January 2013

Read It And Weep 1


2013

*****

Forced Labour (WP/WF/WCA), Welfare, Entitlements and General

*****

Alarm at rise in UK suicide rate

Male suicide rate 'at highest level in nearly a decade' 
 
Suicides associated with the 2008-10 economic recession in England: time trend analysis

MPs approve bill to limit benefit rises
 
Welsh find funding to block council tax benefit cuts
 
Osborne reveals plans for even deeper cuts if Tories win in 2015

Coalition sharpens knives for another cutting frenzy 

Borrowing is rising after all
 
Barnet's 'easyCouncil' faces judicial review over outsourcing
 
Our welfare state is being dismantled under false pretences
 
From Pillar to Post: Council tax blow to people on benefits

Laying into the poor
 
Benefit Cuts – Share Your Story

CALLOUT! Benefit cuts “skivers versus strivers” – The Guardian wants YOUR story
 
Conservative Council Leader Quits Over ‘Lie Detector’ Tests On Benefit Claimants
 
‘Compassion bypass’ as Coalition puts the squeeze on benefits and wages
 
Rents Set To Soar as Wages and Benefits are Slashed
 
Mark Hoban Begs For Help With Floundering Welfare Reform
 
The Great Disability Scam? (BBC)

Charities' silence on government policy is tantamount to collusion (Guardian)

Charities 'gagged from speaking out' by Government (Telegraph)
 
Charities 'gagged by Government'
 
Nick Hurd: Charities free to criticise the Work Programme

Government texts to encourage part-timers to work longer hours (Telegraph)

Get religious groups on board with Work Programme, think tank urges (Independent)
 
Improving employment outcomes (DWP)

Government to help workers boost their earnings  (DWP)

Opinion: The Tory Agenda
 
Up To 4 Million Low Paid Workers Could Be Helped By “Living Wage Cities” – IPPR

Churning

Higher Earners and Child Benefit
 
SEETEC Serious Concerns
 
Time to talk about the tax uncollected that would have spared us every turn of the screw
 
Majority of voters disagree with government’s new cap on benefit rises
 
Assuming the worst: public attitudes to poverty ~ Has middle Britain really became more Scrooge-like over the recent past? (Guardian)
 
Operations Manager - Work Programme - London
 
PayPal Gets A Slice Of £25m DWP Identity Contract
 
How to reform public services?
 
Bold new programme to get young people ready for work (DfE)

Can vocational learning tackle youth unemployment?

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH: WE WILL CATCH BENEFIT CHEATS (Express)

The real cost of benefit fraud in Britain 

Improving Employment Outcomes with Lord Freud and Mark Hoban MP

Who will speak up for the universal welfare state now? (Guardian)

Waiting... Again...

Help us! We're Begging You

Is Parliament fit for purpose?
 
The Truth Behind Philip Hensher’s Bike Riding Slur

Some people on disability benefits are fit to work (independent)

DWP/Atos/WCA: Unanswered questions demonstrate the Coalition’s cruelty

Paralympic Legacy? Not For Sick And Disabled Savaged By Tory Welfare Cuts
 
Is the bedroom tax unlawful? Yes it must and has to be!

Is the bedroom tax unlawful – part 2

Is the bedroom tax lawful part 3 – a financial imperative for the coalition emerges!

Work Programme Attendance (FOIR)

In the working class suburbs of Liverpool the battle with poverty is very real (Independent)

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Judicial Review of the DWP-Atos Work Capability Assessment ~ Mental Health Resistance Network

Children of the poor will suffer most under Osborne's benefits squeeze (Guardian)

3 Landmark FOI #WorkFare appeals hearing set for Tues 26th March 2013

Welfare, workplace and repression news: Mid-January round-up

Can the Government boost the economy by tackling sick leave?

Credit where it's due: Tory MP J Lefroy in WCA debate

Protesters Gather at the Courts to Oppose Atos

Atos comes under attack in emotional Commons debate

Thursday 17th January 2013 DWP-Atos Work Capability Assessments House of Commons Debate

MPs tell their own Atos horror stories

Disabled? Lose £156 A Year: Government Admit Strivers’ Tax Has Hit 3.4 MILLION – Mirror Online

Angry Twitter Mob Confronts Philip Hensher’s Benefit Bullshit

Unum, Atos, the DWP and the WCA; Who gets the blame for the biopsychosocial saga?

Persistent misdirection will perpetuate the Atos nightmare

Atos Debate: A Game Of Chinese Whispers

Michael Meacher MP: ‘My speech on ATOS Work Capability Assessments’

Oh irony! Tory minister decries 'demonisation' of.. WCA PROCESS

Thousands of sick or disabled people have died after undergoing assessments to find out whether they were fit to work, the House of Commons was told today

Lord Fraud Announces Atos For Everyone! The OBC will directly create MORE £100kpa HB families you breeding idiot!

Long-term Unemployed less likely to get jobs in Work Programme

Work Programme - Hansard

Universal Jobmatch employers (FOIR)

Lords debate Taxation: Families

Mayor should introduce safeguards for back-to-work schemes to protect Londoners, Assembly urges (GLA)

‘Monitor the effectiveness of London’s work experience programmes’ says London Assembly
 
Benefits and child credits squeeze pushes 200,000 children into poverty  (Guardian)

Long-term unemployment: The national emergency that refuses to go away (LFF)


The Tory Attacks on the Unemployed Constitute a Hate Crime (HP)

Welfare reform: the bedroom tax, 'a policy that has no logic (Guardian)

Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness (unless thou is the Salvation Army fibbing about workfare)

Cameron is HB Special Agent 0.00009898794%

‘More Daily Mail Disability Deception’ ~ The Iron Bridge

ConDems fiddling employment stats: 105,000 on workfare schemes
 
UK jobs ‘soar’ – unpaid work schemes have inflated latest employment figures

CALLOUT RE: ‘Thousands to lose disability benefit after Government makes eleventh hour changes to fitness test boundaries’

#esaSOS: YOUR HELP NEEDED URGENTLY!

Government Responds To Petition Against The Abolition Of Disability Living Allowance

Proposed benefit changes could 'exclude disabled' (BBC)

Personal Independence Payment (DWP)

PIP timetable

Personal Independant Allowance (PIP)

200,000 Children To Be Plunged Into Poverty Due To Lower Than Inflation Benefits Uprating

Raise Taxes For The Super Rich And There Would Be No Need For Benefit Cuts – Michael Meacher MP

Number of Black and Ethnic Minorities who got work or training through Governments Work Programme. Please specify the number of ethnic minorities in London who got either work or training through the Governments Work Programme (FOIR)

Jan 14 2013 

UK Government's benefit changes are a 'social atrocity' - Minister (WOL)

"A Welsh Government Minister has launched a blistering attack on benefit changes being introduced by the UK Government – labelling them a “social atrocity” that amounted to neo-Thatcherite reforms “at its foulest”."

Sanctions and the Work Programme

***** Work Programme evaluation: Findings from the first phase of qualitative research on programme delivery (DWP) *****

Another Public service filling the cuts with workfare

New public service card to crack down on welfare fraud (Eire)

Why we’ll never have full employment – even though we need it

Co-op Ditch Atos – Keep Up The Pressure, It Works

Work Capability Assessment Faces Court Challenge

Disability benefit changes 'should be reconsidered' (BBC)

Tuesday 15 January 2013 15.55 GMT 

Statistics cast doubt on coalition's '500,000 new jobs' claim (Guardian)

"Government claims to have created an additional 500,000 jobs in the past year have been called into question after it was revealed that one in five of the people involved are on government work schemes, including tens of thousands still claiming unemployment benefits."

"Statistics cast doubt on coalition's '500,000 new jobs' claim"

Saturday, 12 January 2013

How I View The Work Programme
Tea and Sympathy?

"Dread, it seems to pervade my life in dealing with this new order. Dreading appointments, dreading being given appointments, dreading travelling to appointments, dreading having to wait an hour in the cold for the next bus home after the appointment, dreading whether my benefit will be stopped, dreading whether i have to do this or that. This is what the DWP brings out in me and it's completely beyond their remit of help and assistance."

16th January 2013

Centre Manager-Work Programme

"The Centre Manager post will involve taking full responsibility for the delivery of contractual performance targets on the Work Programme. You will develop and motivate a team of advisers to work to their full potential and achieve individual and team targets. The role also requires strong financial acumen with the ability to produce and analyse financial documents to remain within budget and identify areas for development."

Praise for Wirral Autistic Society job training scheme (WG)

Tory councils to defy David Cameron’s tax rise ban (Telegraph)

Poll Tax II: the coalition plans even bigger cuts to Council Tax Benefit (New Statesman)

Government denies further council tax benefit cuts

Liverpool public meeting: Combat The Bedroom Tax!

Angry Liverpool Bedroom Tax Meeting Vows 'Can't Pay, Won't Pay'

The future’s terrifying – if the future’s Tory
 
Millionaire’s government will make paupers of us all

Matthew Oakley: Tory Stooge Appointed to Independent Welfare Scrutiny Commitee

Government announces new member to the Social Security Advisory Committee

Manslaughter by Ministers
 
Incapacity Benefits: Deaths of recipients (DWP)

Benefit changes 2013 – What’s going to happen

Benefits reform ‘to force 1 in 4 into poverty' (Scotsman)

Government to hire private companies to find work for long-term unemployed (Eire) 

My experience with the work programme so far


NCVO: Rehabilitation reform must not repeat mistakes of Work Programme

'Job-ready' claimants get priority in work programme, say academics (Guardian)

Don't mention the Work Programme

A4e's Emma Harrison paid £1.5m dividend despite pre-tax loss
 
£1.5m dividend for Harrison despite fall into red for A4e

A4e's accounts for 2011 - 2012 published 

The Work Programme: what is the role of skills?
 
Threat to derail £26,000 benefits cap as Labour plans to support bishops' call for amendment (Daily Mail)

Work and pensions chief defends benefit cap (FT)

Iain Duncan Smith defends benefits cap before Lords vote (Guardian)
 
Benefit cuts 'will see more children taken into care' (Independent)

The Beginning Of The End (Of The Journey)

Revealed: soldiers, nurses and teachers hit by benefit curbs (Guardian)

Iain Duncan Smith’s shirkers and scroungers: Soldiers, teachers and nurses

Westminster and welfare: the politics of 'them and us' (Guardian)

Work Programme Attendance (FOIR)

ACEVO with Shaw Trust and CDG launch inquiry on future Work Programme challenges

Work Programme sector inquiry Managing the Impact of Housing Benefit Reform and the Work Programme

Benefit uprating about fairness? No. The OBCs systemic flaw makes that clear

*****

Universal Credit

*****

The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2013
 
Universal Credit: part-timers to get monthly statements and texts from DWP
 
Universal Credit - An Introduction
 
Universal Credit is coming. The time to act is now!
 
Workers who claim benefits told to increase hours or lose universal credit (Guardian) 

Universal Credit

Universal Credit Poll January 2013
 
Universal Credit – what is it? The new benefits system explained

Universal Credit – 800,000 more households stand to lose
 
Consultation: Universal Credit service charges – guidance for landlords
 
Universal Credit: Preparation and Implementation

Media release: Addressing flaws in universal credit could stop more Scots falling into poverty

Is the public prepared for the benefits battering of 2013?

How GPs Can End the Atos Death Toll
 
Universal credit could lead to a 'benefit crisis'
 
Matthew d'Ancona: So IDS won his benefits cap but Universal Credit and taking on grey power will not be so easy (ES)

Lucy Powell MP asks Prime Minister’s Question
 
Disability Rights UK Factsheet: Universal credit (UC)
 
Lone parents worse off under Universal Credit, warns Barnardo's

Message to private landlords: give universal credit a chance (Guardian)

Lone parents hit by childcare costs

Full Impact Assessment of Universal Credit Published

Universal Credit - Impact Assessment (IA) (DWP)

More On Universal Credit - Stable Door Edition 

Universal credit worrying all the time about it 

Universal Credit - What is Universal Credit?

Universal Credit and Landlords

IB to ESA I got the form

Universal Credit and Conditionality (FOIR)

*****

Universal Jobmatch

*****

SolFed launches Universal Jobmatch info site

Universal Jobmatch: Key Facts for Benefit Claimants
 
Universal Jobmatch Guide for Jobseekers
 
Revoke consent when already given on Universal Jobmatch (FOIR)
 
Universal Jobmatch Not Mandatory PCS Confirms
 
Universal Jobmatch toolkit chapter 3 (FOIR)

Universal Jobmatch: 5 critical facts and tips for jobseekers
 
Universal Jobmatch fake?
 
jobsearch.direct.gov.uk / universal job match Has Been Overtaken By Spammers

Universal Jobmatch: Update (PCS)

Universal Jobmatch: How to remove DWP account access if given

DWP’s ‘Universal Jobmatch’ site attracts criticism

Universal Job Match

DWP issues Universal Jobmatch reminder to Jobcentres: Not Mandatory, No Directions & No Sanctions

Scrap jobcentre's universal jobmatch

Councils ousted from welfare board

Are jobcentres bullying claimants illegally?

Universal Jobmatch and rights guaranteed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (FOIR)
 
Universal Jobmatch: 5 critical facts and tips for jobseekers (10/1/13)

Universal Credit Needs Universal Jobmatch – So Do Not Tick The Box 

Universal Credit Needs Universal Jobmatch – So Do Not Tick The Box

Universal Jobmatch employers (FOIR)

Universal Jobmatch: “claimants will not be required to apply for jobs” only on Universal Jobmatch (FOIR)

DWP Central Freedom of Information Team  (FOIR Response)

Universal Credit Needs Universal Jobmatch – So Do Not Tick The Box

Universal Jobmatch service (FOIR)

Universal Jobmatch blocked jobs (FOIR)
 
Universal Jobmatch positive publicity (FOIR)

Information returned from cookies on universal jobmatch  (FOIR)

Internet Access Devices (IAD) for Universal Jobmatch  (FOIR)

dwp: Stop the mandatory nature of Universal Jobmatch

***** 

Getting Britain back to work (BN)

Friday 04 January 2013

Do government work schemes ever work? (C4)

"As Labour announces plans to guarantee jobs for the long-term unemployed, Channel 4 News assesses whether government schemes - from the new deal to the work programme - actually work."

Evening Standard comment: Labour’s jobless plan and a welfare debate  (ES)

1/1/13

Will the UK topple down a 'welfare cliff' in three months' time?  (Guardian)

"The US turmoil over fiscal matters has a mirror in the crisis approaching the welfare state, argues Dan Silver, as use of UK food banks rises six-fold "

Benefits Rise By 1%, Food Prices Rise By 5% ?

It wasn't Labour who spent too much, it was the banks. How did we forget this? (Guardian)

*****

The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013

2012

New research shows 400,000 people will spend a second successive Christmas on the dole (LFF)

Change to the Work Programme Requirements of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) Credits Only Claimants (DWP)

Work Programme performance statistics: Inclusion analysis (Inclusion)

Social Market Foundation response to Work Programme figures (SMF)

SMF briefing on the Work Programme (SMF)

Welfare and Employment: Evaluation of the Work Programme (SPRU)

Only 3.5% of people referred to Work Programme find long-term jobs (Guardian)

Data shows Work Programme failures (Guardian)

Work Programme: why I knew the figures would be awful (Guardian)

Is the DWP preparing to bury bad news on the Work Programme? (New Statesman)

FactCheck: Why the Work Programme isn’t working – yet (C4)

Work Programme - Work and Pensions

Work Programme - Advice Needed

The Work Programme New Thread

Back-to-work scheme scrapped by Cameron 'produced net gain for UK' (Guardian)

*****

Universal credit is falling apart insiders claim

Are social landlords complicit in the bedroom tax?

Latest on Universal Credit (DWP)
 
Latest updates – Universal Credit for local authorities (DWP)
 
Implementing Universal Credit: will the reforms improve the service for users? (Inclusion)

Introduction to Universal Credit (NCVYS)

Universal Credit (DWP)

Universal Credit: welfare that works (DWP)

Universal credit plan 'is a disaster in the making', says minister just months ahead of launch (Daily Mail)

Universal Credit implementation: meeting the needs of vulnerable claimants (HoCWaPC)

*****

MHRN WCA Judicial Review Update

Mental Health Resistance Network

*****

Long-term unemployment in 2012 (Inclusion)

*****

Work Programme statistics (DWP)

Work Programme Provider Guidance (DWP)

Work Programme Provider Live Running Memos (DWP)

Statistics on Employment Programme support (DWP)

Nigel

Friday 18 January 2013

Do It Yourself, Mark Cannot be Arsed To Know Such Things

Work Programme

Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 16 January 2013, c789W)

Request ...
Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd, Labour)
"To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful job outcomes from the Work programme there have been in each parliamentary constituency in the last 12 months; what proportion of the total number of successful outcomes are in each parliamentary constituency; and what proportion of total referrals to the programme have resulted in job outcomes."
Reply ...
Mark Hoban (Fareham, Conservative)
"Statistics on how many successful job outcomes from the Work programme there have been in each parliamentary constituency in the last 12 months; what proportion of the total number of successful outcomes are in each parliamentary constituency; and what proportion of total referrals to the programme have resulted in job outcomes can be found at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
Guidance for users can be found at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf "
Nigel

Thursday 17 January 2013

Universal Certainty


07-01-2013 17:32 PM 

Universal Credit - anyway of getting Rent Paid direct to LL?

Request ... 
"Universal Credit - anyway of getting Rent Paid direct to LL?
hi, We have two houses that we let out to tenants on housing benefit, income support etc. With the new universal credit coming in, I have read the rent will be paid direct to the tenants. I have had lots of problems with tenanats in the past where rent was paid directly to them. They just use up the money on everything, apart from the rent! Is there anyway I can have rent paid to me directly?
Thanks Aero"
Reply ...
"Under normal circumstances --- No. suggest if you always have problems, that you remove the problems. Let to working people, then most of the problems go away. Simples."
R.a.M."
*****

January 22, 2013

Rents Set To Soar as Wages and Benefits are Slashed

"Over one third of landlords are planning rent rises already this year, with around a quarter set to inflict an inflation busting 3% hike on struggling tenants a new survey has revealed.

The stark warning was issued by letting agents Spareroom, who also recently revealed that rents for rooms in shared houses had rocketed by a staggering 7% in the last year."

Nigel

Tuesday 15 January 2013

How Twee - Are They Not Supposed To Be Doing It Anyway?


Tuesday 15 January 2013: Published on Monday 14 January 2013 09:02

Give us a chance to work (Star)

"TODAY The Star kick starts a campaign to get Sheffield’s unemployed back into work - as latest figures show more than 17,000 city residents rely on jobseeker benefits.

The We Want to Work campaign is giving 10 candidates taking part in the Government’s work programme the chance to showcase their skills and potential.

The Star has joined forces with Action 4 Employment to give these men and women a platform to pitch to prospective employers.

The initiative comes as latest jobless figures show 4.6 per cent of the city’s population is on Jobseekers’ Allowance.

Every week The Star will profile jobseekers as they work on their CVs, prepare for interviews, and gain qualifications to boost their chances of securing employment.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Sheffield MP Nick Clegg has also given backing to the campaign."

STAR CAMPAIGN: Backing Sheffield’s jobhunters to find work - VIDEO (Star)

Tuesday 15 January 2013 07.00 GMT

Former Sheffield driver eyes return to work routine (Star)

Sheffield gets a taste of cold steel as spending cuts hit (Guardian)

"The city's financial plight is set to affect a devastating range of local services. Kevin Meagher reports on the range of cuts following the Government's austerity squeeze."

Leading MPs back The Star’s back-to-work in Sheffield campaign (Star)

Joanne just wants work (Star)

Daryl has determination to get on career ladder (Star)

On the right lines: Chris gets fast track back to work (Mirror)

Nigel

Monday 14 January 2013

DBSabled

The Issue ...

*****

"Construction People Recruitment Solutions Ltd

Labourer

Job description

We require 10 labourers to join our clients team for ongoing contracts. The applicants must have a current CRB check in place. Only people who can provide proof of this by means of a certificate will be considered. The work may involve some travel in the UK but will not usually require lodging away. Interested candidates should forward their details and a copy of their CRB certificate by email to or fax to 01274 531599 or post to the address provided. Our client is extremely busy with work throughout the year."

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/GetJob.aspx?JobID=718185&JobTitle=Labourer&where=s611sg&rad=20&rad_units=miles&pp=25&sort=rv.dt.di&vw=b&re=4&setype=2&pg=8&AVSDM=

*****

DBS eligibility guidance, v1, December 2012 

DBS checks: eligibility guidance

"Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, a person with a criminal record is not required to disclose any spent convictions unless the position they are applying for, or are currently undertaking, is listed as an exception under the act.

Your Legal Responsibility

Before an organisation considers asking a person to make an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, they are legally responsible for ensuring that they are entitled to ask that person to reveal their conviction history. The information below includes the latest amendments introduced as a result of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and describes occupations that are known as the exceptions to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This is not an exhaustive list as some roles included in the list of exceptions obtain conviction information via other means.

The Ministry of Justice has stated that organisations should not insist that a DBS check forms part of a recruitment exercise or bid when tendering for contracts, unless the services provided meet the criteria for an eligible DBS check as defined by the exceptions, as this would breach employment law."

e.g.

Version 1.2, September 2012

CRB Disclosure & Barring: Frequently Asked Questions

"6.1 Can I make it a contractual obligation for my service provider to CRB check their employees and contractors?

Yes, however you cannot ask for all staff to be CRB checked, as the same rules apply to eligibility and it is not necessarily the case that all staff within the contracted organisation will need, or be eligible for a CRB check. You are also not able to ask the contracted organisation for copies of the completed disclosures. A familiar misconception surrounds contractors whose services involve working in council or private dwellings and thus assume that individuals living alone, especially the elderly, are all vulnerable.

If any contracting authority or tenderee is unsure if a position of employment warrants a CRB check they should contact the Customer Service department at CRB ... It should be noted that it is illegal to insist that a CRB check forms part of a tender, unless the services provided meet the criteria for an eligible CRB check as defined by the Exceptions Order of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974."

*****

Spent or Unspent Convictions on CRB (FOIR)

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Nigel

Sunday 13 January 2013

Assured


13 November 2012 – Providers announced for online identity scheme (DWP)

"The Post Office, Cassidian, Digidentity, Experian, Ingeus, Mydex, and Verizon are the successful providers chosen to design and deliver a secure online identity registration service for the Department for Work and Pensions. The identity registration service will enable benefit claimants to choose who will validate their identity by automatically checking their authenticity with the provider before processing online benefit claims." "

Identity assurance – Stepping Up A Gear

Nigel 

Friday 11 January 2013

Take Every Opportunity To Unmask Its Pretensions And Euphemisms

January 2013

Obituary: Stan Cohen, 1942-2013 – a social worker turned sociologist who coined the term ‘moral panic’

"You may not have heard of Stan Cohen, who has just died, but you will certainly know something of his ideas, and their continuing relevance. Look at the current hysteria around ‘chavs’, ‘asylum seekers’  and ‘shirkers’ or the way Jimmy Savile has come to represent paedophilia  (even though we know that most child abuse takes place within the family), and we are likely to come up with the term ‘moral panic’."

"One I especially warm to is his encouragement for us ‘to stay in your agency or organization, but don’t let it seduce you. Take every opportunity to unmask its pretensions and euphemisms’"

"And most challenging perhaps, ‘In practice and theory, stay “unfinished”. Don’t be ashamed of working for short-term humanitarian or libertarian goals, but always keep in mind the long-term political prospects. This might mean living with the uncomfortable ambiguity that your most radical work will be outside your day-to-day job’"

Nigel

It Really Has Come To This

PUBLISHED: 12:30, 10 January 2013 | UPDATED: 15:56, 10 January 2013

Unemployed agoraphobic woman, 22, claims 'discrimination' after being told she can't attend job centre via videolink

"Jen Lant risks losing her £98 unless she attends monthly meetings in person

The 22-year-old says she is discriminated against because she is disabled

An unemployed agoraphobic who receives benefits by attending Jobcentre meetings via videolink claims she is the victim of discrimination after being told she must start turning up in person.

Jen Lant risks losing the £98 employment support allowance she gets from the monthly meetings and argues the new rules discriminate against her because of she is disabled.

The 22-year-old, who has a GP's letter explaining her condition, has 'good days' when she can leave her house for a couple of hours but is often unable to set foot outside."

Incarceration
 
Nigel