A couple of publications from the DWP might prove interesting reading for those who are unemployed.
The first is entitled "Jobseeker's Allowance Back to Work Schemes" and tells you how Jobcentre Plus "will help you find work". It doesn't get off to a good start, since there's a grammatical clanger in the second paragraph, but then, in seven sections, it tells you what to expect. I won't go through all of it, but the section on the Work Programme might cause some amusement to those of my readers who have experience of it. Then we come to a section entitled "Explaining benefit sanctions". Read it carefully, after reading the WP section, and it's clear that the DWP is perfectly happy that someone can be made destitute on the whim of an "adviser".
The second document is a final evaluation of what they're calling "The Jobcentre Plus Offer". (The use of buzz words like "Offer" is supposed to make it sound more like the private sector.) Half of it is about how the "Offer" is perceived by claimants. It's upbeat about the finding that "Most claimants gave a positive assessment of the support on offer by Jobcentre Plus". But then it says that "most" is actually three fifths, or 60%, which means that 40% were not happy. But hey ....
Iain Duncan Smith is appearing in front of the Work and Pensions Select Committee on Wednesday (unless he manages to postpone it again). Let's hope that the members of the committee ask the right questions.
"The Work Programme lasts for 2 years. Your provider will give you all the support you need during this time..."
ReplyDelete"Because the Work Programme is tailored to individuals, when you are referred your provider will want to find out your circumstances to best support you back into work. They will want you to find a job while they are supporting you..."
And the award for joke of the week goes to...the DWP!
Seriously, all the support you need?? Tailored support?? So all those job-seekers receiving a one size fits all service, being seen for less than ten minutes and not being seen for months on end, effectively 'parked' should be reassured by this fairly tale?
No doubt Smith or McVey will tell anyone receiving a typically poor service from their provider they cannot comment on individual cases. Except those that support their core ideology of course.
Again more lies by the DWP. You do not get tailored support on the WP. I have a degree and have been told by my advisor to take it off my cv because it maybe preventing me from getting an unskilled job!
DeleteSeems pretty logical to me!! Degree's on CV's can present a different view point on the person and if they would stick with the job.
DeleteIf you take your degree off your CV, what do you put on instead, to account for the 3 years you were studying? It is a stupid thing to do. If you're saying that someone who is over-qualified won't stay in a menial job, you may be right. But telling a lie to get a job is not a good long-term strategy. And you should never have a general-purpose CV anyway. Tweak it according to the job you're going for.
DeleteInstead of telling people to remove degrees from their CVs why not stop telling people with degrees to apply for unskilled jobs in the first place?
DeleteThis just illustrates the absurdity of the DWP's thinking, wherein all claimants are expected to compete for all available jobs, instead of allowing people to be more selective in their jobsearch.
I have my final appointment of the Work Programme on the 20th Dec. In that time, I've had 6 advisors and have done nothing. It's going to be an interesting Exit Report.
ReplyDeleteTranslation.... these people do not want to work for nothing..• However, JSA claimants with specific constraints or who may face particular challenges, including those with a disability (particularly a mental health condition), together with ESA claimants looking for work do not always seem to discuss or receive the level of support they require and have less positive perceptions of the Offer.
DeleteIf IDS turns up in front of Dame Anne Begg, all that he will do is bluster and describe his “beliefs” as if his paranoid, woolly-minded “beliefs” were facts.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Chris Grayling was the one telling the truth. He said that he and his fellow pollies (especially those on the right wing of the Tory party) are determined to destroy all & any ideas that the UK might continue to offer a ‘Welfare State.’ This determination on the part of Muttus Politicus (the MPs) is immensely popular amongst the non dole-claiming electorate, who consider it irresponsible of the occupants of the workhouse that they should have wound up in one.
The ‘message’ from the Labour and Lib-Dem pollies is that they agree with the right-wing Tory pollies about courting electoral popularity for themselves no matter who else might suffer as a result or what horrors their victims might suffer. There is no real electoral will to knock these notions for six because most voters realize that Muttus Politicus has become the worst - and the least principled - recipient of ‘Welfare.’
In short, the voters are exasperated with ALL Welfare recipients, including with Muttus Politicus. The voters are the tax-payers who are footing the bill for the whole charabanc, after all.
Very well. The cynical voter will be in for a rude shock when the UK has become a distant part of the forthcoming Chinese Empire. When that happens, will the British electorate (only a tiny minority of the global population) be strong enough to fight back? I suspect not.
After all, why does that mutt Cameron Minor wish to become a Pekingese dog? Is that because the Kennel Club recognizes the pedigree, which it doesn’t with a Bitser?
I’m unlikely to stay alive for long enough to witness the eventual outcome, so it will be up to future generations to sort it all out. In the short term, though, Grayling & Co don’t care one jot if I end up in a gutter, too infirm to go anywhere near a doctor and too infirm to vote, too. If I starve or succumb to hypothermia, well….. that’ll be one less sponging, work-shy skiver for the ‘responsible’ majority to worry about.
I must correct you there. Iain Duncan Smith is due to appear in front of the Committee on Monday December 9th at 4.30 http://services.parliament.uk/calendar/#!/calendar/Commons/SelectCommittee/2013/12/9/events.html
ReplyDeleteSo who asked these people about this "positive" Yes you really want to tell the adviser the truth on pain of sanctions in the first report the whim of the adviser..Boss tell me what you think..,. Me The things you have done doesnt work, they cause more problems. Boss.. you are fired..
ReplyDeleteI would be too scared to speak out to a person who has so much power over me, In case i am punished for it..
Not Wednesday MONDAY DECEMBER 9 IDS at Select Committee 4.30 pm
ReplyDeleteThanks to those who have pointed this out.
DeleteThis just spotted on BBC News' twitter feed: "Iain Duncan Smith says Universal Credit might not be complete by 2017. 700,000 claimants could be transferred after date"
ReplyDeleteThoughts anyone?
I'm a graphic designer, I've been forced to remove all relevant skills and experience from my CV and to apply for "anything", labouring, warehouse etc.
ReplyDeleteI have to see my "dictator"..sorry..."advisor" twice a week now who does nothing but make me feel it's all my fault I can't find work, force me to apply for a couple of jobs and remind me I have no choice or say in the matter.
It's soul destroying and really starting to get me down, I feel worthless, about to be trapped in the cage of minimum wage, but there's no escape.
I used to feel confident but the last few weeks have ground me down..I don't care any more.
there are many of us in that situation. they have broken us, we do our best yet never good enough, we are never good enough, All i can say is you are not alone.
DeleteWhen I saw them every 2 weeks the humiliation faded after a couple of days, now it's consistent, twice a week, my manner has changed, I've stopped going out, I feel like everyone knows and is judging, I know I'm projecting my feelings, but It's like some sort of social anxiety that's growing in me, I don't feel worthy any more.
ReplyDeleteI don't talk to anyone about it because I'm too ashamed, it always seems to have the reverse effect if I ever mention it, I'm overwhelmed by shame.
I was told today I'm being referred for the unpaid work scheme, she couldn't tell me where or when and made some excuse about it being close to Xmas being the reason she couldn't start me now.
I'm not sure if they are having a rethink since the recent court ruling, I've read... "the regulations were "invalid" as they did not give sufficiently detailed "prescribed description" of the schemes.", so I'm assuming they are arranging a better description.?
Either way my sanity couldn't take it, work voluntarily doing something where people benefit?....yes, work full time in a Poundland warehouse where the employer and government benefit ?...not a chance.,,bring on the sanction...enough is enough.