I pointed out the claim that there were 2,000 vacancies in Hull, an area of high unemployment. Despite the exposure of this claim as at best highly misleading, it has taken wings. Today the Express has turned it into "Unemployment 'blackspot' that has 7,000 jobs going begging". Yes, you read that right, 7,000. Because, as everyone knows, only about 30% of vacancies are advertised in the Jobcentres. The story does point out what some of those vacancies actually are; highly specialised and requiring qualifications (and they include Army jobs!). But that doesn't deter the DWP chap. "Stuart Griffiths, Hull district manager for the Department for Work and Pensions, said unemployed people had a misconception that there were no jobs on offer. He said: 'It is a myth that there are no jobs out there. People sometimes come into our offices and say there are no jobs out there but it is simply not true. These might not be the jobs of people’s dreams – we accept not everyone wants to be a carer or a butcher, for example. We all want to create and attract new jobs into the city, and we all want the jobs from large companies. But what we are saying is, if people want to train to work in renewables, for example, why not take a job now and earn money so you can train towards the career you want?'"
Hang on, how many of these jobs are open to trainees with no experience? And it doesn't deter the odious Taxpayers' Alliance. "Last night Robert Oxley, campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: 'It is ludicrous that we are paying out so much in jobseekers’ allowance when there are jobs out there waiting to be filled. The welfare system has long needed reform so that it both equips people for work and ensures they take the jobs on offer. With money tight we can’t afford for people to remain out of employment. It is vital that the welfare system ensures that work pays and that dodging it does not.'"
That's the agenda, of course. All those people in Hull, and elsewhere, who are desperate for work have now been branded as workshy, and it feeds the far right's determination to destroy the welfare system.
Strange, but no one has mentioned the Work Programme. You would think the providers in the area (they don't include A4e) would have a comment to make.
"The welfare system has long needed reform so that it both equips people for work and ensures they take the jobs on offer. "
ReplyDeleteSo when will this joker, Robert Oxley from the TPA press this government for real and proper training and genuine support for those who wish to become self employed?
"Strange, but no one has mentioned the Work Programme. You would think the providers in the area (they don't include A4e) would have a comment to make."
Indeed! The WP costs just shy of £1bn!!!!! It is clearly failing and not fit for purpose, if in fact it ever was! Funny the TPA NEVER seem to mention this gross waste and misspending of taxpayers money. I guess such waste is fine as long as it fits in with your core ideologies.
Ok, I am squeamish to admit this as it may effect the group interview that was sprung on me yesterday,with a major automotive manufacture..I want the job(don't know what it is) The perplexing thing is they just laid off thousands(in a different area)but are recruiting here,understandable(?) but it brings to question why? If employers are desperate for staff but are unable to fill positions brilliant! If the unemployed are desperate for "paying work" but unable to find it,why not bring them together(sic) Something does not make sense here.Is it just me? Is not everybody suppose to be working for the same thing? All these bright Politicians,Ministers! For Gods sake figure it out! Or are certain people telling Porkies?
ReplyDeleteI can think of several reasons for the firm recruiting in the area, having laid off people in a different area.
DeleteMe to.but admitting that I am a conspiracy theorist will not help my cause...lol
DeleteI have a theory and it's just my personal view:
ReplyDeleteAs we all now know the Work Programme is failing, could it be the Work Programme isn't being hardly mentioned anymore is because Universal Jobmatch is designed to replace it or work in conjuction with it and is due to be rolled out from Monday 19th November.
I hadn't heard of that before. Interestingly, having had regular weekly JS sessions I now have none booked. I'm now wondering if my next one will be once this is rolled out and I will be required to apply for all my jobs via it so they can see what I have done rather than relying on a WP provider to tell them?
DeleteI had an appointment with my advisor at a4e, my next appointment is in 6 weeks. Usually, after the nonsence chit chat i get, i'm given my next advisor appointment letter and a letter/or letter's for job search session/s, or other mandatory sessions. This time as i was only handed a letter for my next advisor appointmennt, i was told keep up with your job search at home, which i do, and i take and show proof. I thought it seemed strange.
DeleteAs a 57 year old job seeker and currently on the Work Program, an advisor at the Job Centre told me today i had to register for unviversal job match, and it was mandatory, i was told they could then see what jobs i applied for, i thought i had to consent to signing up to this, but was informed they were making it a mandatory activity, can anyone clarify if sigining up to this universal job match is mandatory?
ReplyDeleteUniversal Job Match is just a new computer system to allow employers to post vacancies more easily (http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal-job-match-faq.pdf). But it will allow a check on what jobseekers are applying for. Mandatory? I suppose the DWP thinks it will only work if they make it mandatory, for claimants at least, and they have no compunction about doing that.
DeleteRead this:
Deletehttp://www.consent.me.uk/#jobmatch
No. it is not mandatory. You can carry out a job search on Universal Job Match WITHOUT having to create an account. See the last section of this DWP leaflet: How To Use Universal Job Match
Deletehttp://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal-jobmatch-guide.pdf
Its not mandatory.
ReplyDeleteTypical hate-logic from the TPA: if we cut benefits it will somehow compel employers to hire people. Doesn't even make sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd:
"we accept not everyone wants to be a carer or a butcher, for example."
Is just a thoroughly bizarre comment. YOu can't just force people to become butchers or carers, especially the latter. What an idiot.
And it's barely a week since the Express's last, and vile, attack on benefits paid to people with mental health problems.
On the subject of Universal Jobmatch. I was told (in response to a direct question) that it wasn't mandatory. There is confusion! JCP officials can make registration mandatory by issueing a Job Seeker's Direction (JSD). Presumably providers can do the same by issueing a MAN.
ReplyDeleteEven assuming that they can get away with this it is NOT the end of the story because registering with a site and actually using it are two different things. Also it is possible to register with the site (thus conforming to the JSD/MAN) and decline permission for them to access your activity on that site - just put a big black line throught the relevant wording on the form you are presented with.
There are laws governing the privacy of communications and not providing permission should prevent giving other people (including JCP and provider)access.
If they attempt to mandate people into giving them permission to access their UJ account then there will pretty soon be an avalanche of complaints to the Information Commisioner not to mention legal actions.
There are outstanding Freedom of Information requests and it will be interesting to see what the responses say.
I understand everybody's hostility to this; but I don't think most people will.
DeleteI think the key thing is registration.
DeleteI don't think they can even mandate people to do more. IE: you can make me sign up to the site (using whatever user details I decide), but you cannot compel me to share that information.
Besides how will they monitor individual efforts on that site, whichis presumably what they want? Can they seriously compel us to find jobs on that site? Fine, i'll search using that site and then apply for those positions indirectly. I've fulfilled the requirement. They can't make stuff happen out of nowhere so we will have to wait and see what happens with this.
I've no doubt IDS would love us all to sign over our personal data so he can keep tabs on us feckless layabouts. Good luck with that!
A ball from out of no where. We(the unemployed,also classed as clients or STOCK)have to sign a contract,fair enough but this Contract is constantly being revised without our consent is this document valid? I do not think so as a contract is considered within the four corners,no single party has the right to alter this agreement without both parties in agreement,regardless of what the Government later considers doing they are still bound by the previous contract that they insisted upon everybody abiding too. Bloody simple.
DeleteBut how are you going to enforce that view? The contract probably doesn't have a legal status but can be enforced or varied by the DWP at whim simply because you can't do anything about it. And, as I said, you won't get any public sympathy.
DeleteSmith is on a idological bender. He is given time by many because he supposedly looked into and did a report on the causes of poverty a few years back.
DeleteYet, he seems so ideologically blinkered that he is happy to roll out various programs, such as the WP and Universal Job Match even if they are financial disasters (as the WP is proving to be week in week out).
Smith even wants to redefine poverty from being soley about income to include things such as marraige / family break down. Again, an ideological Tory mission to support 'family values'.
Historian,I do see your point,but any time two parties reach an agreement this is classified as a contract (Sanctions being the result of not meeting your JSA agreement..IE=contract)but this also works both ways,once signed this puts into force rights for both parties,getting the other party to live up to their end of the bargain,especially the Government as you have rightly stated is the problem.
ReplyDeleteI see duncan-schmidt is on bbc's 'Question Time' this Thursday (22/11) just five days BEFORE the WP figures are finally released.
ReplyDeleteCoincidence, or conspiracy? I'll bet nobody asks about it. I wonder what sort of no-mark from the coalition they'll have on to defend the numbers the following week, when no doubt somethin' else will pop up in the meantime, and relegate the predictably dire WP figures to 'Yesterday's news'.
Ok guy's I'll clear this Universal Jobmatch up for you:
ReplyDeleteThis is the updated version (November 2012)
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal-job-match-faq.pdf
Now here's a section of the original dated 8th August 2012, with the relevant questions and answers you need to know about.
Universal Jobmatch – frequently asked questions for jobseekers
Q8. Does everyone have to register to search for jobs?
No, but if not, jobseeker’s will not be able to access to all the facilities listed in question 7.
Q13. Will claims to benefit be affected by the service?
No, this is a job posting and matching service, which is open to everyone, not just benefit claimants and is not connected to any claims.
Quick follow this link and save the file to your computer - because it looks like the DWP are trying to erase all links to the August 8th Universal Jobmatch information.
ReplyDeleteThis one is information for Jobcentre Plus advisers to follow regarding Universal Jobmatch.
bhttp://cdn.consent.me.uk/universal-jobmatch-jobcentre-notes.pdf
Anyone on JSA needs this document badly. Download this before it disappears then take it with you to the Jobcentre next time you sign on and show the adviser it.
ReplyDeletehttp://cdn.consent.me.uk/universal-jobmatch-jobcentre-notes.pdf
Quite right Hot Girl 1!
ReplyDeleteThe key phrase to save and present to JCP staff is:
"Universal Jobmatch
Notes for Jobcentre Plus staff
“Requiring Jobcentre Plus customers to use the Services
10.7 When the Services are implemented, Jobcentre Plus
customers (including potential jobseekers) will not be
mandated to register and create a profile.”
From: DWP TLMS Schedule 2.1, Authority (Universal
Jobmatch) Requirements
http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk"
End of interview.
On the new goverment job match service. have a look at the sanction box, or why did you not apply for the job!
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly certain that to conform with the DPA and the issue of consent, UJM will have a tick box - where you can choose whether or not to give consent - allowing the DWP to monitor you job applications.
ReplyDeleteTo moniter job applications? are you serious, what is this 1984?
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't 1984 why have you used the name Anonymous?
DeleteI have my daily task looking for employment, looking at various websites, the famous one, DIRECTGOV now UNIVERSAL JOBMATCH, keeps someone in a job, planning new ideas, after using Universal Jobmatch I thought what a bloody waste of time with the change.
ReplyDeleteThis crazy government is creating policies and regulations on the hoof. Ill-conceived and designed to penalize the poorest in our society. The political masters have given cart-blanche permissions to the civil service to create policy documents like the ones above.
ReplyDeleteYou would need a lawyer to figure it out.
The government don't want to consult first nor do they want interference from the public. We are fast approaching a right wing dictatorship in this country with everything geared to the fast buck merchants. Create as much red tape for the poor and reduce the regulations for the rich.
Here is a couple of links that that may be have interest. Both the links are to the Public and Commercial Services Union website (PCS).
ReplyDeleteThe first link is concerning the new Universal Jobmatch website. The second is advice to Jobcentre staff concerning their safety, due to increases in the level of sanctions being imposed on the unemployed. Which is due to the new regime, which was introduced on the 22nd October 2012?
I can vouch to this, as I have just been sanctioned, for apparently not applying for enough jobs in a two-week period.
Can there ever be any justification for unnecessary cruelty, especially towards the unemployed, who are skint, demoralised, and which can cause depression. Is it not the job of the Jobcentre to give support to help jobseekers get back into work as soon as possible?
Watching A4e is a great blog, and it raises a number of important issues concerning the unemployed, and the draconian sanctions that are being imposed on the unemployed by the Jobcentre staff.
If the issues being raised on the blog are not being heard by those that can effect change, then maybe it is a damning indictment of today's society, who will happily complain about Z-list celebrity having to eat kangaroo testicles, or they will sign a petition to bring back their favourite Strictly Come Dancing competitor.
There maybe be members of the legal profession, journalists are even politicians who read this blog, maybe it is about time for you to put your collective heads above the parapet, and bring these issues to the wider public.
After watching Dispatches tonight, it's good to see that MPs still have their snouts in the trough, and are still claiming expenses on their second homes. I wonder if the MPs will be sanctioned for yet another expenses scandal? I will not hold my breath.
Links:
Sanctions Link:
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/dwp-news.cfm/id/AB3A45F5-8CEA-4A2D-AF0B96080D709DD2
Universal Jobmatch Website:
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/dwp-news.cfm/id/541F146C-1297-4285-A5011259B0E337B9
Here is some guidelines in dealing with the New Universal Jobmatch system.
ReplyDeleteOnce you have created an account login and password then you must NEVER reveal that to anyone including your advisor. Remember that this system holds personal details which could be used in ID theft. Your profile, your CV and other information you consider private. The system allows you to take actions on applications.
Now , if the DWP expects your advisor to access this system to see your record then the DWP should provide the advisor a "READ ONLY" and or "LIMIT WRITE"access under the advisors own login. The advisor MUST NEVER know or ask for YOUR login or password as this could lead to your account being compromised.
If the advisor mandates you to reveal it , suggest they get court order to order you to reveal it. I am sure the judge would tell them to go and get raffled as this action would breach Data Protection and your Human Rights. Would you tell your bank manager your password for your online banking or even the PIN of your cash card?
If they need access to your job searching information the advisor MUST be give their OWN login. They can not expect to use yours. This applies to A4e too. If anyone cares to research the ownership of data issues relating to the Data Protection Act feel free.
One can not be expected to be accountable for your actions or data on a system if you reveal your login and password to a third party.
DWP leaves themselves wide open to litigation and data protection challenges if they expect jobseekers to reveal their logins and password so that advisors can access their records.
This is standard systems administration policy , nothing new.
Great advice. i only wish more people could see this on a wider scale. many will be caught out by this, and give personnnel details over to civil servants. putting their own personnel infomation at a risk of theft.
Deletefunny thing is i cant even get past 'click this link to verify your account' what happens is once you have registered/created account you are given a government gateway user ID number, wich you require every time you want to log on, you then go onto UJM this is where my issues start, it has sent an e-mail to your e-mail address asking you to verify your account. I followed instructions accordingly i clicked on the link, it said e-mail address verified and then asked me to login again, i did same process, asked me to verify my e-mail address, the site says if you are having trouble verifying your e-mail address try again later!!! I am quite good with I.T, and followed the instructions step by step, my point is if this is happening to everyone we are wide open to sanctions, as i was mandated by my advisor to register with UJM and upload my C.V, impossible!!! Is anyone else experiencing these issues???
DeleteYes, the exact same thing has happened to me. I got to getting the Gateway User ID, copied it, could not upload my C.V. I cancelled it and started again. Got another Gateway User ID, copied it, followed the instructions again, still could not upload my C.V.
DeleteYou dont have to register to use, uk job match service.
DeleteI am told by someone who has been told to use the Universal Jobmatch that the system doesn't work properly even though they're trying to roll it out so everybody uses it
ReplyDeleteI am aware you dont need to register to use the site,but i have been mandated by my advisor to register.
ReplyDeleteShow your advisor DWP wording explaing you DO NOT have to register for uk job match.
Delete