Unofficial Jobcentre Plus & Unemployment Survey

Unofficial Jobcentre Plus & Unemployment Survey

Please spend 10 minutes or so answering the questions so we can gather a better understanding of unemployment and how the Government is handling the issue.

Instead of the usual tick box, checkbox and rating systems, we have decided to allow you to answer in your own words. There is also an opportunity to rate each area out of 10. We will allow answers by comments to the article so to show they are not distorted in any way. Questions are simplified for easy understanding without requiring the concentration of an examination!

New Deal Scandal is running this survey because no one else offers such an impartial indepth open survey not limited by closed questions or tickbox selections which can be interpreted in many different ways. Your views are really important to us and will help shape the future of welfare. There are 12 questions in total.

The questions are as follows:

Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System

New Deal Scandal exposes the scam that is the Labour Market System (LMS) or simply put the pool of jobs Employment Officers, New Deal Personal Advisers and Jobseeker Direct staff give to jobseekers as Jobseeker Directions and those on the jobpoints and the direct gov and jobcentre plus websites. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Dear Gordon Brown

Today I have received an email from a New Deal Scandal blog reader and ex-New Deal participant who is upset at his mistreatment of this New Deal farce:

I know its a diabolical situation & I am so glad I found your website because I was beginning to think it was just me who thought the New Deal Programme was such a farce & I was being forced to sign off just to get the unemployment figures down.

Here is a copy of the still yet unanswered letter that has been sent to the manager of the Jobcentre Plus office in Lewisham, all the major tabloids, Yvette Cooper (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Work & Prisons W*nkers and Pillocks), Darra Singh CEO of  Jobcentre Plus and Gordon Brown! (Read on) Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Jobcentre Plus forces jobseekers to sign empty pages

It has become more than a coincidence personally of being required to sign a declaration on a blank page. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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Flexible New Deal Discussion

New Deal Scandal has launched a new website called Flexible New Deal Discussion!

Up until now the deal has been I wrote the blog article and you give feedback (whether positive or negative) – since then I have expanded the site so very little by allowing you to rate the article and each individual comment. The maximum I can do with wordpress (thats said wordpress is my favourite blog platform).

I have decided it is a good idea to release a forum (feedback dot flexible new deal dot me dot uk) so you can now create a topic and discuss various topics including New Deal, Flexible New Deal, Welfare Reform and even Tell the world what you would do instead of flexible new deal if you was in charge!

Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Government keeps Ipswich Detention Centre open

Benefit Busters: Episode 2 Preview

Benefit Busters is on again tomorrow at 9pm. The first episode of Series 1 of Benefit Busters spreaded a lot of anger of Princess Emma of Sheffield in her mansion and A4e: the largest New Deal Provider.

New Deal Scandal will review the preview clips of Episode 2 of Benefit Busters – this show could really damage the reputation of A4e.  The clips are “Easier on the dole” and “Job ready“.  Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Benefit Busters Episode 1

Interesting links on A4e Doncaster featured Benefit Busters Series 1, Episode 1 that was shown on Channel 4 last Thursday night.  Read more on New Deal Scandal »

A4e Benefit Busters Single Mums Review

So it has been a hot topic in the recent week…. Benefit Busters at A4e Doncaster.

I have already expressed disappointment regarding the low outcome by A4e the largest welfare provider in the UK that also has business interests overseas.

Since the Benefit Busters show, I have been reviewing feedback across the internet. The comments are shocking! Read more on New Deal Scandal »

90,000 formal complaints to Jobcentre Plus

New Deal Scandal can reveal that there were 91,054 formal complaints made to the Jobcentre Plus District Managers over the last 2 years. This is around 3,794 complaints a month on average.  Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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Information Commissioner: Jobcentre Plus sending sensitive information to Royal Mail is OK

New Deal Scandal have heard a lot of concern in the ways that the Department for Work and Pensions processes our private and confidential information including thousands of DWP staff not being aware of or receiving training on proper information handling.

The Information Commissioner has ruled that there is no wrong doing in the practices of the DWP. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

New Jobcentre Plus Chief Executive is pro compulsory national volunteering

New Deal Scandal can reveal that the new Jobcentre Plus CEO, Darra Singh OBE, was one of the masterminds behind a new National Service system where in particular young unemployed people are to be forced to “volunteer” or lose their benefits. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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New Deal Scandal & Welfare Reform: network snippet

Just a brief overall of recent content on ”New Deal Scandal & Welfare Reform” blog. This might be easier to some then using WordPress pages as some sticky posts make normal ones difficult to see sometimes. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Jobcentre fraudster steals £24,373 by Giro scam

UKBIX announces to New Deal Scandal that Mark Hamilton, 36, a civil servant working at a Jobcentre Plus office in Scotland stole over £24,000 from Giros he made and cashed after he stole blank giros when the Jobcentre Plus office merged with another.

His seven month scamming spree was brought to a close when the DWP Fraud team contacted the police.

What took the DWP so long to notice?   Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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98% of Jobcentre Plus formal feedback are complaints

Just looked at the statistics on display at the Jobcentre the other day. In the last few months (last quarter) they received 247 complaints to only 5 praises.  A complaint is one to the District Manager in writing not a verbal complaint, written complaint/letter to your personal adviser or unofficial complaint made online in form of feedback.

If this figure included verbal complaints and complaints to your personal adviser then it would be much higher.

Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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New Deal Scandal & Welfare Reform: network snippet

Just a brief overall of recent content on ”New Deal Scandal & Welfare Reform” and “Ipswich Unemployed Action” blogs.  This might be easier to some then using Wordpress pages as some sticky posts make normal ones difficult to see sometimes.  Read more on New Deal Scandal »

Jobseekers Future: inverted

What is with the unemployment system?

“Assaults” on staff are to be dealt with by benefit sanctions and not by police.

Awkward customers are to be removed from the Jobcentre Plus office by police after being held by security.

Assaults are crimes, it is a police matter.  Exceeding your time slot or talking back to staff isn’t!

Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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Jobcentre Plus: security and assaults

You may have heard about assaults on Jobcentre Plus staff in the news, however, these figures are largely distorted. They refer to Incident Cases and not solely due to physical assault – which we will explain later.

Six months ago Jobcentre Plus boasted over 1,600 security guards costing the taxpayer over £40 million a year.  I am sure this amount will be on the increase as new claimants are increasing.

This article will focus on: a) are all these security guards necessary?  and  b) how many actual assaults were there?

Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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Jobcentre Plus suppression continues: jobseekers have zero rights

It is official: jobseekers have no rights.  Jobcentre Plus doesn’t follow the law. There is no punishment against the Department for Work and Pensions for breaking the law or for human rights violations. Claiming benefits has become more difficult with many Benefit Delivery Centres using lie detectors which work by picking up anxiety etc. in the voice, the norm once been on hold for 20+ minutes, resulting in some people being unable to claim… and to top it off now New Deal Scandal has received numerous reports of jobseekers being removed from the Jobcentre without any legal justification and incriminated. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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Unemployed: Temporary or Parked?

I can’t stress enough how great it is to have a job which is permanent and secured

Tonight I wish to raise the major unemployment issue: the System’s  Cherry Pick or Park approach.

Regardless of being in a recession or not, there are two distinct groups of unemployed people that are jobseekers who are on benefits:

1) The Lucky.

The lucky group will only be unemployed for a short period typically between 2 weeks and six months and head back into sustainable long term fulltime employment. This employment is likely to be secured by knowing friends and family, and even keeping in the loop of internal job vacancies from previous employers rather than the overcrowded application processes.

and

2)   The Unlucky.

The unlucky group is destined to remain longterm unemployed with the occassional unsustainable short jobs (Agency, temporary etc.) from anything between several hours a week here and there, and 4-9 months. The unlucky ones are forced to register for agencies who are only usually interested in promoting very casual work – which obviously are unsustainable, inadequate to live on, and without much notice (a phone call on the day to work is common) – and requires either signing off for the period (then signing back on afterwards) or going down to sign on and declare work resulting in no payment and probably a staff member reporting you to the fraud squad.

Wonder why there are so many agency jobs advertised at the Jobcentre?

89% of the recuitment industry in the UK is for temporary jobs.  The Government is supporting this multi-billion pound industry and sticking the economy before people as usual (apart from with the banks of course). Putting it another way; the industry’s combined turnover for permanent jobs and normal non-permanent contract jobs make up only around one tenth (11%) of their annual income.

The rest is made up of short term casual short notice jobs. Do you want to be rung up at 7:30am asking if you can start work at 8am for 4 hours at minimum wage?

Employers prefer someone who has stuck at their job for long periods of time

No employer likes candidates who have worked on several different jobs in one year.

Jobseekers Allowance terminated

The jobcentre has for a while allowed jobseekers to be more choosey for jobs they apply for. Generally, if you aren’t better off working than receiving Jobseekers you don’t have to apply. Agency work on the other hand, is an exception to this rule – if you declined the above offer for example – you would likely receive a sanction for it.

New Deal

New Deal is infamous for “Cherry Picking” and “Parking”…

This has to stop!

It actually is a human right for self-progression etc. it is not right for people to just be parked (like a car?) in the car park of unemployment waiting for petrol. Then someone comes along and hand washes the car. The car needs petrol! It doesn’t matter if the car looks brand new, still needs petrol to get anywhere! (don’t ask lol)

Unemployed? What category have you fallen in to?

I don’t believe that the “clever” ones get the jobs and the “dumb” ones don’t. This is why I called the groups “lucky” and “unlucky”. Luck has a part in all this too. Feel free to leave a comment, if you are unemployed, stick which group you think you fall in to, looking back at past events and the current circumstances.

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New Deal fraud technique: “leeching”

The illegal act of:

  1. Forcing the New Deal participant to sign a disclaimer giving them permission to contact any future employers, by threatening dismissal if they decline (see “exiting” fraud technique)
  2. Contacting the participant’s New Deal Personal Adviser enquiring if they have found employment and with what employer. (NDPA’s are only too happy to disclose such information even when the term of your New Deal course has far been exceeded – i.e. Data Protection Act 1998 violation)
  3. Approaching the employer and making them fill in the paperwork required
  4. Claiming Job Outcome bonuses, intended as an incentive to find New Deal participants work, NOT to be abused like in this manner where work was found by the ex-New Deal participant after the course ended.

… is known as “leeching“. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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New Deal fraud technique: “misrepresentation”

The illegal act of:

  1. Bidding for a contract to a high specification in order to win the contract (this becomes part of the New Deal contract outlined in Part 3 (“The services”), Section 3 (“Provider obligations”) subsections 3.1.1 and 3.1.5, Schedule 2 (and applicable Annexes) and other applicable sections), Or
  2. Failing to follow Provider Guidance (breach of subsection 3.1.3 of New Deal contract)

    and

  3. Deliberately providing the service different to that promised at tender stage, where the standard is less, where financial cut backs are made to the delivery, understaffed, under resourced and overcrowded premises.

… is known as “misrepresentation“. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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New Deal fraud technique: “exiting”

The illegal act of:

  1. Acknowledging that regardless of the actual period of time the New Deal participant spends on the course they will get the full amount for the entire 13 weeks, unless they exceed their absence limit where they wont
  2. Short listing those who appear not to be able to make the entire 13 weeks or those who are close to exceeding permitted absence limits to be dismissed – those who seem likely to “drop out” will not award provider with Job Outcome bonuses thus are surplus to requirements and those that are close to the limit regardless of being in their rights and not committing an offence are likely to become a liability to limit the amount projected to be received.
  3. Acknowledging that the Jobseeker cannot appeal or prevent being dismissed, has no rights to find out the reason for dismissal or have a chance to put right/get a second chance,  and that it takes immediate effect.
  4. Short listing random people for dismissal to ease overcrowding of training centres
  5. Making false declarations under oath of a disclaimer claiming reasons for dismissals as rather severe (misconduct, Health and safety concerns etc.) all being lies, knowing that the Dismissal Form has a sole purpose of helping a Decision Maker impose sanctions on a jobseeker, who doesn’t get to see such a form.
  6. Tell the Jobseeker verbally an entire  different story (such as due to attitude, not contributing enough etc.) consisting of rather mild reasons, so when he or she becomes required to give reasons why the training course ended or appeals to a decision of benefit sanctions,  the jobseeker merely complains about something irrelevant to the actual stated reason and becomes sanctioned as a result.
  7. When a Decision Maker writes to the Training Provider, the training provider delays the reply so when the Decision Maker writes to the Jobseeker, he or she doesn’t get a copy of the answers provided as the system is intended to do.
  8. Now that the people were exited – the training providers profit margins further reach the projections.

… is known as “exiting“. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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New Deal fraud technique: "pre-signing"

This potentially fraudulent act involves:

  1. Bullying the client into signing…
    • Blank documents or not filled in forms, Or
    • Incomplete (but partially filled in) forms
  2. Giving the reason as to “save time”, “I will complete the rest later…” and this is typically enforced by inadequate time for the paperwork to reasonably be completed (such as someone already waiting or an unreasonable target i.e. complete everyone’s paperwork by lunchtime).
  3. Threats of dismissal or 6 month sanctions, for non-compliance
  4. Verbally agreeing what you will write

    The fraudulent element is as follows…

  5. Writing something completely different to what was verbally agreed

Or, This fraudulent act involves:

  1. Requiring signature specimens (regardless of any “genuine” reason i.e. security)
  2. Using “Windowing” technique with specimens to make someone appear to have signed some document

… is known as “Pre-signing“; the second definition is more likely to use that term in common dialogue. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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New Deal fraud investigation: Reed in Partnership

Several years ago Reed in Partnership were investigated over 13 employees who has forged placements for those who had signed off to gain bonuses and also used the Employment Services data of New Deal candidates that found work outside of Reed to top up missed targets, totalling an expected multi-million pound fraud.

This was back in 2001, what have the Department for Work and Pensions learned since then?

It appears that the Government is still very slow in picking up on fraud – with the departments executive agency Jobcentre Plus ignoring complaints from Jobseekers and New Deal participants, and generally having a very laid back attitude, turning a blind eye approach to working in partnership with these external providers it can’t be surprising the failings of these fraud investigation teams they have.

For one, Ipswich Unemployed Action have reported that YMCA Training, a New Deal training provider, didn’t have planning consent for providing their services – the New Deal contract team that are supposed to monitor service delivery of contracts are, yes you guessed it, a Jobcentre Plus department and NOT Department for Work and Pensions who award the contracts. Before signing the contract training providers have to submit plans and details of the proposed premises for approval – it appears they couldn’t be bothered to do a 5 minute online planning permission check on the property (or alternatively ring Ipswich Borough Council direct).

Even though Jobcentre Plus is an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (sorry for any confusion above) and that the DWP is reportedly corrupt, it seems like one team inside the DWP are checking via audits etc. the forms and such like for suspicious signatures and information for alleged fraud, while all along Jobcentre Plus staff such as New Deal Personal Advisers are even aware and support the acts of fraud happening in the system.

When will the Department for Work and Pensions learn?

Reed article source: http://www.recruiter.co.uk/

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A4e to lose Flexible New Deal contract for fraud: other training providers also under investigation

The Department for Work and Pensions has been investigating Action 4 Employment and at least 2 other undisclosed training providers for fraud over the last 13 months – this comes after Maatwerk had their contract terminated for fraud.

This means that even though they weren’t restricted or blacklisted from bidding for Flexible New Deal contracts: they will now lose the Flexible New Deal contracts after at least 20 cases of fraud have been discovered in May 2008 at A4e in Hull where two staff members falsified forms meant for the employer and also forged signatures on the forms in order to receive job outcome bonuses from DWP.

Action 4 Employment was also involved in a temporary job recruitment agency scam – thus forcing New Deal participants into temporary work which resulted in more job outcome bonuses from DWP.

Another New Deal provider has been forced to repay £48,000 for fraud – the name of the provider hasn’t been disclosed.

The DWP was happy to pay Pertemps PDG over 2 million when a report clearly stated fraud – in this instance no concerns other than as a report were raised.

Also, so far all fraud cases were consisting of forged signatures on forms and such like – the DWP have not yet picked up on timesheet abuses (paid to be there for x hours, as shown on timesheets, but participants are there for significantly less i.e. 10 hours instead of 30), dismissal abuses (dismissing participants for false or trivial reasons to receive full 13 weeks amount without them being there for even half that time), guaranteed jobs bonuses abuse (some participants have received a job offer before having to do the course starting 2-6 weeks after the course starts, providers still get job outcome payments intended as a bonus if they get the participant work, even if they had nothing to do with it) and future job outcome bonuses abuse (getting participants to enter an agreement where the provider has “permission” to contact any future employer after the course has ended to get job outcome bonus even though you got the job after the course unaided by them) to name a few.

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Refuse New Deal VSO Programme Provision: NDYP ND25 IAP

It has came to our attention that the Department for Work and Pensions’ Executive Agency Jobcentre Plus is trying to push as many people in to the New Deal courses before it ends and become replaced with Flexible New Deal.

This is NOT legit and you CAN get out of it. Read on. Read more on New Deal Scandal »

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DWP Corruption? The Campaign Against DWP Corruption

The Independent Watchdog for the Department for Work & Pensions

We hope you’ll find us a useful resource in helping to recognize, combat and raise awareness of abuse of power involving the UK government’s largest department, a department dependent upon a sea of civil and judicial servants, we repeatedly find not doing their job properly.

In March 2007 the then Department for Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman MP spoke on BBC1’s Question Time of “transparency” and “adherence to law”.

It is with ongoing sadness, we find her former department failing in the latter, this campaign providing the transparency parliament craves.

On the basis of a detailed body of written evidence demonstrating wrongdoing, we seek; abolition of the Office of Social Security Commissioners (OSSC) and the Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO), as they stand.

We likewise campaign for lay involvement in social security appeals, whether by jury or panels, to combat abuse of power in these private judicial courts which we find breaking the law, contrary to their function, as Parliament requires; to uphold it.

We also want to see change in the complaints procedure, again by way of truly independent adjudication for staff misconduct and disciplinary action for all demonstrated instances of mischief or illegal activity within the DWP and its associated bodies including the Child Support Agency (CSA), now re-branded the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC).

We aim likewise to inform, how public servants, salaried by the British taxpayer, can, for their own reasons, bully and defraud the weakest members in society , while those judicial servants in place to oversee them, not only condone such, join in, cover up and whitewash their colleagues criminal behaviour, the DWP remaining a bastion of the archaic and corrupt practice of closing ranks; a mentality which invites the campaign.

DWP CORRUPTION – YOU AND “THE LAW”

PRIVATE AGENCIES

As a DWP watchdog, we have found the DWP’s Office for Constitutional Affairs (now re-branded the Ministry of Justice) misusing taxpayer’s money to employ private legal firms to knowingly and successfully plead for corrupt and illegal decisions, from corrupt Social Security Commissioners .

USE OF GAGGING ORDERS

We have likewise found corrupt DWP management misusing taxpayer’s money, to hire private legal agencies to threaten and thereby gag private citizens attempting to pursue legitimate redress of grievance within the DWP’s internal grievance procedure long before the internal procedure is exhausted!

HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998

With regard to the Human Rights Act 1998, adopted by the U.K. we observe breaches of this legislation by the DWP standard, routine practice, the Appeal Tribunal Service and the OSSC invariably tolerating or paying only lip service to such, the DWP having little or no interest in their customer’s legal rights, a situation most benefit claimants know little about.

The so called “new system of protection” namely the European court, requires “domestic remedies” to have been “exhausted”. Although seemingly well intended, the Act is itself vague, slow and beyond the reach of welfare claimants to pursue, such requiring the employment of an advocate for opinion from the court of appeal and beyond, something generally not covered we understand, by legal aid, not forgetting from past cases it could take over sixteen years to get there as in the Deumeland case.

That protection the public could do without and having sought such, never finding a remedy anyway:

Klaus Deumeland was fined DM800 for bringing “vexatious” proceedings his complaint being that the proceedings were extraordinary protracted .

Make up your own mind whether sixteen years is a reasonable period to obtain (or in his case not obtain) the said protection but otherwise keep the legal profession in work at the expense of both the public purse and the victim.

More DWP Jobcentre Plus corruption on www.ukcorruptiontoday.com

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