Jobcentre Plus suppression continues: false allegations
July 13, 2009
We recently reported about Jobcentre Plus suppression regarding the misuse of security officers and police time in ejecting jobseekers from the Jobcentre Plus offices for false incriminating reasons to prevent them getting their legal entitlement.
The misuse of public services which could be better used for fighting crime seems to be an growing common trait at the Jobcentre Plus offices around the country.
The Jobcentre now stops the unemployed jobseekers from accessing jobs: a requirement for receiving Jobseekers Allowance; an welfare benefit for those without employment to survive on.
This article focuses on more issues regarding the services provided by the largest UK Government department including making false allegations towards people.
Jobcentre Plus suppression continues: jobseekers have zero rights
July 11, 2009
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.
Welfare Reform Bill: There is more to come…
July 10, 2009
As the entire UK goes crazy with shocking new plans of changing welfare in the country, New Deal Scandal reveals that the worse is still to come! You thought the Welfare Reform Bill was bad? Read on…
Reed in Partnership and the £3 million illegal immigrant fraud
July 10, 2009
New Deal Scandal recently reported that New Deal Provider Reed in Partnership was under investigation for multi-million pound fraud in 2001; we now can disclose that just two years later the Department for Work and Pensions was involved in a multi agency investigation of a fraud estimated at £3 million involving them finding jobs for illegal immigrants including failed asylum seekers.
Department for Work and Pensions: thousand bogus applications
July 8, 2009
The Government department was involved in a racial experiment with recruitment processes says the Institute of Economic Affairs, which involved sending two identical applications for 1,000 jobs – the difference being one was a typical “white British” name and the other was from a pool of names from different “ethnic minority” groups to compare the outcome . The Equality and Human Rights Commission – those who failed to pick up on New Deal, the proposed Flexible New Deal and Welfare Reform Bill – urges a clause in the Equality Bill to ban names in application forms
What’s the point in Human Rights?
July 6, 2009
This article focuses on Human Rights in the United Kingdom.
How does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights work in the United Kingdom?
New Deal fraud: the techniques used to rip off the taxpayer
July 6, 2009
YMCA Training traded without planning permission over 6 months
June 3, 2009
It has been discovered that Dencora House in Ipswich, a training centre run and rented by YMCA Training didn’t have planning permission for over 6 months. To run a training centre you require D1 planning consent. Dencora House and it’s 10 units all had B1 Offices planning consent. When YMCA Training, one of the largest training providers with 31 years experience and over 40 locations, rented units it was unaware of the law and therefore traded without permission.
£187,500: how much it cost Taxpayers to get a Jobseeker off the dole
June 7, 2009
£187,500
This is the amount it cost Taxpayers to get a single Jobseeker of the dole.
This is the bombshell that stuck the final nail in the coffin of New Deal. A scheme setup by Gordon Brown for New Labour aiming to get less people claiming unemployment benefits and stop living a “life on benefits” lifestyle.
How did we come across this figure? Well… The New Deal scheme costs Taxpayers £75 billion and claimants have dropped by 400,000 people (this figure excludes the surge in new claimants due to the economical crisis) – this equates for each person who is not claiming benefit: £187,500!!
Welfare Reform: Criticism
June 8, 2009
I was reading a great article on Welfare Reform (the Welfare Reform Bill 2009) however I greatly disagreed with the points made in the article so I decided to quote sections of it and comment!
Guide to Decision Makers Guide (DMG)
June 22, 2009
This is a quick guide on the Department for Work and Pensions‘ Decision Makers Guide…
A4e to lose Flexible New Deal contract for fraud: other training providers also under investigation
June 28, 2009
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.
New Deal ends in half of Great Britain
June 30, 2009
Since Monday, in half the country there will be no new referrals to New Deal. This could be due to implementing the Flexible New Deal or due to revelations of New Deal fraud we recently reported, as the Flexible New Deal (if contracts are signed on time) are not due to begin until October allowing a 13 week programme to commence this week.
New Deal should be subjected to a Serious Fraud Office inquiry
June 30, 2009
All New Deal training providers, past and present should be subject to an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. The fraud investigation can’t be conducted by the Department for Work and Pensions as they also fall under the suspicion of fraudulent activity and other acts of unlawful misconduct and requires an outside independent investigation
New Deal fraud technique: “exiting”
June 30, 2009
The illegal act of:
- 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
- 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
- Acknowledging that the Jobseeker cannot appeal or prevent being dismissed
- Short listing random people for dismissal to ease overcrowding of training centres
- Making false declarations under oath of a disclaimer
- Tell the Jobseeker verbally an entire different story
- When a Decision Maker writes to the Training Provider, the training provider delays the reply
- Now that the people were exited – the training providers profit margins further reach the projections.
… is known as “exiting“. This is shortened, click above link for the full list.
Abolish the Jobseekers Agreement
July 1, 2009
As from today the New Deal Scandal network will be also promoting the abolishment of the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg), an proposed act of Welfare Reform
New Deal Fraud: A4e and Working Links response
July 1, 2009
Both Action 4 Employment and Working Links publicly release a statement on the Channel 4 News report broadcast on the 30th June 2009, dated 28/06/2009 (A4e) and 29/06/2009 (Working Links) up to 2 days before the public were aware of their fraudulent activities.
New Deal fraud: A4e employee jailed for fraud
July 1, 2009
Former Action 4 Employment (A4e) employee Elizabeth Orsman has been jailed for fraud with a total value of £15,833.
New Deal Fraud: Over 278 full fraud investigations
July 2, 2009
Evidence from 2003 has been uncovered showing information on fraud investigations of New Deal in the first 5 years of New Deal. You may have heard about cases regarding companies such as A4e, Maatwerk and Working Links being investigated for fraud, however, official Parliament documents show that up until winter 2002 there was over 278 in depth fraud investigations against New Deal providers, almost 2000 allegations of fraud committed by New Deal prime contractors and the rate of cases year on year seems to be on the increase. Read on for more!
1,869 fraud tip offs in the first half of New Deal
July 3, 2009
New Deal Scandal can reveal that there were 1,869 allegations of fraud made against New Deal providers within the first 5 years – 15% of these allegations (or roughly 1 in 6) resulted in full fraud investigations being carried out.
a4e New Deal Fraud: Finance Director resigned
July 3, 2009
We can reveal that on the 20th April 2009, Mr Neil Watson the Finance Director for Action 4 Employment resigned from a4e Ltd as a director.
New Deal fraud technique: “stalling”
July 8, 2009
The illegal fraudulent act of:
- Offering to post letters, CV’s and application forms / previous telling the participant that they will post themand
- Not posting the letters as previously saidand
- Delaying the posting of them deliberately with intent so they would exceed deadlines
… is known as “stalling“.
Unemployed: Temporary or Parked?
July 8, 2009
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.
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?
Seetec’s Operations Manager reads news on A4e
July 6, 2009
Summary of links contained in above New Deal Scandal post
- Jobcentre Plus suppre...alse allegations
- Jobcentre Plus
- misuse of security officers and police time
- jobseekers
- Jobcentre
- unemployed
- Jobseekers Allowance
- UK Government
- Department for Work and Pensions
- human rights
- benefits
- New Deal
- Welfare Reform Bill: ...e is more to come…
- Welfare Reform
- Reed in Partnership a...egal immigrant fraud
- Reed in Partnership
- fraud
- Department for Work a...d bogus applications
- Flexible New Deal
- What’s the point in Human Rights?
- New Deal fraud: the t...rip off the taxpayer
- New Deal
- YMCA Training traded ...ission over 6 months
- Dencora House
- Ipswich
- YMCA Training
- planning permission
- £187,500: how much i...bseeker off the dole
- Gordon Brown
- New Labour
- unemployment
- New Deal
- Welfare Reform: Criticism
- Guide to Decision Makers Guide (DMG)
- A4e to lose Flexible ... under investigation
- Action 4 Employment
- Maatwerk
- New Deal ends in half of Great Britain
- implementing the Flexible New Deal
- revelations of New Deal fraud
- New Deal should be su...Fraud Office inquiry
- New Deal fraud technique: “exiting”
- New Deal
- Decision Maker
- exiting
- Abolish the Jobseekers Agreement
- New Deal Scandal
- Jobseekers Agreement
- New Deal Fraud: A4e a...rking Links response
- Working Links
- Channel 4
- New Deal fraud: A4e e...yee jailed for fraud
- New Deal Fraud: Over ...fraud investigations
- 1,869 fraud tip offs ...rst half of New Deal
- a4e New Deal Fraud: F...ce Director resigned
- Neil Watson
- a4e Ltd
- New Deal fraud technique: “stalling”
- Unemployed: Temporary or Parked?
- Seetec’s Operations...er reads news on A4e
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I think this site is awful. More to the point a direct slap in the face for the thousands of people working everyday in the DWP to help people back to work and gain the support they need during the process of finding employment. The majority of the articles have not been reported fully suggesting a lathadaisical and selective approach to fact gathering. Further more the benefit system was not designed to be a free for all and measures must be taken to ensure only those who are in genuine need of benefit are given access to the system. I believe as a taxpayer that this website is hype. I know that we live in a country of human rights but I fail to understand why it is wrong to have a jobseeker removed from a Jobcentre Plus building? It is highly likely they have been drunk, on drugs or otherwise abusive or threatening. But you don’t report that do you? Where are the rights for the staff? Where is the girl on the front lines rights whilst she deals with an abusive customer, hurling insults at her? Where are the rights of the fraud investigation officers being spat at by their customers? Where are the rights of the decision makers receiving hate mail from claimants who have not met the criteria set by law to gain benefits? I think in order for your website to be taken seriously you really ought to provide the full picture, not venemous bites at the people who are, as I said earlier, working to help those in difficult periods. I commend them for all they have done and all they will continue to do.
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All indepth content on this site is from:
a) heavily researched investigations
b) my own experience
c) others (reliable) experience
It is not a slap in the face or stab to anyone working at DWP etc. It is highlighting the issues that needs to be improved. I don’t think for one second that they are all the same, just most are… its called policy and being compliant to it.
Yeah, you are just doing your job… the problem is the management and policies are wrong. We don’t name DWP staff for exactly that reason, its the policy we have the problem with.
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this is “customers’” experiences of job centre plus and their (con)tractors,the full support is rather lacking.from whats been gathered the only support is for those that seek to abuse vulnerable people with threats to benefits/sanctions’.
benefit is a access right to all,and its means tested also,from my experience human rights are abused by job centre plus it also allows its contractors’ to abuse unemployed people on programs such as new deal,i have not seen personally anyone ejected from a job centre but witnessed security guards arrogance/tone towards jobseekers,its nothing to do with them they are paid to stand there and watch,not harass people walking in to look at job points.
as for the decision makers/adjudication officers i have been a victim of lies,i was refused to look at paperwork at the job centre because a decision maker on the phone told the clerk not to let me see it,i was sanctioned however it shortly emerged all was not quite what it seemed,i sent a detailed letter from a source to support my claim,somehow this got “twisted” by the adjudication officer who decided to make up another version of the letter,i queried this at the source of my evidence,they said they stated this in the original letter,the adjudication officer made up a complete different version to issue a sanction.
by this time i had enough evidence for a tribunal,sadly they quickly backed down while confronted,the CAB told me on resulting visit “their not keen on appeals always appeal” with my experience no wonder.
the facts have to be looked at here,while the emphasis is on sanctions for “customers” the wrong doing has the job centre as its source,the same story is recounted up and down the country something is seriously wrong when an organisation claims standards’,and is the first to break everyone in the book,this includes human rights also,this is a very serious breach and cannot be ignored.
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Never heard such absolute rubbish in all my life. It is not within the power or the time scales allocated to each case for anyone to manipulate documents relating to a customers claim.
Security gaurds are there for the safety of the staff as well as customers and it is most definately within their right to enquire upon entry.
You are angry, it shows.
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Hi Darren / Dee
It happens so it must be within the power and timescales.
I don’t expect it happens all too often but just 1% of claimants a month for example is still alot of people.
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i might add to the above when i confronted the adviser,she stated this is new evidence repeated that twice,it was not new evidence it was stated as fact on my original letter of proof.
also reading some of the other posts above “You are angry, it shows”,i would have thought it was the other way around.
as for security guards it is not exceptable to take the tone they do with people for simply walking through the door.
the site seeks to expose the truth of the experiences’ of the unemployed jobseeker,while the truth is said to hurt it and some don’t want to hear it,it exposes the injustices of those that seek to manipulate the situation of unemployment for political gain through misleading statements when the reality on the ground is totally the opposite.
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I read the article by Darren Ross with great interest. It is always interesting to hear another persons point of view. I generally accept the point that people in the DWP are only doing their jobs, but I dispute that Job Centre staff are genuinely interested in helping people back to work. In my experience, most (but not all) Job Centre staff try to make claiming benefits as unpleasant as possible. They are infatuated with targets for job applications, but have no interest whatsoever in the outcome. This wastes employers time and money, receiving applications from people who are unsuited to a particular job. It also demoralises the unemployed.
I have personally been spoken down to by a couple of Job Centre staff in the past. I made official complaints on both occasions. I know of one personal adviser at one of the Blackpool Job Centres who takes great delight in threatening to stop peoples benefit. When I was on the New Deal last year I talked a couple of people out of giving him ‘a good kicking’, suggesting instead that they made an official complaint. I also helped them with their complaint letters.
What Job Centre staff need to understand is that they are dealing with people who invariably live from week to week, sometimes day to day, and that the threat of withdrawing money causes a major crisis. Perhaps if they imagined how they would feel if they were told their job had ended there and then, their car had been taken, they had been evicted from their home for not paying the mortgage/rent and their friends/family couldn’t help, they might have a better idea of the people they are dealing with, most of whom would prefer not to have to go any where near a Job Centre. I personally fail to understand how anyone would want to work in a Job Centre and cannot imagine that anyone can get any satisfaction out of their job, unless that is, they have a sadistic streak. There is an old saying ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’. This is good advice for any employee of the DWP who can (hopefully) see their job for what it really is – a puppet of a spiteful, vindictive government.
As for this site being awful, hype or not taken seriously, I cannot disagree more strongly. I have always found it a good source of information, particularly when the Job Centres/New Deal training providers are known for lying to claimants. I imagine the government hate this site, but not as much as I and millions of others hate them!
STOP PRESS – I have just heard on the news that Gordon Brown needs to save £12billion over four years. Abolish the New Deal. There you go, £12billion saved at a stroke.
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this is all true and is typical of a job centre,the job targets is also especially true,trying to send people on 50 mile return trips’ is ridiculous,”if” you could get there they say a bus goes to a town,however the location of the job at the other end is also a totally different matter that they are not interested in,at that point the stupid excuses start to appear,and you have to put up with the consequences.
its all left to next person in the line,that could be the one who checks applications with the employer,these can go very badly wrong,anyone who receives a “doubt has arisen” form knows these are not much fun,this is why its very important to keep proof of applications even at cost,its automatically assumed your at fault again you don’t know the full story and the job centre take a “blame them”
attitude even though they are the ones who send out these often misleading forms’.
i agree about the violence and i suspect this is far more common,i have heard of people receiving death threats as was mentioned,BUT it takes two to tango as the saying goes and it would be interesting to what provoked this response,even if some cannot deal with it in a more positive manner.
i would be very wary of the “only doing my job” this could be claimed through out history and its no excuse for the treatment of those individuals.
anyone who works at job centre plus has to deal not with just jobseekers also other claiments such as employment support allowance,those that are still on incapacity/income support,these in the main are very vulnerable people who are now face the “pull your socks’ up” of this government and the bullying extended to them also.
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The unemployed are an easy target. I make no effort to support any scrounger. There are a small percentage, very small, people that needs to be eliminated from the benefit system however that is no justifiable reason to apply such actions to the innocent claimants who are seeking benefit because:
a) they lost their job in the recession (or were made redundant otherwise)
b) they have not had the opportunity to train or learn to enable them getting what they require for a job (i.e. those who didnt take GCSE’s etc.) – New Deal isn’t training
c) they have the qualifications but no experience (i.e. graduates)
d) they don’t have the paper to prove their skills (i.e. no qualifications although have experience)
e) they left education at 18 (or 16 for certain JSA claims) without having a job and therefore don’t have two references so they are rejected in the recruitment process
f) they were involved in an incident at work where they are now disabled and can’t work
g) they have developed a disease or illness (i.e. cancer) and been dismissed for constructive dismissal
h) they lost their job through race, sex or age discrimination
i) they dont have experience of interview resulting in never getting the job
or
j) they are a victim of the small job market where the other hundreds of candidates are better suited for the position.
etc.
Statistically most claimants sign off by the 6 month stage.
Scroungers do exist but DWP do not target them – they only target the benefit fraudsters – imposing such harsh measures on jobseekers etc. such as workfare to eliminate the scroungers is unfair and a breech of human rights on the other claimants.
Since 96 it has been a condition to be available for work and to actively seek employment (ASE) to claim benefit. Claimants have to provide evidence of such (i.e. job log) and specify what they have done to seek employment while declaring that their circumstances haven’t changed and that they haven’t done any work.
For scroungers to be claiming for over 10 years it is corruption in Jobcentre Plus of how these people manage to be exempt from following the law like the majority of claimants have to follow. Most jobs I have seen recently are LEP jobs so Jobcentre Plus/DWP can contact the employer requesting whether someone has applied.
Until Jobcentre Plus can stop:
a) Penalising the genuine claimants who have respect for them and are the underdog in the transaction – taking advantage of their over-confidence in the situation to bully claimants to reach the target of getting people off benefits (i.e. even if it means terminating claims or sanctions)
and
b) Stop cowering and being bullied by the scroungers who come in over confident and violent who displace the advisor’s confidence in the situation and suck up to the scrounger letting them get off scot free.
There are several security guards present for a reason: why not call them over? Actually, why not report them to BDC and kick them off benefits if you have a doubt about their claim? Thats your job. They wont know its you – its a different office doing that.
Seems Jobcentre Plus are just as guilty as they are.
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I would like to contact or speak to some one against working links polices.
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You are free to contact us at flexiblenewdeal@live.co.uk
We would welcome all communication from those on the inside, those with experience as a client and those with news of what we haven’t specifically reported so far.
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it appears the standards at the dwp and its contractor atos have come under the spotlight.
even the sick and disabled are let down.
this i mentioned some time ago in another thread.
Decision makers lacking the necessary understanding of how to decide how much weight to give to a medical report.
those seeking to claim employment support allowance face a huge uphill battle with paperwork to receive meager benefits,their illness is trivialized and people not listened to,all this to cut benefits.
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/latest-news/971-appeals-president-slams-dwp-and-atos
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it appears the unemployed that have developed mental health problems as a result are now to be offered “talking treatment”,as is more and more common bypassing the persons gp who knows the condition and the jobless person.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/dec/04/jobless-therapy-talking-cbt-unemployment
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I have just read this article in The Guardian and have come to the same conclusion as I usually do about Government initiatives aimed at getting the unemployed back to work. It is another waste of money which doesn’t address the root problem – THERE ARE NO JOBS OUT THERE FOR THE UNEMPLOYED TO TAKE! No doubt, those who refuse to take part, or do not co-operate fully, will be threatened with having their benefits stopped.
I have said it before, and at the risk of sounding monotonous, will say it again. What is needed is job creation on a massive scale. A halt to any further immigration (including from the EU). Before I am accused of racism or xenophobia, it is nothing to do with skin colour or nationality, it is about our own people being put first in our own country, which hasn’t happened for a long time. We need to become self-sufficient, making it or growing it in this country wherever possible. All call centres must be based in this country. I personally don’t like call centres and prefer to deal face to face where possible. A maximum 35 hour, 5 day working week, with the option of a 30 hour 4 day work for those who want it. Once the jobs are there for the taking, then the Job Centre can start pressurising people to apply for them. I don’t feel they will need to exert much pressure though, as most unemployed people would much rather work than claim benefits. At one time the Labour party would have fought to protect British jobs, but not any more. They are too busy trying to ‘Out-Thatcher’ the Conservatives. As we look to the next general election we need to decide which party comes closest to offering full employment. That is for you to decide, but you can certainly rule out Labour or the Conservatives, and probably the Lib-Dems as well.
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