Sharing this story, because I love it so much:
Angela Smith is a woman with a Master’s degree and a long history of working in policy and disability support. She also has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair to get around. I’ve been accompanying Angela to her compulsory fortnightly Wembley jobcentre signons and meetings with the Reed Partnership, her work programme provider in Harrow. We’ve shown how difficult London buses can be for disabled people to use. We’ve also shown how pointless those fortnightly meetings at the jobcentre and the work programme really are when it comes to finding work.
Anyway. Angela has a new job. She got it without any help whatsoever from the jobcentre or the Reed Parntership. She found the job advertisement, filled in the application form, went to the interview and got through.
She did the whole thing entirely by herself. But that hasn’t stopped the work programme provider from trying to claim the result for itself. I went with Angela to her final meeting there a couple of weeks ago and saw this in all its glory. Her work programme adviser – a pleasant enough woman – congratulated Angela on finding a job. Then she said something along the lines of: “look, I know we haven’t helped you get this job at all – but would you be prepared to be featured in our Success Stories poster campaign? We could get your photo done and get a poster made. That would be really good.” There were posters on the office walls of people working at various jobs and saying things like: “I’m now running a successful business.” Angela and I decided that they must have been a bit short on successful-placements-of-disabled-people-in-work stories so they’d figured they’d have hers. Pity they had nothing to do with it.
“look, I know we haven’t helped you get this job at all – but would you be prepared to be featured in our Success Stories poster campaign?”
I assume her reply consisted of precisely two words?
As I am a newly baptized Jehovah’s Witness, and I have no intention of losing my salvation, due to the injustices in this system, I kept my reply civil. I replied, “Do I look like I was born yesterday?”
It’s a shame that they found out where you are working, as they will now be expecting to cream off job outcome and sustainment payments for up to 2 years.
Even if they get a job outcome payment, you could try to prevent them from getting any more money by asking your employer not to confirm to them if you’re still working there when they phone to check up on you.
If I get a job, there is no way A4e are finding out where I am working- I am also going to avoid passing on employer contact details to the Jobcentre so that they can’t then pass those on to A4e (which A4e informed me the Jobcentre would do).
Pingback: More work programme provider shamelessness… – Kate Belgrave | Vox Political
Pingback: More Work Programme Provider Shamelessness | ukgovernmentwatch
Hiya Kate, I had a freind who is still getting calls from these people though she got her job on her own, this is three years later!!!
Advised her as I would Ms Smith, to put in a Information Act Request by registered mail instructing them as no longer connected to them to expunge her details from their records.
Further, any further contact in any form from them would be considered in breach of the Information Act and treated as such and also as Harrassment.
£25 at a magistrates court can work wonders with these people.
Congrats on Ms Smith getting a job.