Another story from recent leafleting outside Stockport jobcentre with Stockport United Against Austerity:
JSA and Universal Credit claimants say the jobcentre is presently forcing claimants to attend the jobcentre at least once a week to sit at computers and apply online for job after job. Jobcentre advisers watch while they do this.
People say they weren’t told why they had to attend these sessions in the first instance. They were just instructed to get to the jobcentre at a set time, or else.
Such regimes are not new. Most people who sign on are forced into these compulsory attendance activities. I interviewed people at North Kensington jobcentre who had to attend the jobcentre every single day to sign on. It really is Big Brother stuff – the DWP forcing claimants to a location where they can be seen. Can’t be long until government decides that people who sign on should be tagged.
None of this is about helping people find work, of course. It’s about a government department standing over people who are already trapped.
At these compulsory onsite jobsearch sessions, people just sit at computers and send off one job application after another. They literally never hear back about any of them. Often, they don’t know if the jobs they’ve applied for actually exist. People have to engage in this perfectly meaningless activity on work programmes and at work courses as well. I’ve sat with people as they’ve done it.
“Petty tyranny” is the phrase.
The depth of this pettiness (if there is such a thing as deep pettiness) never ceases to amaze. Jobcentres find any excuse for it at any level.
At Stockport recently, I spoke with one woman who’d just started these compulsory attendances.
She was on edge as it was. Her son had autism. His ESA had been stopped. So had her carer’s allowance and housing benefit. She was signing on for JSA to try for some income.
Now, she had another problem.
Her jobcentre adviser had set her next mandatory jobsearch-at-the-jobcentre session at exactly the time when she had to collect her ten-year-old daughter from school.
She said the jobcentre knew perfectly well that she had a schoolage daughter, but refused to change the time for the compulsory session:
“I’ve got to come here at three o’clock – but how am I supposed to pick my daughter up? They [the jobcentre] don’t care.
This is the only jobcentre [in Stockport]. If I walk, it will take me about 45 minutes. It took me an hour today on the bus, because of the traffic. What I’m going to have to do is take my daughter out of school early to come here. She’s missing out on her education.”
I’ll have to make some excuse up [to tell the school].”
I have a great many conversations like this with benefit claimants: stories about the DWP making already difficult situations even more difficult for people in agonising ways. Still, the DWP gets away with it.
This woman had problems enough. She was appealing the DWP’s decision to stop her son’s ESA. She was trying to sort out problems with his PIP and carer’s allowance.
Now, she had to drag her child out of school, and lie to the school about the reasons why, to get to a jobsearch session that in itself was pure charade. Non-attendance at that session would very likely mean a sanction.
This incident may sound small, but it absolutely wasn’t. It was part of a picture. Once the DWP has people, it never stops putting the boot in. Every part of their lives is fair game.
The DWP have finally published the Universal Credit business case and are claiming that set-up cost of Universal Credit is only £2 Billion , incredibly ignoring the £16 Billion IDS wasted!
“The summary of the business case is now available in the public domain, and claimed that that UC remains “deliverable, affordable and provides value for money, with a net present value (NVP) of £34bn” over 10 years, compared with the £2bn cost of the programme.
It added that when the programme is in a “steady state”, it will generate £8bn a year in “economic value”….
….However, a huge chunk of IT costs were written off during the programme’s 2014 reset, and are not included in this £2bn figure.”
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252442641/DWP-finally-publishes-on-Universal-Credit-business-case
Presumably the £2billion + £16billion could have been better spent on the 350,000 children who experienced destitution last year.
Whether or not the system can save £8billion per year is neither here nor there if it’s not fit for purpose in the first place. The purpose of having a benefit system is to keep children out of destitution. According to your Guardian quote, it’s failing.
If you intentionally publish or declare incorrect finances then that is not only deceitful it is downright Fraud! If I told the DWP I had £2000 in savings when really I had £16000 all hell would break loose, I’d be charged with Fraud, fined, Sanctioned, possibly jailed and would get a criminal record, but this Government do what they want and get away with it. The Opposition probably won’t say anything, nobody will. They are defrauding the British people, the Taxpayers, and getting away with it.
One rule for them Trev, and another for everybody else.
Yeah Garry, it is. Imagine saying to the DWP you can ignore my other 14 grand savings becauseI’ve “written it off” so just pretend it never existed, try telling that to a Magistrate, they’d probably have you for contempt on top of fraud for being deliberately ridiculous & frivolous.
It’s all cobblers about any real saving Trev, and has been from the very start. Universal Credit has always been about dragging the so-called idle working-class into work. Forcing them tp take up the bits and pieces of zero-hour and crap employment, that the JSA 24 Hour rule protected them from. Under JSA, to Duncan-Smith’s fury, unemployed people could actually turn down work if it was for less than 24 fixed hours a week. He soon put a stop to that with Universal Credit.
It also shows that Austerity is ideological and not really about saving money, if they can afford to conveniently write off Billions as though it never existed.
Using the welfare state to keep rogue employers in business. Great use of taxpayers’ money. [Hint of sarcasm.]
From the Graun:
“Universal credit tips poor into hardship, says charity”
“More than 1.5 million people in the UK, including more than 350,000 children, experienced destitution last year, a study has found, meaning they regularly went without food, toiletries, adequate clothing or shelter.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says a “tangled combination” of benefit cuts, delays and sanctions, together with harsh debt-recovery practices and high housing rental costs pushed people already in poverty over the edge into extreme deprivation.
Nearly two-thirds reported that they ate fewer than two meals a day for two or more days over the previous month, nearly half lacked clothing appropriate for the weather, more than 40% went without heating, and 15% slept rough.”
…..From lengthy payment delays to an aggressive approach to deductions of benefit advances, the study says it is “clear that … aspects of both the structure and administration of universal credit risk seriously exacerbating destitution.”
…The re-emergence of destitution-levels of poverty among low-income families over the past two to three years has been noted by poverty campaigners, including the Labour MP Frank Field, who recently argued that for “the first time in postwar history, the state has become a generator of destitution”.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/07/universal-credit-tips-poor-into-hardship-says-charity
I wish Frank Field would do something about Universal Credit.
Instead of standing about looking sorry for himself.
He didn’t exactly put any tough questions to Duncan Smith when he appeared before the Work & Pensions Committee recently.
IDS just got away with various claims about how much UC was helping people, and that was it.
YES very disappointing, IDS got off Scott-free (to use a strange expression), they should have tore into him & challenged his claims. How can it be helping people? How does destitution improve anyones employability? Where are the bloody jobs? How can people live on nothing? The evidence now exists that conditionality is counterproductive, please explain your views IDS in light of this FACT.
But Universal Credit was designed to be uncomfortable for the claimant. Both financially and psychologically.
So that people are not encouraged to claim it instead of working.
In the view of people like IDS, a huge section of British society were long-term benefit claimants who should be working. And that Conservative taxpayers were paying for it. So it was only Social Justice that the unemployed be punished for their idleness, and right-thinking Conservatives pay less tax.
It depends if they see the value of having a functioning Society or not. Crime is off the scale, the Police can’t cope, homelessness rising, people in sleeping bags in all our town centres, foodbanks struggling to cope, and no industry, no jobs. The country is screwed. I had to walk the long way round from the shops yesterday because 2 local streets had been blocked off by armed police due to a shooting yards from my home. A few weeks ago same thing happened because of an armed robbery at a local jewelers. The country has gone to the dogs.
Whatever the motivations of the Tories, there is no excuse for what they have DONE to the most vulnerable in society, including many people who CAN’T work.
Very true Alison. They are beyond shame.
There’s more about it here:
Destitution in the UK Set to Rise with Universal Credit.
https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2018/06/10/destitution-in-the-uk-set-to-rise-with-universal-credit/
And,
“The UK Government needs to:
End the freeze on working-age benefits so they at least keep up with the cost of essentials and do not create destitution.
Change the use of sanctions within Universal Credit so that people are not left destitute by design.
Review the total amount of debt that can be clawed back from people receiving benefits, so they can keep their heads above water.”
https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/destitution-uk-2018?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIocPRquTI2wIVqL_tCh1TwgngEAAYASAAEgLkhPD_BwE
Its a feking jungle out there trev who the fuk votes for this shit.
Fuck knows. Probably posh people living in nice affluent places. Not those living in the frontlineinner-city neighbourhoods.
The real problem Trev, is that many poor people will vote Tory, simply because of what they have heard on the telly or read in a tabloid about Jeremy Corbyn/Labour.
I used to go in tesco & put all the Daily Mail & Sun in a trolley, and put them on the shelf with bargain toile t roll.
Ha-ha-ha! You must’ve kept the staff on their toes!
It was a gigantic Tescos in Bradford, so large & busy that they d idn’t even spot you doing it! 🙂
Labour must do more on Universal Credit. There must be some way that Corbyn can attack it, without damaging the party. Maybe just concentrate on what has happened to disabled people. Who must have the most public sympathy.
But do something at least ! This ignoring it all is awful.
Totally agree Helen. There must be something they can do surely ?
I’m not saying they can change anything directly, but at least this would show people that they understood their concerns.
People are not going to like it if they try for a Miliband on welfare at the next election.
There is something very suspicious about what happened to Debbie Abrahams.
People have noticed that she was one of the few prominent members of the Labour Party to attack these so-called ‘welfare reforms’, including Universal Credit.
But Corbyn doesn’t back her up. Then suddenly she is replaced. Why ?
Because she was embarassing the party leadership, and showing them up on welfare, that’s why.
I miss Debbie Abrahams, that’s for sure!
Perhaps the Tories, with all their “good intentions”, can find themselves a welfare secretary who ACTUALLY CARES about something other than balancing the books and punishing the poor. That would be even better than Debbie Abrahams because that person would actually be IN POWER.
A Disability spokesperson might not be as prominent as a Work & Pensions Spokesperson, but you can check out what Labour’s current Disability Spokesperson Marsha de Cordova has had to say on a number of matters.
You can also check out what the
Green Party Disability Spokesperson and
Green Party Work & Pensions Spokesperson
have had to say.
The Church should be doing more on the whole issue of Universal Credit.
Individual churches are doing a lot to support foodbanks but the Church as an organization are unlikely to be too critical of UC or Welfare reforms because of the PWE.
Whatever the Church, Labour Party or anybody else says, blame lies squarely with the TORIES, who are the ONLY ones responsible for bringing in Universal Credit and the ONLY ones with any power to get rid of it.
With all their “good intentions”, what are the TORIES going to do to help the less advantaged in our society?
“Scroungers getting away with it” is no excuse for inflicting destitution upon the vast population of low-income earners and the unemployed, whether able-bodied, disabled or caring for several small children.
“Please, sir, I want some more!”
“More? You want MORE? Your mother had too many children, so the solution to your hunger is to reduce your food further to discourage her from having more children. If you die, it’s a price worth paying.”
The church along with many other charities and organisation are turning a profit from all this misery and doing very well from it as they always have thank you very much.
How many of them employed slave labour under the workfare scheme and now being shamed for the parasites they are.
Theresa may a committed Christian upholding the work ethic which is merely a excuse to abuse and use people in the name of a mythical entity.
Mr Jonathan Rotten along with his fellow musicians sums it quite nicely,
Stained glass windows keep the cold outside
While the hypocrites hide inside
With the lies of statues in their minds
Where the Christian religion made them blind
Where they hide And prey to the God of a bitch spelled backwards is dog
Not for one race, one creed, one world But for money
Effective Absurd
Do you pray to the Holy Ghost when you suck your host
Do you read who’s dead in the Irish Post
Do you give away the cash you can’t afford
On bended knees and pray to lord
Fat pig priest
Sanctimonious smiles
He takes the money
You take the lies
This is religion and Jesus Christ
This is religion cheaply priced
This is bibles full of libel
This is sin in eternal hymn
This is what they’ve done
This is your religion
The apostles were eleven
Now there’s a sod in Heaven
This is religion
There’s a liar on the altar
The sermon never falter
This is religion
Your religion
Johnny Rotten ? A true inbred moron.
Take it not a fan then Sam still he made some great music.
I always think it’s unbelievable really what the Tories have got away with in just a few short years. They have wrecked the whole benefits system, deliberately.
Turned on the disabled , caused homelessness, mass poverty, child poverty.
And they are still carrying on as if they are doing the right thing.
It does beggar belief as to what they have done and somehow managed to get away with largely through a combination of a weak Opposition and effective use of the media to brainwash the masses.
Yet another report (or survey) on Universal Credit, this time by the DWP itself…
“Nearly half the people on Universal Credit are struggling to pay their bills, according to damning findings buried in a government survey, published on the quiet while MPs were away from Parliament yesterday (June 8).”
Yet the DWP says:
“The #UniversalCredit Claimant Survey shows that people are motivated to move into and progress in work”
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2018/06/09/backlash-against-dwp-as-universal-credit-throws-almost-half-of-claimants-into-debt/
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/714842/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey.pdf
The thing is, it’s probably true that people claiming Universal Credit want a job and want to progress in work. Most of the UK population would share those aspirations. There’s no reason to believe Universal Credit is failing in that respect. It’s EVERYTHING ELSE: waiting times, sanctions, debt repayments, unreasonable demands…what Universal Credit is failing to do is provide a safety net and a level of subsistence income necessary to exist in today’s society.
I think the DWP mean (by that) that it is Universal Credit that is motivating people into work., but it doesn’t say anything aboutthe quality of jobs that people are being hounded & bullied into accepting; part-time, low paid, zero hours, awkward shifts miles away from where people live, fast-paced target-driven jobs with no tea breaks, etc.etc.
Also it amounts to an admission that UC is a brutal system because in effect their statement excuses the fact that nearly half of claimants are experiencing poverty/debt/arrears as if that’s a good thing because that’s what is providing the motivation.
You tell ’em Trev. That’s the truth all right.
Universal Credit is the nasty version of Jobseekers Allowance. Full of sanctions and spite. They are using deliberately created poverty to force people off benefits and into zero-hours work. That’s the reality.
Right on Trev. Universal Credit is only ‘working’ if you think it is acceptable to force people into zero-hours and crap employment they don’t want to do.
By using hunger and destitution to force them to do it.
This includes disabled people, older claimants who should be retired, and others with serious permanent health conditions.
This could be a ray of light for those left leaning a early election could be triggered due to the fact that people in Northern Ireland would prefer to join a united Ireland and maintain their EU membership, than stay in the UK.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/northern-ireland-support-join-irish-republic-eu-hard-brexit-poll-lucidtalk-a8098531.html
If that is the case and Ireland do unite then UDP would have to leave parliament leaving the Tories powerless .
A united Ireland would make sense and solve the Brexit border issue. I can’t see it happening though as there’s still a lot of obstinate Loyalists who see themselves as being British, which is weird because Northern Ireland has never been part of Britain but they get it mixed up with the UK.You never know though, the younger generation might initiate change.
Maybe it would be much better for benefit claimants’ health if a Claimant Commitment adopted this feed from an NHS website:
“Why we should sit less
“Why sitting is bad for us
“….
“To reduce our risk of ill health from inactivity [sic], we are advised to exercise regularly – at least 150 minutes a week – and reduce sitting time.”
Source: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/why-sitting-too-much-is-bad-for-us/
None the less, in Health Promotion England’s approach to favouring “ten minutes brisk walking per day” rather than the previous emphasis on walking 10,000 steps a day, I suspect that those forced to sit for far too long would not have built up sufficient muscle-mass to sustain that “ten minutes brisk walking per day.” So that ‘Active 10’ would come more like a ‘short sharp shock’, leading far too many people to a fall.
Perhaps that is what the Government really wants for us, to bring us to our knees?
I have to walk everywhere because I can’t afford buses. I get sick of walking.
Well nobody will be doing any unpaid workfare at Poundworld as they’ve gone bust even before Brexit so that’s one less to worry about, pity it wasn’t Poundland though, or Poundstretcher, as they do use unpaid work slaves.
Well Tev, if you live by the sword …
And all those poor devils at Poundworld, are heading straight for Universal Credit.
You know people are skint when Poundworld goes bust!
I think it was something to do with the exchange rate & cost of imports what sunk them. It’ll only get worse after Brexit, there’s going to be mass unemploymentlike there was in 1980. Jaguar Land Rover have just announced they’re pulling out of UK & relocating production to the Czech Republic. This is just the beginning. So what does the future hold for the Benefits system I wonder? Mass unpaid Workfare schemes?
Over in China they have already got some spooky system, where a citizen who behaves correctly earns ‘merit’ points for good behaviour. You gain points for getting an education, volunteering in your community. Taking service in the army or police. You lose points for being unemployed, criminal convictions etc.
So what do you get if you earn lots of points? Money?
Points make prizes.Could happen here soon,food vouchers,Rationing,Labour camps,perhaps even Martial Law.
All the companies are doing is hiring the Slovakians in Slovakia instead of in the UK. That’s good news for our house prices and welfare bills.
Universal Credit is ideal for disguising the true level of unemployment. Anything counts as ’employed’ under UC. A single hour of work per week, or an unpaid work experience placement.
It is going to be very useful for the government to help it conceal the reality of long-term. unemployment
More on this subject here:
“Tory economic failure: Even discount shops like Poundworld can’t stay open”
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2018/06/12/tory-economic-failure-even-discount-shops-like-poundworld-cant-stay-open/
And here:
“The Tories can’t blame anyone else for the High Street apocalypse they’re created”
http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-tories-cant-blame-anyone-else-for.html
Trev, I hope Labour are going to get stuck in with this.
Tory economic failure right before our eyes. Happening here and now. No need to hark back years to the last Labour government. This is all their own Tory doing.
There’s plenty Labour could get stuck in to them about, but whether they will or not remains to be seen, mind you Brexit is taking up all attention atm.
Universal Credit is nothing less than systematic cruelty imposed on people claiming benefits. A deliberate attempt to make sure that being on benefits is always the least attractive option. And that even the very worst of jobs, with the worst pay and conditions is better by comparison. Social Control via the benefits system.
True Graham, that’s what it is, a form of social control.
“35 Hours a Week Job Search. The Nightmare Continues.”
https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/35-hours-a-week-job-search-the-nightmare-continues/
Who would have thought that you could put something so stupid and cruel together, and then get people to vote for it ?
the Jobcentre are at it again with their lies and propaganda:
https://www.examiner.co.uk/news/business/370-huddersfield-jobs-new-easy-14777900
“370 Huddersfield jobs on new easy to use website
People can quickly narrow the search for the jobs they want”
“Jo Ledgard, of Huddersfield Jobcentre, said the new website now had details of 373 vacancies in the Huddersfield area.”
“Among the 373 vacancies being advertised, 87 are in healthcare and nursing, 39 were in sales, 22 were in trade and construction, 20 were in administration and 20 were in warehousing and logistics.”
““After creating an account and logging in to the website there is a standard search engine immediately available or the option of doing an advanced search,” she said.”
Well I just went on Find A Jon and searched within 10 miles of Huddersfield and after filtering out irrelevant jobs in the search terms it came up with just 44 jobs, and many /most of them are in fact also irrelevant (to me), one of them was in Sheffield which is more than 10 miles that I specified, and the rest are for bullshit Sales jobs etc. I then adjusted the search terms to exclude irrelevant words/jobs and it then came up with just 24 jobs.
And out of those 24 I found only one job I could apply for.
Pingback: You can’t have this job because you’re too old. We also deduct £200 from wages because these jobs are apprenticeships | Kate Belgrave
This is why I couldn’t work in a jobcentre because I would genuinely want to help people and I have real understanding of the job market. From what I have seen I wouldn’t fit in and would soon be reprimanded
The system as it stands doesn’t allow for that. Its deeply cynical and even sinister in its approach. Its clearly designed to put people off signing on for money they are legally entitled to. Those that do brave it are soon treated with derision and contempt. I have plenty of evidence to back that up….so much I could write a book about it.
Its set up by a political class who have the general view that the unemployed are lazy feckless and beneath them. Worse than that its set up to keep the poor down because everybody knows that jobs have dried up and opportunities without serious financial collateral are thin on the ground. Put simply, a machine or Chinese worker now does many jobs I have done in the past….go figure.
Its also a system designed to play off the working poor against the unemployed creating little sympathy or understanding. The step up? from unemployment is often antisocial hours and barely minimum wage. Lets face the truth that its often the working poor that think the unemployed are living the life of riley
Its a bullshit job economy full of non jobs, chancers and bosses well beyond reasonable. They don’t even pretend to care anymore and will hire and fire within a week meaning there is no real opportunity or any point signing off. Ive been insulted at interviews and they laugh about it. At one point I was driving for £2.60 per hour due to a shady loophole in self employment regulations
I would say nearly all of the jobcentre regime is punitive rather than helpful. The definition of insanity is repeating the same process endlessly with the same result….cue the 35 hour week jobsearch and multiple applications for work they know you have next to no chance of getting. When work is scarce most CVs are thown in the bin so we are not talking about a numbers game…we are talking about lottery ticket odds for any job
The CV and application process does not work in the way the DWP/Jobcentre insist it does. They may as well be a squawking parrot repeating “loads of jobs” They back this up with misleading statistics that they never put a magnifying glass to because it does not suit their agenda
We can easily see the real breakdown of jobs and how few there actually are. Removing dodgy employment agencies from advertising jobs which don’t exist would make a massive difference and that’s just the start. Multiple job sites who leave jobs on for months after they have been taken if they ever existed in the first place…etc ..etc…etc
You daren’t question them though as they insist they are always right and you are just the feckless unemployed…it will soon be ALL your fault for unemployment so sharks can make money out of you in a confidence “marble rolling” class.
One of the most sinister…yes deeply sinister situations was agencies interviewing people in the job centres and reporting the interviewer directly to JC “advisors”. Again private companies with the ability to get you sanctioned if you don’t take highly problematic,short term work nobody else on their books would even consider
I’m working now in a highly responsible job. The only thing the DWP did for me is turn me into a depressed robot with no faith in myself.
Please do not let them do that to you and fight for your rights
I completely agree with you 100%. From my short period of being on Universal Credit, I was lucky enough to get a sympathetic work-coach who understood my needs and didn’t hound me about my job search. It is very rare to find a work-coach like this as the majority with any compassion would’ve left.
The thing with the Job Centre is the majority who work there clearly don’t care about the needs of the claimants they deal with; everything is ticking boxes and meeting targets. These are the same people who claim that there are many job vacancies when the majority that exist are low-paid temp or zero hour contracts nobody wants to do. To add insult to injury, some employers get away with paying less than minimum wage! As for the job sites thing, I can agree on that too. From personal experience, the only job site where I’ve had some luck is Glassdoor. Reed was the worst for me as most recruiters who contacted me were for jobs out of what I am looking for now which is admin work. Plus, let’s not forget the questionable work from home jobs on there as-well.
As you mentioned, finding a decent job these days is like playing the lottery, you have a 1 in how many chance of getting anything. I remember going to different shops in my local area (around Sep 2020) to look for work (as I wasn’t getting anything in my old job after March 2020 so around the time I finished university); I remember going into a Sports Direct to hand my CV in and was told by an employee that they would throw it in the bin (as I was looking for jobs too early, way before Christmas which is the busiest period). I did manage to find a permanent job through the Kickstart Scheme (although 2+ years in I’m now looking for employment elsewhere as all I get is £10.42 p/hr for admin work which is pretty bad).
Still, getting anything is like finding a needle in a haystack, especially as nowadays, most employers require you to apply online for jobs (which expect you to go through the tedious process of filling in an application form, attaching a CV and cover letter and completing absurd personality tests). Then, there is the never ending wait of hearing back from an employer about your application; in most cases employers never get back to you anyway or they send their generic rejection e-mails. You can’t really blame people for not wanting to work these days as the majority of jobs have little incentive/benefits/decent wages.