Listen ... Carefully

Nigel

Read It And Weep 10

*****RIAW 9, here: RIAW 8, here: RIAW 7, here: RIAW 6, here: RIAW 5, here:
RIAW 4, here: RIAW 3, here: RIAW 2, here: RIAW 1, here.*****

*****

Forced Labour (WP/WF/WCA), Welfare, Entitlements and General

*****

Timetable of Forthcoming Welfare Benefit Changes

Four stages of deceit
 
Stop Helping Me, Iain

Unemployment and the Work Ethic
 
In All Fairness...

I'm proud of our welfare reforms (Guardian)

Iain Duncan Smith - true to form

Supporting vulnerable people back into society requires time, patience and commitment, not punitive measures

Sanctions: hitting the most vulnerable

Government MUST Tell Public The Truth About Benefits Fraud

Only one problem with the government’s list of top ten benefits fraudsters – it doesn’t exist

Every local council got every bedroom tax decision legally and badly wrong

Most families hit by benefits cap 'have no job or housing options'

Benefit Cap Based On Bare-Faced Lie

Labour to substantially cut benefits bill if it wins power in 2015 (Guardian)

Ed Miliband: We WILL Scrap Hated Bedroom Tax

Three More Remploy Factories To Close

Report Calls For Expansion Of Residential Workfare For Unemployed and Disabled People

Outsourcing Jobcentre Plus - the first steps?

They've got away with it

Work Programme figures - fail!

Work Programme official statistics (GOV.UK)

Desperately spinning
 
STOP PRESS - contradictory figures
 
Number Of Young Jobless Higher Than When Coalition Came To Power

Why Osborne must publish the names of every benefits claimant - and how much we pay them: An incendiary idea to save on our £500m A DAY welfare bill (Daily Mail)

DWP minister Hoban gets JSA amount WRONG - and jobseeking unaffordable

*****

Universal Credit

*****

Universal Credit: Roll out from October 2013 (GOV.UK)
 
'Claimant Commitment' sanction threat falls on jobseekers; blundering DWP staff get away with murder

Universal Credit ‘claimant commitment’: no choice, no law, no money – no appeal
 
Universal Credit IT working well claims DWP

Digital By Default Abandoned In Universal Credit Pathfinder Fiasco

Universal Credit … The Farce Continues

Universal Credit Too Risky, Admits Tory Minister 

*****

Universal Jobmatch

*****

No Match, Universally

Social Security

Yet More Government Enforced Sex Work On Mandatory Job Seeking Website

Universal Jobmatch Shows This Government’s True Attitude To Online Safety

 
Nigel

A New Coach/Athlete Model

The DWP Coach/Athlete Model

"Dear Rosie,

I’ve confirmed with policy experts that we don’t require either a legislative change or new legislation to enable the roll-out of the Claimant Commitment to JSA Claimants. This is because the Claimant Commitment will be used within the current JSA regime. Building on the successful Live Innovation Trials and Pathfinder approach, we are preparing for the introduction of Universal Credit by introducing a programme of learning and development for advisers to embed a cultural change and a new coach/athlete model for supporting claimants. This will include strengthening how we shift claimant behaviour towards proactive job-search that sets the right foundation ahead of Universal Credit’s smoother, clearer, more stable incentives to work. This will be supported by improved products, primarily the Claimant Commitment, which will help to enable this change. It is important to note that whilst the Claimant Commitment will replace the existing product for the claimant group agreed for roll-out, it will for legislative purposes act as the Jobseeker’s Agreement and claimant acceptance of it will not be a condition of entitlement for JSA as it will be for Universal Credit.

You are correct to say that generally claimants who are able to work would fall into the All Work Related Requirements group when claiming Universal Credit. Our aim is to encourage them to get into as much work as they reasonably can do as quickly as possible. Advisers will take account of individual circumstances and set requirements that, if complied with, give the claimant the best possible prospects of finding paid work.

The Claimant Commitment is at the heart of this personalised approach. Compliance with requirements such as active job search and engagement with advisers, increases the chances that claimants find work more quickly than they would otherwise, but too often in the current system there is a lack of clarity about requirements and consequences. The Claimant Commitment will address this, for the first time setting out all requirements and consequences in one place – ensuring claimants understand what is required.

One of the main differences between current JSA and Universal Credit conditionality is that claimants in the All Work Related Requirements group have a responsibility to look for and find work. Claimants should treat this responsibility as their “job” and our intention is that claimants should aim to spend as many hours looking for work as we would expect them to spend in work - for the All Work Related Requirements group this has been set at 35 hours per week. These more robust requirements will be supported by a new sanctions framework under Universal Credit.

However, as I have explained, the JSA Claimant Commitment will be underpinned by JSA and not Universal Credit legislation and as such will not have the same powers as for those claiming Universal Credit. Current JSA conditionality will continue to be applied and the Claimant Commitment will be a tool which facilitates a culture change and a more robust approach to diagnosing claimants circumstances and setting appropriate work related requirements, which will provide the best chance of finding work.

Kind Regards ... DWP Communications"

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/5264

Nigel

IAD, No Idea

Update: (28 Aug 2013)

Universal Jobmatch: Your rights

“JSA Work Programme (WP) participants

90. You must not mandate JSA WP participants to create a profile and public CV in Universal Jobmatch.”https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/174251/response/424013/attach/html/3/WDTK%204024.pdf.html

Update: (22 Aug 2013) The DWP suggested the only mandatory place a Universal Jobmatch account could be created then used was on a Jobcentre Internet Access Device (IAD/Computer). However the quote below contradicts this outright:

“A3. Claimants will not be mandated to use IADs available in Jobcentre Plus offices and will, therefore, not be sanctioned if they refuse to use them. Use of IADs by claimants is voluntary.” https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/173127/response/422728/attach/html/3/FOI3884%20Gazz%20WDTK%20Reply.pdf.html

Note: Clarification is being sort on above, here and here.

Do not tick the boxes below, when you create a Universal Jobmatch account. Use can be made mandatory via a Jobseeker’s Direction ..."

http://consentarchive.wordpress.com/universaljobmatch

Nigel