The Work Programme Isn't Working

The Work Programme Isn't Working...

At least the work programme isn't working ttoday. ..Some readers may recall that out of the blue I had a letter from the work programme , having not heard from them for eight months, demanding that I appear at an appointment which was mandatory and if I didn't come I faced benefit sanctions. Rather a joke, I felt as clearly they had just remembered that I was on their books.

I wasn't far off the mark in that assumption. I am now on adviser number three. The first one had too much work and several clients were transferred including myself to other advisers, number 2 left and this one I was ordered to meet was number three. He apologized for not knowing that due to my health, including a heart condition aggravated by high blood pressure and the medication I have to take for it, my appointments were conducted via phone, but said that since he had over 200 clients he couldn't read all their files to find out anything about them and felt it best to just send out the standard threatening letter demanding your attendance or else.

Once he had interviewed me he felt that there wasn't much the work programme could do for me and that in fact I should be claiming ESA and DLA, sickness and disability benefits. He especially noted that due to a previous fracture I am unable to go out in icy weather and am housebound, making going to work difficult and said, that in this country that can mean from October until April !!

I replied that he was as aware as I am that to claim these disability benefits, which even the Jobcentre now say I should claim , they can only be claimed with medical certificates from the GP. (own doctor ) . My doctor was writing certificates for some time. While he was doing so, the jobcentre advised me that they were in effect worthless because as soon as I was called for a work capability assessment with ATOS, I would be declared fit for work and put back on to Job seekers allowance, in fact said one adviser I was highly employable.. I'm sure I would be, if the employment was in a building I could be sure to be able to access, in a place I could get to by bus with no underground involved as I struggle with escalators, and if it was a job I could sustain with a heart condition aggravated by high blood pressure and the medication I have to take for it, arthritis and sight limitations. The certificates piled up in the back of my diary and then the doctor refused to write them because , he said that he didn't believe he could continue to help me in that way.....i.e benefit issues. .

I recently asked the GP again for a certificate as what I feared were symptoms of a stroke or blood clot are thought by the GP to possibly be Hemiplegic Migraine...bad enough if you have them lasting three days non stop in a week.He replied that he was not giving me a certificate as they are only for people who can do no work at all. When I told him that both the Jobcentre and the work programme say that I should have a certificate, he replied that it wasn't for him to say what sort of work, but I can do something...well, I agree on that because I am typing this rather well received blog, but there is no help available for me to come off benefits and make an income out of it, but that is a story for later.....Meanwhile the GP said that if the Jobcentre and the Work Programme say I should claim sickness benefits, then they can put that in writing to him...which of course they won't do ....because to do so they would lose their own jobs....

As for self employment the work programme told me that there is no help available to me, as I am not in receipt of any sickness benefit , if I became self employed or started work all that would be available to me on a low income or building an income is basic rate tax credits....£52 per week....even less than Job seekers allowance .....

The work programme adviser then said that he had to book my next appointment which he would carry out by phone. He entered it into his system and then announced that he had just remembered that he wouldn't be in the office that day but the system database couldn't be altered , so I would have to phone up on the day of the consultation, even though it wouldn't be happening and I would be told that he wasn't there, but if I didn't phone then I would be sanctioned...The appointment would go ahead the next day...today. However, it didn't, because yesterday I received a text to say that it wasn't happening and I was to wait to hear further when my next appointment will be ...The Work programme isn't working !!!

photo credit: Byzantine_K via photopin cc

Experience and empathy

When David Cameron became Prime Minister , telling us that the NHS was safe in his hands I and many others expected cuts yes, he is a Tory, but hoped maybe it might not be so bad, after all didn't he have a severely disabled son, Ivan

.


David Cameron had spoken so often about the importance of the NHS in the life of his family and how very frequently they needed to call on its services, we thought maybe he understood, and we were wary and anxious yes, but hoped it would indeed not be as bad under him as we feared.The Prime Minister also had a disabled father....

Our tentative hopes proved so so wrong, and at least 32 die a week after failing the test for ESA, the replacement for Inca pacity benefit brought in by Camerons coalition .

 

Rather than empathy and understanding, Cameron's experiences appear to have had the opposite effect and my job centre advisers have spoken to me of being forced to sign terminally ill people as fit for work. . ATOS, the group contracted by the government to deny disability benefits to claimants and find current claimants fit for work and so remove their benefits has told an incontinent woman to 'wear nappy' in order to go to work In another case, and these are certainly not isolated , a Mum-of-three was told to find a job by Atos chiefs.. weeks later she died of a brain tumour. 

Would Cameron and the minister for work and pensions, Iain Duncan Smith want this treatment for sick and disabled members of their own family ? Probably not, but the point is that they will never have to imagine the effect it has to be treated in this manner and what it is to be in that position.

There is a saying that has some different versions and the origins are shrouded in fable about trying to walk a mile in someone elses shoes, I also know it as the native American version Walking a mile in someone elses moccasins

  

  I also remember with much admiration , an elderly lady who was born in and until recently lived in the same town as myself. She often spoke to me of having had polio as a child and all that she owed to the support of her clearly wonderful mother. Some years later, when she was working and trying to care for her by then elderly mother who needed support herself, she founded a local branch of the carer's support group The Princess Royal Trust For Carers. She was involved in local politics and highly respected locally, b ut she never, ever forgot her roots and since we lived in a borough of wide social and financial division , I knew what she meant when she told me that although her group was open to all, there was a huge difference between being disabled in a big house with lots of money in one end of the borough, and being disabled on benefits in a council flat at the other end of it. 

 Now we have our Home Secretary Theresa May, of the huge shoe collection and fan of kitten heels and leapard print , who has presided on her watch over a vicious reform of the UK immigration laws, telling us that she has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Insisting of course that it is business as usual and it makes no difference to her ability to do her job

I agree !!....many diabetics successfully work....and on the other hand, many, especially those diagnosed later in life when they might be having to consider a job change will find that

Conditions such as diabetic retinopathy may inhibit chances of gaining positions that require good visual clarity. Some employers will perceive a job as being a danger to your condition, and this may further complicate an application. And that As an insulin user, the following jobs (under current legislation) are unavailable to you. 

This list does not cover every position, and an employer may use their own discretion, in some cases unfairly. Some of these jobs are exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, meaning that employers can refuse an applicant who has diabetes.
          Armed forces......

• Fire service

• Ambulance service

• Prison service

• Airline pilots and Airline Cabin crew

• Air traffic control

• Offshore work
  

Theresa May's attitude of business as usual is admirable, however, is she perhaps doing fellow diabetics not in her privileged position a disservice .? I'm not for a moment saying she should give up work, but it would be nice to see her start to really fight for and defend the sick and disabled , because a lot of fellow diabetics in the above occupations could well have to stop work and find themselves at the cruel hands of her government, her boss the Prime minister and ATOS.
Somehow..I can't see it happening because as we found with the Prime Minister, experience does not necessarily produce empathy.

Valerie 

Job hunting over 50?: In The News

Job hunting over 50?: In The News: Remembering the victims of austerity cuts... Atos don't care a toss

  We have a new page...In the news, with news, reviews and updates of how policies such as Welfare reform are affecting older and disabled people in the workforce or searching for work..here is our first item.

WE SHALL OVERCOME - remembering the victims of austerity cuts

Song recorded and video made for WE SHALL OVERCOME commemoration event near Buckingham Palace.

The Work Programme experiences

photo credit: Ed Yourdon via photopin cc

                                                 



The Work programme isn't working..unless you make them ..and they risk losing you on their books, in which case, should you get a job, they won't get paid b y the government for getting you into work

Fw: Appointment - CDG..and the Workchoice programme

FROM valerie hedges TO 1 recipient

From

• valerie hedges

To

• Advisers name removed

Dear Sir,

This is to advise you that according to the law  and that I am forced to attend or face sanctions on my benefits,  I will force myself, in spite of my health , including a heart condition which makes this hot weather very difficult for me, attend the   appointment with you at 2pm on Monday 15th July. However, I wish to state how very angry I am that having never heard from you and certainly not received any reply from my recent email to 'Roopa' whom I understood to be my adviser, you suddenly write to me, claiming to be my adviser, of which you had never had the courtesy to inform me up until now, and insist that I come to meet you, at peril of loss of my benefit if I do not attend.

Valerie Hedges

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: valerie hedges <valerie.hedges@btopenworld.com>
To:Work programme
Sent: Tuesday, 25 June 2013, 10:25
Subject: Re: Appointment - CDG..and the Workchoice programme

Dear Adviser (name removed )

You may recall that I was allocated to your caseload on the work programme and explained to you that it is going to be difficult for me to access and sustain work due to my medical conditions, including a heart condition, high blood pressure, sight and arthritis and mobility problems, in the winter icy weather I cannot go out at all which would make going to work difficult, but  I am being told I must and the job centre consider that a claim for ESA would not be successful. You suggested to me that another programme Workchoice may be more suited to me.

For a long time I was not able to discuss this as you asked with the job centre because as I was on the work programme I never saw a job centre adviser, however recently things changed and I now have to sign on normally even though I am on the work programme.

The DLA at Mitcham Jobcentre has asked me to ask you to arrange for me to be signed off the work programme as she cannot work with me on Workchoice unless you do so.I feel that this programme may well be more suited to my having to look for work with such problems with my health as I have because I have researched the local providers of the programme on the Internet. However, as i say I have discussed it with the DLA but she needs me signed off the Work programme to be able to work with me.

I would very much appreciate your assistance with this matter.

Sincerely

Valerie Hedges

---

From:Adviser
To: "'valerie.hedges@btopenworld.com'" <valerie.hedges@btopenworld.com>
Sent: Thursday, 10 January 2013, 13:12
Subject: Appointment - CDG

Dear Valerie,

 

Thank you for your voice mail and for updating me on the actions we previously discussed.

 

I have asked my CDG contact to ask for EPP to call you again about the sessions.

 

I know that you said that you forgot about the Work Choice programme, but would you be able to discuss with your Job Centre Advisor whether it can be an option for you, for our next phone appointment please? I am not sure if this would also require involvement from your GP, but your Advisor should be able to inform you if you are eligible.

 

I will be calling you for a 10 minute appointment on Wednesday, 6^th February 2013 at about 10.20am, to catch up on any updates with the Work Choice Programme, the EPP Programme and your website.

 

Please let me know if this appointment is not suitable.

 

  Warm Regards,

| Employment Advisor

Getting your priorities right...living on Job seekers allowance

Getting your priorities right...living on Job seekers allowance

 

Yet again, the blog has missed that target of every blogger...regular new fresh content and has been quiet. Most job hunters the world over, especially those under the rules of a government job seekers programme such as Job Seekers Allowance in the UK, and I believe similar state programmes in the USA., know that it is indeed true, when you are unemployed, your job is getting a job, it is a full time job in itself...If a job seeker fails to meet the criteria for their benefit, i.e. having applied for enough jobs as decided by an adviser when they go to sign on for benefit,in my case every two weeks, then certainly in the UK there is a very real chance of sanctions, losing your benefit for a number of weeks as punishment. Job centre offices are actually set targets to sanction so many people per week at their offices and if staff are felt to be too soft on claimants and do not make the required number of sanctions they may well find themselves on the other side of the desk and claiming benefits themselves. It is far from unusual to end up begging

Add this to trying to stay on top of the financial and legal issues which so easily occur as part of living on a much reduced income on benefits rather than your salary and being a job seeker is a very busy time indeed, and yet of course the government opinion of the unemployed, helped by the media is that of the lazy work-shy scrounger, lazing in bed or on the sofa all day, watching TV while to use a favourite British Government phrase ...'hard working families', who it is said they do want to help, even though many of them have suffered worse through the benefit cuts , close their doors every morning and head off to the bus stop or train station to go to work.

The truth, and I can speak from experience ,is that most job seekers are very busy indeed, not only trying to get jobs but to manage their household's rising costs on the pittance that is job seekers allowance..

I have written previously about how living costs are higher for those already in poverty. Once one has money management problems and starts on the downward spiral of damaging their credit history, the cost of living soars further at a time when they can least afford to manage it. Examples of this are the increased running costs of pre pay meters for utilities such as gas and electricity. Once a customer is in arrears companies will frequently insist on pre pay meters being fitted, rather than allowing the customer to pay back the arrears by other means, and the cost of gas and electricity through pre pay meters is higher than the deals available to direct debit customers. Also, customers become if not disconnected, at best stuck with the company they are with and unable to swap to better perhaps bundled deals . I pay more for my BT phone and broadband than most pay for this bundled with cable or satellite television sports and movie packages, because I would not pass the required credit check for a new contract.

Job Seekers allowance does NOT cover living costs. It is not ideal to be without a phone while looking for a job, however, a phone is not considered to be a vital expense. This is of particular significance now that many claimants of JSA are sick and disabled people who need access to a telephone. Also , unemployed people will be frequently needing a phone to sort out benefit and other financial and legal issues. Many best deals for utilities and other goods that can be essential such as replacing a washing machine are online deals, therefore it could be said that there are advantages for those in poverty to be online, and this cannot be disputed when it comes to making job searches and applications. Indeed some now claim that internet access is a utility rather than a luxury and an essential ,even a human right.. However, the Department of Work and Pensions paying benefits would not agree , even though claimants are now being forced to make their claims online.

It would be very easy to think that one can easily manage without a mobile phone when you are

unemployed. Indeed, it is not budgeted for in job seekers allowance and is certainly not thought of as an essential. There is no doubt that the cheapest way to finance a mobile is on a contract, b ut should you lose your contract because you cannot pay , it will be difficult to get another, and difficult to get a contract for anything once you have a damaged credit record.. Again, the same debate arises, Is a mobile phone a luxury or a necessity . Well, job hunting is certainly easier with a mobile, and especially perhaps a smart-phone, for which there are an increasing number of 'apps ' available to help a job search and to help you to stay in touch and make quick responses to a job opportunity. Not surprisingly many employers are just going to assume that you do have a mobile and will choose to call you on a mobile rather than a land line. It's better to have a mobile than not but it will not be covered in your Job seekers allowance and it is a god idea if you cannot get a contract to look for the best pre pay deals that you can find.

Much time while you are unemployed may well be spent trying to keep on top of your much reduced budget and deal with any problems which might arise. Many expenses will be necessary expenditure, and certainly beneficial if you are job hunting, but are not priority bills. to be paid first.

Valerie