Help Me Investigate Welfare is a website to help those who want to investigate questions relating to the welfare system.
The site is based on Help Me Investigate.com, a site which was launched in July 2009 with funding from Channel 4′s 4iP fund and Screen West Midlands.
In 2011 the the code for the original site was released under an open source licence and a new site was launched with the intention of:
- helping people connect to wider networks of investigation that exist across the web,
- providing resources and support for users
- and providing help in bringing stories to a wider audience
Investigations undertaken by users of Help Me Investigate include the uncovering of a £2.2 million overspend on Birmingham City Council’s website; false claims by publishers of a free newspaper; the worst places for parking fines; the real average cost of weddings; legal issues surrounding recording council meetings; police claims of sabotage against Climate Camp protesters; how much higher education costs the taxpayer; who is responsible for an advertising screen; does scrapping speed cameras save money? And varying availability of hormonal contraceptive on the NHS.
The site was conceived by Paul Bradshaw, a visiting professor in online journalism at City University London and course leader of the MA in Online Journalism at Birmingham City University.
In 2010 Help Me Investigate was shortlisted and highly commended for Multimedia Publisher of the Year in the NUJ’s Regional Media Awards, and won ‘Best Investigation’ in the Talk About Local/Guardian Local awards.
There is also a site blog, which provides regular tips and updates.
If you want to get involved in any of the Help Me Investigate sites, please leave a comment or contact us privately on paul@helpmeinvestigate.com
Updated on 13/11/2011: Click here to read about how you can help Help Me Investigate Networks (of which HMI Welfare is part of), and here to find out how the Network actually works.
The reason for the confusion over mandatory /voluntary
Analysis based on http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/m-08-11.pdf
WORK EXPERIENCE AND SANCTIONS
6 From 5.4.11 JSA may not be payable or it may be payable at a reduced rate to claimants who are entitled to JSA1 and have
1. lost a place on a Work Experience through misconduct (see DMG 34734 -34735)2 or
2. subject to the good cause provisions detailed in paragraph 8 of this guidance given up or failed to attend a place on a Work Experience without good cause (see DMG 34736 -34747)3 or
3. after being notified by an Emp O of a place on a Work Experience, without good cause (see DMG 34751 – 34752)
3.1 refused or failed to apply for it or
3.2 refused to accept it when offered4 or
4. neglected to avail themselves of a reasonable opportunity of a place on a Work Experience (see DMG 34757 -34758)5.
Note: See DMG 34394 for the definition of an Emp O.
1 JS Act 95, s 19(1) and 20A(1); 2 s 19(5)(c) and 20A(2)(c); 3 s 19(5)(b)(iii), 19(5)(b)(iv), 20A(2)(b)(iii) & 20A(2)(iv); 4 s 19(5)(b)(ii) and 20A(2)(b)(ii); 5 s 19(5)(b)(i) and 20A(2)(b)(i)
7 For general guidance on the length of a sanction, and when it should begin, see DMG 34013 et seq.
Good Cause
8 A claimant is regarded as having good cause for failing to attend or giving up Work Experience providing they
1. attend the first day of Work Experience and
2. give up not later than one week after the date on which they begin Work Experience and
3. do not lose the Work Experience place due to misconduct1.
1 Misconduct at any time = sanction
2 Failure to attend the first day or leaving after a week = sanction
OR [this is the cause of the problem basically this negates the voluntary option]
3.1 refuse to apply
3.2 refuse to accept
4 neglect to avail themselves of a reasonable opportunity
Please ignore above comment that is the wrong version.
Why is there a link to a Payday Loans website at the top left of each page on this site? (if it’s not showing up for you, try disabling page style in Views or looking at the page source). Really inappropriate for a site that purports to be helping people on benefits to have a link to one of those sharks.
Thanks for pointing this out to me – it certainly wasn’t intentional and may have been inserted by the maker of the theme (who kept it invisible so no one saw it – the intention wasn’t to ‘advertise’ but to boost their Google ranking). I’ve now changed it to the default WordPress theme.