If you’re trying to unpick the intricacies of what should happen in a Jobcentre, or what rights jobseekers have, Consent and Welfare to Work(fare) Programmes is a good place to start. Continue reading Sanctions, jobseekers, and protecting personal information – link
Now DWP FOI response on “mandatory” placements disappearing too? – link
Following Friday’s post about work experience guidance being altered, The Void blog reports on more curiosities from the Google cache: this time, an FOI response from December which listed private companies taking part in the work experience scheme:
“The document could previously be found at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/foi-3238-2011.pdf. Unfortunately it’s no longer there. But that’s okay because good old google cache has a copy of this as well.“
The FOI response – which can also be found here – describes the programme as “providing mandatory work placements”.
An older FOI response which lists the names of voluntary organisations taking jobseekers on work experience is still up.
Again, if anyone wants to get a response from the DWP, let me know in the comments.
‘Mandatory’ instruction removed from DWP Workfare document?
UPDATE (29 Feb 2012): Channel 4’s FactCheck have followed this up with a response from the DWP:
“A spokesman told FactCheck: “The changes to the website were just part of a regular update. We regularly revise documents for clarity purposes.”
“When pushed on whether that meant that the instruction to mandate participants is no longer government policy, she wasn’t able to provide any more “clarity” other than to say: “I’m not saying the advice is wrong.”
“That’s a bit of a problem, because if the advice ISN’T wrong, but HAS been taken down, doesn’t that mean that Work Programme providers are now in danger of breaking the rules on the National Minimum Wage Regulations, as the government took great pains to flag up originally in the missing paragraph?
“Confusion reigns, and despite repeated phone calls and several days to think about it, DWP has declined to clarify the situation.
“The spokesman did tell us that the apparently damning FoI answer had been taken down because it contained an error (“one of the names of the companies was wrong”).
“And the timing of all this was pure coincidence, the spokesman insisted.
“So a document emphasising the “mandatory” nature of Work Programme work experience happened to disappear from the department’s website just as the controversy over whether other schemes were mandatory was raging in the headlines.
“Or in any event, that’s DWP’s story and they’re sticking to it.”
Original post below
Anton, a commenter on The Void blog, has pointed out that government documents on the work experience programme have been altered recently to remove the instruction “you must mandate participants to this activity”.
A Google cache of the documents still contains the phrase (on page 4), whereas the version currently on the DWP site (PDF) does not. (Just in case that cache disappears, here’s a copy)
It’s a bit late in the evening to get a response from the DWP on this, but if anyone wants to ring on Monday morning, let us know.
UPDATE: Mary Hamilton looks into the documents’ metadata and tells us the original version was “created/modified 17/08/2011. Changed version created/modified 24/02/2012.”
Audio: Chris Grayling defends workfare
Here’s Chris Grayling talking on Radio 4 about the government’s work experience programs. Notably, it includes a claim at around 3’30” that his email was “hacked” and that the internet campaign against the scheme is being “organised” by the Socialist Workers Party. (A claim worth investigating).
The clarification under the recording notes that “He has since told us that it was not actually hacked but that his email address was used on a complaint lodged with Tesco.”
Workfare – how the different government work experience schemes compare
James Ball has gathered some information on the government’s work experience schemes over on The Guardian’s Reality Check, along with some useful context. The schemes are split into the following: Continue reading Workfare – how the different government work experience schemes compare
Data: the “shambles” of Employment and Support Allowance appeals
Over on his Social Policy blog, Paul Spicker has a brief dissection of the most recent statistical release (January) for the review of Employment and Support Allowance:
“The implication is that we are likely to see over 320,000 successful appeals before this process is finished – about a fifth of all the former claimants of Incapacity Benefit. This will not be the total of wrong decisions, because a proportion of people who have been wrongly excluded will also be denied benefit; it will only be the decisions that have been proven to be wrong, after the DWP and claimants have been forced through an expensive and time-consuming appeal process to set things right. This is a shambles.”
If you need help investigating this further, let us know.
UPDATE: In the comments Paul adds the following:
“While I’m pleased by the widespread circulation of this posting, this was only a quick, back-of-the-envelope calculation, and I cannot hold to it with any degree of confidence. In particular,
* the rate of decision-making has slowed
* the statistical information in the tables does not cover the same time periods, and none of the information is fully up to date
* the level of new appeals seems to be falling
* the success rate seems to be falling, and
* large numbers of appeals appear to be disappearing from the process without explanation.
“That does not undermine the general point, that very large numbers of cases are proving to have been wrongly decided.”
Benefits Cap Forced and Reinforced…
After the last few days of parlaying in the House of Lords, it has emerged that, after reversing some early defeats, a majority of 82 voted in favour of drastic Welfare Reform and a £26,000 benefits cap per UK household come 2013.
With an estimated £600m being saved for the taxpayer, the cost-cutting measures being introduced look set to shake things up for those who have come to rely most on benefits, particularly, as the article above explains, those in high-cost housing;
“The Department of Work and Pensions says 67,000 households will have their benefits reduced in 2013-14, losing £83 a week on average, while 75,000 will see a reduction in 2014-15″
(Large families will also be effected because “it is also argued that the £26,000 cap takes no account of how many children there are in a family”).
There are also whispers of a ‘couple penalty’ being created, because of how beneficial it will be financially to live seperately from a spouse or partner. There are also predictions of families living in smaller houses in increasingly surburbanised areas in order to decrease outgoings and survive on lower publically-funded financial support.
With such a relatively quick turn-around, there are great opportunities for public-driven data journalism to show the effects of the benefit cap, and this is something we’re, inevitably, very excited about.
Communities: Coventry’s Hidden Voices
Matthew’s story is but one of the films the Hidden Voices have put together to raise awareness of the social problems in their area.
Following the posting of this video many have expressed their concerns not only the community’s website, but also on Twitter, facebook and YouTube.
The video was made by 26-year-old, Brad Powell, from Kenilworth who told the Coventry Telegraph:
“Before I did Matthew’s story I never really understood why homeless people were there. This is what drove me to look at homelessness for the first project.”
Currently Coventry’s Hidden Voices are on the look for other stories they can bring attention to. their latest post reads:
Our towns and cities are rich in diversity and accommodate people with different ideals, religious beliefs, social beliefs and view points. We all move forward but our understanding may be limited and misunderstanding can be rife.
To help them find such stories email: share@thehiddenvoices.org.
Link: following ATOS news on 4-traders
If you’re following a particular company it may be worth checking out a financial website like 4-Traders. Their ATOS page, for example, contains news on the company’s signing of a contract with the UK Department of Health, along with details of other deals being done around the world.
Can you recommend other sources for following particular companies?
#BenefitsCamp – event on Friday
FutureGov have organised an event “for anyone up for helping fix/hack/change and otherwise improve the benefits system.”
It’s this Friday at Hub Westminster near Trafalgar Square in London, and you can sign up at the event page.