Hi everyone,

any advice on this problem would be greatly appreciated.

My son is currently in receipt of Jobseekers allowance,he lives with his partner and their 2 children.Last week he had a work programme appointment,he received a phone call in the morning from somewhere he had sent an application for a job to asking him to come for an interview,the time of the interview left him ample time to still go to the work programme,however the job interviews ran late and he had no credit on his phone to notify the people at the work programme,he arrived 9 minutes late and was told his jobseekers allowance would be sanctioned for 1 month,he explained the reason why he was late and was told to put it in writing,he did this and gave the name and phone number of the person who had carried out the job interview,he has received a letter saying going for an interview was not a good enough reason for him being late,they have never contacted the employer.This just seems crazy to me,he's on Jobseekers,he has to apply for a certain number of jobs or they sanction his money yet when he goes for an interview they still sanction it,he has applied for hardship money and has been given £80,ironic thing is that at his last work programme meeting they left him waiting for 50 minutes because they had no-one available to see him so it's ok for them to see him late but not the other way round.

You should contact your MP with details and also your local paper. Nonsense like this is not what people pay their taxes for. The DWP have no business whatsoever behaving like this and they'll only stop when there's enough public anger about it.Tell everyone you can.

ronic thing is that at his last work programme meeting they left him waiting for 50 minutes because they had no-one available to see him so it's ok for them to see him late but not the other way round.

It seems this way. I was told they'll call me at a certain time. I waited 2 and a half hours for this phone call. If I was 2 and a half hours later, my benefits would be sanctioned.

There is evidence for what you are saying which you should get in writing from the company where you had the interview. if going for a proved job interview is not a good reason for missing an appointment to discuss jobseeking then I don't know what is. Ask for a reconsideration of this decision. Failing that an appeal would be your next option.

yeah defenitly appeal it.

And are also happy to Sanction your son for attending the interview?...

Ludicrous!!!

The Work programme provider deserve to have all their “pimp money” sanctioned for all of this, so make

sure your son never lets them have anything from a job outcome.

If your son got the job, then the work programme provider would be happy to

get their Brucey bonuses from the job outcome...

That's disgusting. Especially if it's a job that you've found yourself, applied for and went to interview with no help at all from the provider.

Here are some links:-

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/employment/jobseekers/contactjobcentreplus/dg_186391

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/contact-us/complaints-and-appeals/

You should contact your MP with details and also your local paper. Nonsense like this is not what people pay their taxes for. The DWP have no business whatsoever behaving like this and they'll only stop when there's enough public anger about it.Tell everyone you can.

There is so much evidence even just on this forum that the attitude being applied throughout Welfare rules is one of judgement and punishment. Surely this is not going to help those in need to meet those needs themselves in future, more likely to make them ill if they are not and worse if they are?

I am wracking my brain for how it could be the case that all these examples can come together and apply poliitical pressure....I am also sure that if anyone with Common Sense stopped to think about things, without the financial pressures to continue to alledgedly feed the fat cats, measures could be applied to achieve more at less actual cost...but maybe I am deluded about that?

Common sense has gone out of the window and sanctions do not fit what has happened in cases like this.....what the f--k was he supposed to do? He was damned either way as if he had not attended the interview he would undoubtedly been sanctioned and it is nto his fault he could not ring...what, realistically, did they expect him to do? Clone himself to be two places at once probably..... (oops I said realistically didn't I? lol).

I just know that my own mental state is deteriorating the more I learn of how punishments no longer fit the crime (if indeed there is truly a crime in the first place)...and by that I mean, as well as the case in point, the suspension and stoppage of benefits before the full facts are established and also where there is nothing concrete to prove one way or the other. We do not seem to be allowed any "benefit of doubt" either:mad2: if you excuse the pun!

This is all part of the benefits denial system we have in place now across the board from JSA to ESA.

In Camerons latest bout of verbal diarrhea about cutting housing benefit for the under 25's he slipped in some comments about CV's, not enough people were 'armed' with them, I believe this was a veiled reference to the current loophole being used against the WP pimps i.e. not giving them a copy that they can actually do anything with.