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Darcus42

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Everything posted by Darcus42

  1. Since March managers at my local Jobcentre have attempted to delay my payments every signing period, and have attempted to have me sanctioned EVERY TIME for the last 6 weeks, including submitting false information and withholding evidence. Luckily they have failed every time, and a full investigation is forthcoming. They didn't like the fact I uncovered the huge increase in sanctions at their office and catching them using unlawful practices to do so.
  2. I did some Freedom of Information requests and found that my local Jobcentre had increased sanctions by 40%, the district office saw an overall increase of 25% (16 offices in district). I also caught the manager attempting to sanction people using Universal Credit criteria, which wasn't in force, leading to the district business manager coming to the office to speak with me. I recorded the meeting and he admitted that something had been going on, and that all managers were now made aware not to use criteria that wasn't in force. No mention of an official investigation, no mention of returning money to those who were affected. Overall, the district had increased sanctions from 30,000 to 40,000 over 12 months. They basically tried to cover it all up. My local newspaper ran an article on it.
  3. Here is some useful information that may be help to some. Have you heard of the DWPs 'Freedom and Flexibility Policy'? No? Ok, basically it allows certain JobCentres to apply their own policies and guidelines outside of stated DWP policy. Here is a working example of it. An ES19 form is a warning which is issued to claimants who arrive late. ES published guidelines state: ''The ES19 should only be used in exceptional circumstances where all other measures have been tried and failed.''. But, under the Orwellian sounding Freedom and Flexibility Policy, JobCentres can, and do, disregard this guideline and instead issue ES19s on first instances and for as little as being 5 minutes late claiming exemption under the FFP. Just thought you would like to know, in case anyone wanted to ask their local JobCentre if they were operating the policy in any areas and to what purpose.
  4. This was a weak argument (or hypothetical point) made by the JC+ Complaints department, but holds no water, as not only are the desks at least 8ft apart, but it would be difficult for most personal audio equipment i.e. phones etc, wouldn't be of sufficient quality to pick up general ambient sound. Obviously the use of a boom operator may be deemed intrusive. Also, any background noise would have to sufficiently loud for personally identifying information to be recorded, so unless someone is angrily shouting out their national insurance number and name, it probably wouldn't occur. As for redesignating a public access government building into something else, which would require an act of parliament for special exemption for JobCentres, it still wouldn't override relevant exemptions under the Data Protection Act i,e. public interest, to prove a truth and revealing criminal conduct. The fact is, despite departments such as the JobCentre recording and videoing the public (and failing to provide copies of such when requested), they are mostly ignorant of the public's basic rights under the same legislations, but consistently misinform, or just outright bully people to deter those that wish to keep them honest. There are in fact, sensible staff who are fully aware of the law and who don't have to worry about what they say in a their professional capacity, who have no problem with the public recording their meetings. It is always worrying when I encounter staff, managers and even directors, who either through ignorance or wilful deceit, will endeavour to deny people their rights.
  5. Hi, I don't know if this has been posted before, but having recently been issued with an ES19 warning for my first instance of lateness in 6 months, and a threat of a DMA sanction should it occur again, I located the government policy document online, which someone else had requested under a FOI. I also recorded the JC office manager stating that they issue them as a matter of course i.e. whenever they want, which led me to believe they are using them as part of a policy to increase DMA suspensions. My warning was issued 8 days after receiving a compensation payment for being escorted off the premises for exercising my legal right to record my interactions at the JobCentre. Please note part 11, which states: ''11. The ES19 should only be used in exceptional circumstances where all other measures have been tried and failed.'' Unfortunately, I do not have sufficient posts to be allowed links yet, so to locate, type: ''Freedom of Information request 1829/2013'' into a search engine to locate. I hope this helps anyone who has been unfairly penalised.
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