Thanks Antone think ime a bit out of touch with things like shortened down words! Need to get in touch with the lingo eh Thanks for the dictionary

I am not familiar with the workings of the benefit system but I undersand what sanctioning means and jcp and jsa but no idea what all the other things mean like (AFAIK) I think I need a benefits dictionary if anyone can help please for future reference! Thanks.

When will the british public ever learn Tories are no different today than they always have been! All for the rich and the working class are **** and should be driven into the gutter and that is their main aim to take us back to those dark days. The young people of britain have never experienced a Tory goverment but they will now and they are going to get a shock!. And as for some of the other older generations who voted tory again you all must have short memories, how can we forget the massive amount of damage tories did under Thatcher control!! Sending in her hench men starting with the Yank Ian McGregor to dismantle the steel industry then moving in for the main prize the Miners to crush the unions and make an example of them and god knows what amount of damage to the manufacturing industry. All I can see is this is just the begining of the end for the working class unless we all stand together and get this shower out come next election !! Will it happen?the standing together I mean! I very much doubt it because we in britain need to recognise that we live in a selfish society all for ourselves as long as its not affecting me attitude who cares!!. Well it is all our problems, well all except the filthy rich and their cronies. Wonder what Guy Fawkes would think if he were around today!!. The revolution is long overdue but one day it will arrive!!.

The justice system in this country is a arse it needs a massive injection of Common Sense!!!

I used to love work as a young man,did long hours early starts late finishes the challenge of the job was great. But as time went by and I got older I found i started to hate what I thought was the job but it was actualy the things that went of around it like the pressures being put on my shoulders to meet targets and people making unreasonable demands and requests, I used to be a mechanical fitter and I would go to a breakdown and some customers would make me feel like it was my fault it had broken with their comments like "about time you should have been here ages ago" or how longs it gonna be" or what you don't know what's wrong with it then be on the phone saying why are you sending people who don't know what they are doing" on top of all this I couldn't have a social life just controled by the so called organisation around the job!. Now I am close to 50 and can't bear the thoughts of work taking such a large part of my life,I find it so depressing idealy I would like a nice little part time job but its getting the balance right between having a life and being able to survive!. People say don't wish your life away, well I just wish the remaining years of my working life away then I want time to stand still . At present i am unemployed and really do need a job but one that doesn't place lots of pressures on my shoulders and I think at times they are created by incompetent managment who have no idea how to treat staff in a way to get the best from them. Feels quite strange right now, as i say I need a job more than want a job and its how to overcome the feeling that work is taking or going to take over such a big part of my life again when I do get back into the workplace!. Ime sure ime not the only person who feels this way so share your thoughts and feelings about this if you can .

Point taken thanks, i do have very strong views and opinions about the system and certain people using the system and believe things won't change for the better if there isn't enough support to bring about the right changes so the system is used correctly.

That's ok leave them unapproved, don't see why though its true what these people are and should be exposed but whatever its ok with me

I am living on benefits now and I don't believe for one minute its a luxurious life!! But like a lot of things in life you adjust to what you have and its a real test financialy to get the most out of what's given.

This is not rocket science, I know there are people out there who are genuinly in need of help but all you have to do is open your eyes when you walk around and you will more than likely see the people I am talking about its very clear to see who they are!!

Quite possibly but I won't use the system falsley its against my principles, much rather be out working doing a job I enjoy. And yes they have caused me a lot of unnesesary stress and worry, so many things in our lives are inflicted upon us by people who have never had to experience themselves!!

Ime also glad there is a benefit system in place but for people who use it correctly and don't abuse it!! I do feel we are tarred with the same brush as the hardcore in this country who refuse to work and get round the system,I didn't apply for just one job the only unsuitable job given me and what happens a 3 month sanction so I do feel like ime treated like them if they looked at what I actualy do to find work they may think differently. Sorry but I don't agree with you saying if people take advantage of the system its not your problem its everyones problem because if those people are not stopped from abusing the system the benefit system that one day you may rely on might not exist or won't be the system that is supposed to help us as it will be ruined by the selfish minority. I've paid into the system all my working life and this is the second time I've been unfortunate enough to have to rely on it so I think out of 33 years paying I think ime entitled to some help now and don't take kindly to having my help sanctioned when all said and done it is mine that's why we pay NI isn't it!!

The sooner this shower are out of power the better, the youngsters in this country have never experienced a Torrie goverment but they will now!! They are the same now as they always have been all for the rich and the working class should be driven into the gutter!! They are born with silver spoons in their mouths and wealth passed down to them! The likes of Cameron and Osbourne just turn up with their high qualifications and never done a hard days physical graft in their lives!!. I've always been brought up to know that two bad labour goverments are better than any one good Torrie goverment if you were ever lucky enough to find one!!. Having said that good old Tony Blair turned into a thatcher in trousers!! The good old labour have now gone I reckon but still better than any Torrie goverment. John Smith god rest his soul was the best labour leader there was hope with him in charge but cut short before having a chance to do some good. I feel so sorry for the old and vulnerable people in Britain and dreading the day ime old myself,just hope someone like Ed Balls comes to the rescue soon because I can't see young Milliband saving us all!!

Well said osdset this country is corrupt right through to the core, whatever happened to Roger Cooke he would blow the lid of it !!

Yes he is the man who it says to contact and it is his article

Thanks Antone, I just hope common sense prevails here don't get me wrong I will take my punishment same as the next bloke if its fair and justified but I just can't come to terms with this!

Ok thanks I will keep an eye on things,I have been doing some reading on Google and there is a lot in the Guardian newspaper about this and they say there are increasing numbers of people across the country going through this. If you just type into Google about sanctioned benefits there is lots of stuff there about it.

Firstly how can they justify a 3 month sanction for not applying for one job? Seems very excesive to me I just can't see how this level of punishment fits the crime. How could I be expected to travel 90 mins either way to job which may be minimum wage not in my case but could have been. I couldn't possibly afford to pay for fuel to do that, but none of this matters because once the advisor presses that print button ime expected to apply for that vacancy and they know it or we run the risk of sanctioned benefit. We have no control over this they just behave as though they are God controling our lives inflicting worry and stress upon us. I have been told several times today how helpfull JCP staff are well in my latest experience they have been anything but helpfull and caused me nothing more than grief and worry. Sorry but just don't get it how sanctioning my benefit for 3 months helps me or anyone else in the slightest way, I really can't see what explanation anyone can give me will convince me and dare say lots of other people in the same situation.

Whatever goes on in the depths of the office out of sight of people like myself is anyones guess, but the end result is lots of people are having their benefits sanctioned unfairly and the numbers are supposedly on the increase.

As I said before please don't take it personal its not meant to be and I appologise if I have offended anyone but this really does hurt me along with the thousands of other people from disabled to able bodied people who have had their benefit unfairly sanctioned. I dare say if I was to ring head office and try to speak to the individual responsible they would be a faceless person in the background who I couldn't get to speak to which adds to the frustration. According to the Guardian newspaper a whistleblower said they had been set targets to initialy sannction one person a week but that wasn't enough so they made it 3. He also said they had a catchphrase constantly hammered in to them which is "Save the public purse" feel good about stopping someones money you have just saved your own pocket". Obviously I don't know the accuracy of this but there is no smoke without fire as they say.

Thanks for your best wishes, the decision maker knows the reasons why I didn't apply because someone from the job centre rang me to enquire why so I told him. He then said he would have to pass that reason to head office who decided it wasn't a good enough reason not to apply so they sanctioned my benefit. So really I don't know what good filling out an appeal form will do but I will certainly let them know my feelings one way or another. I want to speak or meet in person who decided that 3 months sanction is a suitable punishment for not applying for one job. I understand the sanction goes from 1 week to 6 months, 6 months being kept back for the so called hard core who persistantly don't apply. So based on that I would have expected probably a week or two so shocked at 3 months!!

Ime now waiting for a re consideration form which has been posted to me which I believe is part of a appeal. There are people out there who genuinly want a job and there are people who don't and the evidence is out there to be seen and sometimes I see people come into the job centre there attitude is shocking and is very obvious they have no interest in work!! I don't believe in tarring everyone with the same brush that's wrong but I get the impression at times that we are!

. Absolutely its ridiculous, a bloke I know missed one signing time he simply forgot but only had a sanction lasting one week so in my case the punishment hardly fits the crime does it!!

Ok well tell me how sanctioning my benefit for 3 months has helped me!! Through no fault of my own I lost my job through redundancy last December ime now going through divorce, just relocated over 200 miles away to try and start a new life and still unemployed. I didn't apply for just one unsuitable job which was to far away plus the cost of fuel to travel there and back every day which one of your JCP collegues led me to believe was not far away not knowing the area after just relocating. So now you tell me how this is being helpfull!! Ime supposed to now try and survive on a hardship benefit which I believe could be about half of what ime entitled to, so how does this help me now I can't make ends meet and fund travel expense to interviews which I was just scraping together before. Your JCP collegue should take a look at what I actualy DO to find work instead of what I havnt done which was not apply for just one job!!. The little book you give us is a joke how are we supposed to write down our job seeking activities in a tiny box?. I write down all my job searches,jobs applied for interviews I've had and put this on the table for your collegue to look at well he never even looked at it just didn't want to know no interest is that helpfull I think not!!. Try not to take it personally ime sure you are nice people away from the office but when something like this happens on top of everything else that's happening to me at the moment its quite stressfull and I certainly don't appreciate that kind of help!.

Hello Honeybee 13, this is my first day in here so not familier with the workings yet don't know how you have moved my thread or how to find where you have put it but will search around! Thanks HB

No I can't, I havnt actualy heard it from the horses mouth whoever that is but from someone who reads the newspapers regularly and keeps up to speed with things of this nature. But of course it doesn't mean its accurate!