What with CWP and MWA referals due to end on March 31st, do we think we will see a increased push to place people on these schemes before that date?

I was meant to start my MWA at 11am on Tuesday but due to a family member being taken ill i had to sign off at 9am the same day as i wasnt/wont be job searching for the next few weeks.I'm just wondering if i will be sanctioned for not turning up to start my MWA the same day as i signed off? The women on the phone when i closed my claim down said i wouldnt and that the MWA provider would be told that i signed off.

Hi guys, So 3 months ago I was made redundant from my job, it was a good run while it latest but I knew it'd be a sort of year or 2's worth of work. So I've been claiming for 3 moths and I assume I've just hit the 13 week marker this week for MWA (Says in guidance notes people are generally not referred before week 13). My advisor has instantly sent me on it and I've personally no idea why. When reading the MWA guidance it is for people who perhaps struggle with the discipline of a job etc, well none of thta fits me because I've been working before this for quite a while. I've just had a hard time finding work again as I've moved back to my home town and it's a small place not really much going on around here.... but I didn't have much of a choice. I don't understand how MWA is supposed to give me any useful experience. She just said it was because of a potential gap in my CV growing.... yeah like 4 weeks of random work will stop that. Has anyone gone through this and what should I expect? it says the maximum is 30 hours a week so I assume 6hrs of work a day? How do they expect me to continuously fill out application forms and write covering letters for "5 hours of jobsearch activity" whilst working near full time? Also what kind of placements can expect to do? it just says placements that offer "benefit to the community". I don't want to do something for 4 weeks I feel will offer me zero benefit....if it's something of use then that's fine I can just complete the 4 weeks but my worry is searching for work whilst doing it.

Hi I'm after any advice I have posted on here before about MWA I had been told to go to. I was told to go to a charity shop and on the day my neighbour gave me a lift there, I was late and the woman was horrible having a go at my neighbour and I walked out embarrassed and ashamed (so was my neighbour - he was shocked that someone 'volunteering' would get spoken to like that) I ended up getting a 13 week sanction Then in April I was told to do MWA again. I got a letter from learn direct saying they'd be in touch for me to come in and see them. I signed on twice after that and was just asked if I'd heard anything yet to which I told them about the letter. Then the day I supposed to get paid there was nothing in my bank. I rang the jobcentre to be told I should of started MWA and I'd failed to turn up and told them I'd not had anything telling me to start. It didn't matter I got a 13 week sanction. I went to see the welfare person at the council who did a mandatory reconsideration and I applied for hardship I was then told to do MWA again, this time I got 2 letters telling me to start a charity shop on Monday (letters received Saturday) but this was in a different town and I'm only getting £35 a week and bus fare was much more than this so I didn't go. I've now received a 6 month sanction. I have sent a mandatory reconsideration for this saying the guidance wasn't meet - that I should have a timetable saying the hours. (but I know I wont win) But the sanction for the letter not received has not been lifted. I lost the mandatory reconsideration (which took about 2 months) because a letter is deemed to have been received 2 days after posting. The council welfare person has sent of for me to go to a tribunal which is next week and he thinks i'll lose because of case law about receiving letters. I have since spoke to other people who were sanctioned because of not receiving letters and have had them lifted once they've done a mandatory reconsideration, so why's mine different. I think they'll do this all the time now if they can get away with it. I have to send any letters to the jobcentre recorded because of the amount of times they've said they've not received them In the tribunal form which I have a copy of the jobcentre's response it says about the first sanction/mwa - that I was late and refused to do any tasks? it also says they overlooked the first sanction and now think I should be sanctioned for 6 months (for not receiving a letter!) so now will this last sanction go from 6 months to 3 years? I can't live on £35 a week. I am finding it really hard now. I am minus £60 in my gas meter and i'm freezing, my bed feels damp and smells musty when I get in it, I would really love a hot bath (I must stink) and electric seems to be running out quicker I have about £3 in that (emergency) which is to last till I get paid on Monday Any advice anyone can give would be great, I don't know what to do Sorry for the long post

Hello, I've found myself in a bit of a bind with my new adviser and was hoping for some advice please. Brief backstory: I transferred my claim from a different London borough a few months ago. Big mistake. My previous adviser was honorable and had integrity. She could see I was doing everything I could to get a job and as a result we had mutual respect. I met my new "Work Coach" on Friday and immediately we took a dislike to each other. She has put me on MWA starting Tuesday. I am angry for myself (of course) and also angry on behalf of my fellow man - WHY in the hell would any big business pay money for Xmas relief staff when they can get people like me to do it for free under threat of sanction? (But mainly I'm pee'd off for myself - over Xmas there is usually a 2 week break from signing, so 4 weeks where I would be left alone, and my JSA would go through automatically). Now I have to do 4 weeks of this MWA scrubbing graffiti off park toilets or some such other delight over Xmas period and will be sanctioned if I miss a day!) I'm not naturally a cynical person who looks to exploit the system, but I read a thread about JS28? Which allows you a period of 14 days illness. I've never missed a signing before so am free to use this. My question is I feel I might be ill for a couple of weeks on Tuesday If I use this form will it get me out legitimately from doing this Seetec Slavery until the New Year? Or will they sanction me? Despite what you all may think reading this, the JCP really has pushed me to the limit recently, so I'm looking for anything I can do legally to avoid a sanction, avoid MWA and still get my JSA over Xmas period. Thanks if you've read this far.

just completed the 4 weeks slave labor. attended every day on time. so what will the job centre have in store for me next.any one know.

i am awaiting a telephone interview from interseve, tomorrow, although i am nearly 60 and partially death ,my adviser asked them to send me an appointment letter, so i could speak face to face with them , as im no good on the phone , but they sent me a telephone interview anyway. any one know what sort of placement i will be on. my adviser also told them i did not want to work in a charity shop.i have to do 30 hours a week so it says on the letter,even though im applying for part time jobs. any tips for the incoming telephone interview i can use.would be gratefull.

Hi guys, Quick question, currently I'm attending MWA for 4 weeks and I've done about a week, I'm going to be signing off soon for a little bit because I'm moving back home. What is the process for signing off? can you ring them and tell them you wish to sign off? what happens to my placement I assume I no longer have to attend do I ring my placement provider and tell them I've signed off as well? what happens to housing benefit if you sign off? Just want to ensure I'm still paid my last months and a bit of rent, I know the job centre tell them you have a change in circumstances but I will wish to keep my claim open for now and close it later so I guess I just have to tell them I still have no income and provide proof of that? Thanks.

Due to the interest shown in the subject of Mandatory Work Activity (MWA) I thought it would be appropriate to open a thread devoted exclusively to the topic. I apologise to those interested parties for any part I might have played in the abrupt termination of the previous one. Any constructive discussion of MWA will be greatly helped by a nodding acquaintance with the Mandatory Work Activity Provider Guidance. It can be accessed via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/300734/pg-part-p.pdf It might also be useful to trace right from the start the steps that have to be taken by the Jobcentres or advisers before they recommend to claimants that they should participate in it. It used to be the case that Post Work Programme Support (PWPS) applied to those claiming JSA at the point their participation in the Work Programme ends. That is no longer the case. PWPS now only applies to JSA claimants whose participation in the Work Programme (WP) ended prior to 28th April 2014. Claimants whose participation in the WP ended after that date are now put on the Help to Work (HtW) scheme. The first step after exiting the WP for PWPS participants is for the WP Provider to send the claimant and the Jobcentre an Exit Report. This Report should contain details of the provision or ‘help’ that the Provider provided to the claimant whilst on WP. It should also specify any further steps or ‘help’ that the Provider has identified as being necessary to improve the claimant’s prospects of finding or getting into gainful employment. In my own case, I am still awaiting that Exit Report, over a year later. I went to the Provider several times to ask for it, nay demand it, but was fobbed off each time. They insisted that it was the Jobcentre’s responsibility to provide me with a copy. I showed them the Guidance, which forms a part of their contractual arrangements, which states categorically that it is their responsibility but they had never seen it before, they said, and anyway nobody ever made such a fuss about it before. The Jobcentre adviser would not give me a copy, even a photocopy of his own, saying it was not up to them to provide me with it. I finally managed to get a copy, months later, via a Subject Access Request (SAR). Well I need not have bothered; there was absolutely nothing in it about anything they identified as being necessary to improve my prospects of finding or getting into gainful employment, that part of the Report was blank. There was a whole raft of stuff that they claimed to have done for me whilst on the WP, most of which was rubbish and had not been done. So the very first step was botched, which may be insignificant in itself but the significance of which becomes apparent when we get to step two, the Work Programme Completer Interview (WPCI). I believe a claimant would be justified in looking on this oversight as an example of maladministration and registering a formal complaint straight away at this point. I believe that by allowing it to pass the advisers get the impression that the claimant is ignorant of the rules and/or submissive and therefore a sitting duck for the far from regulation treatment yet to come. Anyway, back to the plot and onto step two, the Work Programme Completer Interview (WPCI). During the WPCI the adviser must decide what sort of PWPS is appropriate for the claimant. Remember that the support is supposed to be tailored to the individual needs of the claimant; well you can forget that straight away, it’s a joke. There are two groups available to the adviser and he/she has to assign the claimant to one or the other: Jobcentre Plus Offer (JCP Offer) Mandatory Intervention Regime (MIR) Assignment to the JCP Offer is recommended for those claimants who have: recent, relevant work experience (paid, voluntary or a work placement) with which to populate their CV demonstrated an ability to pro-actively seek employment demonstrated work-related disciplines and behaviours no significant challenges to overcome in securing employment Assignment to MIR is recommended for those claimants who are less ‘jobready’ because they have multiple or more complex challenges to overcome, and therefore need additional intensive support to enhance their prospects of securing sustainable employment. MIR is delivered flexibly but, as well as increased interventions, could include: Interventions undertaken by specialist advisers Case conferencing with Work Psychologists Targeted group sessions SMART action planning and robust follow-up supported by Jobseeker’s Directions as appropriate Mock interviews and/or application form completion Strengthening the conditionality message Rigorous skills assessment and measures to address gaps identified. Claimants who were assigned to MIR will also be the ones that are likely to be referred onto MWA. Now then, there I was, assigned to MIR and without a clue as to how I got there. There is nothing in the Exit Report to assist the adviser in determining which grouping I should be assigned to. He asked me at the WPCI what my barriers to getting a job were. I told him that I had none and asked what the WP Providers, who were supposed to give me and him the benefit of their considered and qualified opinion, said in their Report. He said that they said nothing about it to which I replied that I had been with them for the last two years and if they say nothing then I have to accept that and agree that nothing is wrong with me, and could it perhaps be that there is something wrong with them. He took nothing I said into account when deciding which group to assign me to. I believe the decision was taken long before the interview took place. He was far more concerned at the interview, and at the many to follow, with getting me to alter my Jobseeker’s Agreement and allow him access to my Universal Jobmatch Account and tell me of the multitude of things that I could be sanctioned for. Maladministration by this stage in the game had become par for the course. That’s a brief summation of how I got to the stage where I became a candidate for MWA. Most JSA claimants who finished the WP prior to the 28th April 2014 will probably find it familiar. The next step is the actual selection for referral to MWA.

DWP loses at European Court http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28158483

Hi, So thought I'd make a separate thread outside of post work programme support to try and garner more attention specifically to MWA. I've been sent on this, apparently it lasts for 4 weeks. No biggie and apparently they say it'll be charity based work. Now I was thinking oh good stacking shelves at a charity shop or something that'll be OK, and apparently I can carry on with it after 4 weeks. So I thought good an easy way to get into some weekly charity work. But apparently no, it'll be stuff like picking litter or working in a recycling centre anything basically. So then I sort of questioned the usefulness of this scheme and concluded it's just not designed to give you any useful experience or anything like that. It's just to put you to work for a bit, end of story and hopefully force you to sign off or something along those lines. Has anyone else been assigned mandatory work activity yet? what have your experiences been? how long does yours last for and what are you doing?

Hi all I've just received a letter from the dwp saying I owe £700 and I must pay within the next two weeks. Its half twelve at night and I'm so stressed I can't sleep. Well actually I'm watching a really good film. Does anyone have a template letter I can send these people? First template letter, I want to know if this money is really owed by me which I doubt. Secondly a letter stating they can have £ per week from my benefit and stop sending me scary letters don't you have IT system to sort out. Thanks caggers

Yay good old DWP riding ruff shot over all comers inc the Court of Appeal. Stolen absolutely shamelessly from Rightsnet (lovely bunch of lads n lasses they will not mind)!