I am not normally given to outbursts of anger when things go wrong in life, nor do I normally post online about it, nor write letters. I normally sort my problems out quietly and then just carry on but, given that this not only affects me but, potentially, also thousands of people around the country, I decided to change that policy in this instance.
On Tuesday 9th April 2013 I signed on as usual, happy in the knowledge that I had recently secured a job, a contract that would last at least a year and which was well paid, which was due to start on the 2nd May. In my excitement I hadn't updated my Universal Jobsearch page online. I was told by my advisor at the JobCentre that this would probably result in a sanction. It did. For four weeks. This caused me a bit of a problem but nothing insurmountable. With the help of my parents I was able to get through it, even though they have retired and live in Spain.
I signed as usual on the 23rd April. On the 25th April I received an update email from the Regional Manager of the contract I am due to start informing everyone that the contract start date had been pushed back to 1st July due to technical difficulties. Annoying but not disastrous. It just meant that I would be signing on a little longer than I thought.
On the 7th May I went and signed on as usual, having filled my Universal Jobsearch with all the searches and job applications I had made, and things went smoothly. Come the Friday when I would usually get paid, there was nothing. Now this was beginning to cause a problem. I spoke to one of the advisors at the JobCentre and they told me that the sanction would be six weeks, not four, because the JSA payments are made in arrears. Ok, no point in blowing up at the staff. Not a lot they can do.
I signed again on the 21st May and, again, no money on the Friday. I went and spoke to the senior advisor in the JobCentre and she gave me a Hardship Payment application form and told me to fill it in and bring it back. I did so, the same day and was told that it would be sent off and I would receive a payment within a few days. Unfortunately there was a Bank Holiday in the way which would delay payment. In the meantime I had to live on the good graces of friends and parents.
Come the Friday following, (31st May), there was still nothing. I went into the JobCentre to complain and I was told that my Hardship Payment Application had been sent off and authorised. I was then told that I would receive payment on the following Friday, the day I would normally get paid after signing on. I asked if this was on top of my normal JSA payment and was told no, it was in place of it.
I signed on as usual on 4th June and asked if things were sorted. The advisor then told me that he couldn't access my claim as it had gone to 'Clerical'. So I asked the senior advisor what this meant and she told me that my payment would be made manually and I would get my money on Friday 7th, as usual. Friday arrived and still nothing. I went and complained and the senior advisor said that she would send and email to 'clerical' to ask them to make a payment and I would be contacted. I received a text message later that day informing me that my hardship payment would be made within 24 hours. At the time of writing this I still haven't received anything. (08/06/13 at 11:47). This means I probably will not until Monday at the earliest. In the meantime, the only 'helpful' thing the staff could recommend was that I go to a foodbank if I was having problems with food. I mentioned that my electricity was getting low but all they said was that the food from the foodbank was selected to be microwaved or eaten without cooking.
Throughout all of this, I have had not one single letter or other communication from the DWP regarding what is going on. I have had nothing to say that I am on a sanction, no explanation why my claim has gone to 'clerical', (whatever that is), no communication whatsoever except the one text. The advisor's at the JobCentre have no real idea, the people at JobCentrePlus have no idea, (not that I can phone them anymore), everyone seems to be in the dark. I can only imagine how this would affect someone less able to cope, with less support than I have. There is a saying that moving home is the single most stressful thing a person will do in their life. I have to disagree. From this year onwards, the single most stressful thing a person can do is deal with the DWP.
Over the last four year I have had no real problems. The ones I have had have been dealt with quickly and fairly by the staff. If I've had to speak directly to JobCentrePlus then they have been friendly, helpful and relatively quick, (for a government organisation). Since this new benefits system has been introduced, though, that has changed. So I have to say: If this is your new system, Mr Duncan Smith, then I am afraid it is sadly lacking. Lacking in communication, lacking in empathy, lacking awareness, lacking in any suitable framework within which to supply a service to those who really need it. Those of us who really want to get back into work, those of us who really see the benefit system as a safety net, not a lifestyle. A safety net whose strands are being moved further apart, allowing more to fall through and disappear, rather than be caught and helped.
It is also lacking in any workable structure to support those staff at the 'customer' facing end. I have worked in customer-facing IT for nearly thirty years and have faced some of the nastiest, most unpleasant customers you are likely to meet, (many of them corporate), which is why I have been able to keep my anger in check when at the JobCentre. I've been there, on the receiving end. Most haven't. I've read about claimants who 'go off on one' at staff, and the staff reply in kind. I've heard from friends that the staff were "dimissive" or "aggressive and nasty" when they've been to the JobCentre. Maybe some customer service training wouldn't go amiss. Knowing how to talk to people and having the ability to defuse potentially explosive situations goes a long way.
I am lucky. I have now found a job. Yes, its taken me four years, a small forest of paper and thousands of hours of running around like a headless chicken. I just have to find a way over the part of my safety net that has been cut away. Others are not so lucky.
Maybe, Mr Duncan Smith, a rethink is needed. I have several suggestions that my help and I may put these in a blog at a later date but, for now, I have said enough.
I will, however, put two further thoughts across:
1. If you are aiming to get more people into work, then why are you taking away paying jobs with the WorkFare program? Do you really think that companies are going to pay people for full time work when they can get those same people, in the same jobs, for free?
2. It's funny how my problems with my claim started when I mentioned that I had been offered a job. Hmmmm.......
Yours sincerely
Christine Danielle Anderson.
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