90,000 formal complaints to Jobcentre Plus
Post Categories: DWP
Tags: jcp, jobcentre Plus, Jobcentre Plus complaints
New Deal Scandal can reveal that there were 91,054 formal complaints made to the Jobcentre Plus District Managers over the last 2 years. This is around 3,794 complaints a month on average.
A “formal complaint” is one where a person writes to the District Manager – it doesn’t include any verbal complaints made to any Jobcentre Plus staff or any written complaint to your New Deal Personal Adviser (NDPA) so where Jobcentre Plus deals with millions of people the figures may not seem bad but the nature is to tolerate the poor service and not complain – you dont get anywhere.
So over 90,000 complaints is worrying. Like a survey, you only have a sample of the population to base that research on. In this case there is approximately 6% of claimants making a complaint. This is 1 in 16 people.
On average every Jobcentre Plus District Office deals with 83 complaints a month.
Apr-07 3,906
May-07 4,268
Jun-07 3,972
Jul-07 4,187
Aug-07 4,345
Sep-07 3,547
Oct-07 4,144
Nov-07 3,946
Dec-07 3,093
Jan-08 3,822
Feb-08 3,520
Mar-08 3,102
Apr-08 3,373
May-08 2,950
Jun-08 3,637
Jul-08 4,064
Aug-08 3,608
Sep-08 3,652
Oct-08 4,051
Nov-08 3,493
Dec-08 3,294
Jan-09 3,860
Feb-09 4,219
Mar-09 5,001
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24 Responses to “90,000 formal complaints to Jobcentre Plus”
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Dear ND Scandal,
I am a former tutor at a ND Training Provider (now defunct). I am also now on week 8 of a 13-week ND course. On day 2 I was taken on on placement at the ND centre. I am willing to blog for you and also spill the beans on what goes on from the inside. I wd also like dispel the myth that all tutors are thick, uncaring bullies. That is only 90 %! Working for the bastards gave me a nervous breakdown and an alcohol dependancy. It also nearly broke up my marriage. ND sucks for everyone other than those making the money. The sad thing is that your “scandals” are pretty much routine. Nothing you have on this site raises my weary eyebrow. Your site doesn’t address the racist aspect of JC plus…
Yours in Solidarity,
Country Kid.
Get in touch xoxo.
Take my name off thisa site, please!
i reported an employment advisor and my ndpa direct to dwp the complaint about the ea was that he was a bully and mainly because he made a snide remark that i should apply for a job working in a perfume shop fine if jc+ provide sex change operations as i have only ever seen females working in that shop further to this he made a remark about someone he thought was late for interview and remarked that someone who is late does not want to work turned out the person was sitting downstairs
idiots down there had told him to take a seat but hadnt phoned ea to say his next appointment was in the complaint about ndpa idiot was that he never took me at appointed time despite being there 10 mins before appointment his paperwork left a lot to be desired he was non cooperative and when i told him at an interview i had applied for a job he refused to enter this on the computer strange that a further complaint about ea was that he made a cheeky remark to someone who was getting their benefit reinstated after being sanctioned but the boys mother laid into ea which rocked ea on his heels
i stated that these two did not treat clients in a helpful and curteous manner as per the code of practice? and they should be sacked
idiot ndpa is still at jc but havent seen ea for over a year waiting for his bus back to glenrothes which means he is either now permanent at glenrothes jc retired or sacked hopefully its the last one of these
A lot of times, when signing on, the Jobcentre staff ask me what jobs i applied for. I tell them the jobs i can remember and that they are all in my diary.
Most of the time they either pass my JSA pack back to me (which i gave to them when i walked in the door) and say “let me see your diary” or even dont bother to look at it.
They just seem lazy and take a half-hearted approach to everything.
Carers and New Deal
I am a carer for my husband who has heart disease and arthritis and have always been ineligible for Carers Allowance. Because of this I was having to claim Jobseekers Allowance three years ago. I had no choice but to do this if I wanted any money at all.During this time I was placed on New Deal with no thought for my caring responsibilities.I tried to explain the situation several times at fortnightly interviews but it always fell on deaf ears.In fact I distinctly remember the New Deal Advisor greeting me with the phrase “Got a job yet “ on a couple of occasions which is nothing but insulting to a full time carer.
The same advisor told me my training could not be done in my home town of Braintree and would have to be done at Seetec in Chelmsford They were the providers of the New Deal programme.He then proceeded to tell me that my travel expenses would be paid back at the end of every day.He was lying. They paid back travel expenses every Friday.So I hoped and prayed that my husband didn’t get admitted to hospital yet again during this time as we simply couldn’t afford it!
So I began the course with much trepidation. I was right to be worried. Occasionally I had to sort out my husbands prescriptions which meant taking them to the doctors and picking them up but when going to Chelmsford it wasn’t possible. I could only go by public transport as I don’t drive. The surgery didn’t open until 8.30 am They wanted me in Chelmsford by 9.30 at the latest.
I had to be there all day till 4.30pm so I also had trouble getting back to pick it up before the surgery closed. I tried explaining the situation to them.I also tried doing the prescriptions anyway and just going in late. Their answer to both scenarios was to get there on time or be sanctioned and kicked off the course and lose your benefits.
This isn’t the worst thing that happened while I was there. My husbands heart attack left him with memory loss. One day he had to phone Seetec in Chelmsford where I was because he had taken an accidental overdose.They were fine about letting me go straight home From leaving the Seetec building in Chelmsford to entering my flat in Braintree took two hours. I had to get the bus as travel expenses wernt paid back till Friday This was a Tuesday.
No way could I afford a taxi.At home my husband couldn’t move. He was nauseous and sick and in pain. The following day I went into Seetec (didn’t want to risk losing benefits) to find they had already put me down as late. They had obviously assumed I was coming in despite what happened the day before.They knew I had no choice.I had constant IBS attacks while I was at Seetec and a particularly nasty bout of impetigo.I couldn’t take it any more It was making me ill. The GP agreed and signed me off.
Thank you very much for showing your support for carers unlike other media who only seem to be interested in benefit bashing.
Carers Allowance needs to be increased but there is no point doing that if it then gets eaten up in council tax It needs to be increased without the council being allowed to touch it much like D.L.A.
flexible new deal i dont believe you were being sarcastic about rejection letters
idiot ndpa told me to apply for a job with a builders merchant for a driving job despite explaining i had applied to this company on at least 9 previous occasions and had got rejection letters but just to keep him happy i applied and yes i got yet another rejection letter and told idiot ndpa that it was a waste of time applying but he didnt seem phased by this i reckon the reason this business rejected my applications without an interview was due to having been on new deal maybe yes maybe no but it seems strange i apply for 10 jobs with the same company and get 10 rejection letters
when i started work i destroyed every rejection letter and anything connected with jc+ by burning them
flexible new deal i dont believe you were being sarcastic about rejection letters
idiot ndpa told me to apply for a job with a builders merchant for a driving job despite explaining i had applied to this company on at least 9 previous occasions and had got rejection letters but just to keep him happy i applied and yes i got yet another rejection letter and told idiot ndpa that it was a waste of time applying but he didnt seem phased by this i reckon the reason this business rejected my applications without an interview was due to having been on new deal maybe yes maybe no but it seems strange i apply for 10 jobs with the same company and get 10 rejection letters
when i started work i destroyed every rejection letter and anything connected with new deal by burning them
the time i was on nd and finished on it in 2006 idiot ndpa said he would tell them at the signing desk to keep tabs on my job search why i dont know maybe idiot ndpa is a sadist this from the same idiot who told me my SCOTVEC LIBRARY AND INFORMATIION SCIENCE qualifucation which i had done while on training for work which i stayed on for 5 years yes 5 years wasnt a recognised qualification
i told idiot that i hadnt spent 2 years doing didstance learning writing 3000 word essays and sitting exams to be told that and also if it wasnt a recognised qualification why was it the required entry qualification to robert gordon university in aberdeen to do a librarianship course
thats the same with bully ea he put me forward for a library assistant vacancy with fife libraries at sinclair town branch in kirkcaldy one stipulation of the job was you had to work till seven one night a week fair enough trouble was there was no bus after seven which came up st clair street after seven which would have meant begging a lift to the train or bus station in order to be able to get home or use my car
either way i didnt get it anyway and wasnt really bothered either
Hi i left a comment here about my experiences on New Deal and i cant find it now Has it been moved
sorry ive just found it filed under older comments My fault for not looking properly Will be back online later Sorry again
flexible new deal if i had refused to apply for the builders merchants driving job ndpa would no doubt have sanctioned my benefit that is the only reason i applied for the job better to get a rejection letter for a crap job than be benefit sanctioned
the jc told me “WE ARE NOT BOTHERED IF YOU DONT GET THE JOB AS LONG AS YOU APPLY FOR JOBS” though i doubt if this rule still applies?
i tried for a night time shelf filling job which was one night a week but with shift allowance and rate per hour it meant i was earning a weeks wages for a 10pm to 7am shift
the application involved a psychometric test and hate these types of tests after all its only shelf filling not exactly rocket science needless to say i didnt get it since then i have not applied for any jobs with tesco or any jobs which involve a psychometric test or compulsory background checks
the big difference between parents and carers is that parents have more rights in law than carers do You can get maternity leave but there is no such thing as carers leave in work or on these workfare courses. there is talk of removing benefits like the attendance allowance and the carers allowance in the Welfare Green Paper I think what its going to take is some Fathers For Justice type action before anyone cares.
the nature of illness and disability may mean that a carer needs to take time off here and there at short notice Try convincing a shop manager of that when you are working in a shop in the run up to Christmas like i was five years ago Six months is good idea but the days off would need to be taken when needed Parents dont have these problems because unlike carers they are protected by laws
You only find out first hand when you “need” to use the system of jobcentre plus, just how bad that system is. Their are staff are bullies. Bullying, jumped up little dictators who seem to think that we are here to take the brunt of their unprofessional offensive behaviour. Where are the professional senior staff who are supposed to keep an eye out for this not to happen. From experiance they are just as bad, I will never set foot in my branch again after a traumatic experiance recently
Consider it done!
Thank you for posting I will definitely get in touch.
That is the problem mate lol, too much of this is routine for different providers.
I would be interested about the racism @ Jobcentre Plus. I have personally experienced it at my local Jobcentre Plus office even though it wasn’t directed at me it was so horrid to hear. Jobcentre Plus does not take these instances seriously: I am aware of someone who published their account on the internet. The racism was so bad she decided to record all conversation and also uploaded that. The Jobcentre didn’t want to know. The sad thing is in a workplace environment the Jobcentre would be in serious trouble for the abuse, but as her being a jobseeker nothing like this exists and she could barely call the police under RRA etc. as it wouldn’t be taken serious.
I am also extremely interested in you spilling the beans!
Interesting a lot of Employment Officers refuse requests by “customers” to enter jobs applied for on their systems.
If I am lucky enough to get rejection letters (you may have to read that twice, it wasn’t sarcasm) and enough of them I will take them with me to sign on to prove I have been seeking work.
It is rare for them to type it on the system or to photocopy on my file; they say “It’s ok. No need to. Just bring them with you to your next Back to Work interview.”
By then the letters are either lost or shredded.
they leave the dirty work when people are refereed to new deal,this comes a complete shock to those who believe that because they have had well paid work in the past,this comes as a shock when exposed to this,it could be that they are not expected to be unemployed eighteen months when this was drawn up.
no one can accuse gordon brown of discrimination when it comes to the treatment of people on new deal,indeed he has made much of the new deal sanctions in the past in speeches.let alone the bullying.
however they stand a better chance of staying on the program,those that are not so lucky are thrown off either they are not liked the look off or they are seen as “anti”.when i went on the program there was an initial “get them ready” with a training provider where some fool was going around in the background with a loud voice stating “get rid of the lot of them”,people were ordered to remove any hats or coats and the tone for the whole ordeal was set at that point from then on.
we were then sent out to employment agencies’ when that didnt deliver he then started about them advertising jobs that obviously did not exist in the same tone,he would have put hitler to shame.
Hi Liz
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Most feedback on New Deal is regarding unemployed people being mistreated so hearing the perspective of a carer is very interesting to see the effects of the New Deal – not only for the participants (which carers being forced on to such programmes are also) but for those being cared for by those with caring responsibilities (carers such as yourself, parents etc.) .
What is interesting the Government did undertake a pro-carer approach and some media picked up on it but as you know didn’t result in greater financial support or, well… to the best of my knowledge… was only a pat on the back without any further support.
It would be great to hear your views on the Government’s involvement in reform for carers.
I have not specifically looked into it but from what I am aware of (if I am correct) the Government is going to make it harder for carers and parents with the Welfare Reform plans?
Yeah, I was referring to in General. No one hopes to get a rejection letter but is better than hearing nothing at all.
As a general rule of thumb I will only apply to the same company about a similar job 3 times, the forth time I wont bother.
You can’t say because you didn’t get a job the first time that you have no chance as the job candidates competing against you will be different – and at the time they could be deemed to be better then you. This said, if you were shortlisted without interview then it would be pointless to keep applying – however, with a CV you might as well, but personally wouldnt waste your time on an application form!
So, say Tescos… if I applied to be a shelf-filler 3 times and didn’t get it I won’t bother reapplying. This said however if they wanted an administrator or someone to work in the warehouse then the rule would still apply, but seperately.
After 3-4 years you must reset the limits, it would be stupid to refuse to apply for a job because you got turned down 5 years ago… well, not always the case but staff have a good chance of being replaced in that time so the recruiters and managers are liekly to be different. There is also a chance that your skills and qualificatiosn could develop in that time.
NDPA’s are not fit for purpose. However, they probably ruled your plea as nonsense… you do get a few people who will try it.
The only way to win is to bully your NDPA this wont work with all NDPA’s though. You would need to be lucky of having someone new in the job who isn’t assertive and someone who is willing to listen. These are hard to come by.
These are extremely hard to come by.
No problem. I never remove comments after they are accepted. look forward to your return
Female parents, anyway.
Do you think there needs to be carers leave? Say 6 months for example leave from work?