Daily JSA Sign On: Part Of ‘Help To Work?’
This is a report about having to sign on every day for jobseekers’ allowance – an entirely pointless “process” that seems to be taking hold:
On Wednesday, the Kilburn Unemployed Workers’ Group and I went to talk with JSA claimants at the North Kensington jobcentre.
Almost as soon as we got there, people brought a significant fact to our attention: the North Kensington jobcentre appears to have instigated a daily JSA sign on regime for some people. Daily sign on does, or at least is, pretty much what it says on the tin – it means that people must present themselves at their local jobcentre every single day of the week and sit and wait until they see an adviser for a brief time. Their attendance is noted and there’s a (very) quick catchup about people’s jobsearches. And that’s it.
Daily sign on was one of the platforms government’s ironically-named Help To Work platforms. The Help To Work scheme was launched in April to much fanfare (by government) and consternation (by reasonable people). I wonder if we’re seeing evidence now that it is underway, after a fashion. We’re certainly seeing evidence that people were right to dread it. The daily sign on exercise is nasty and utterly pointless – certainly as far as helping people into work goes. The three people who I talk about in this article reported that absolutely nothing happens at their daily signon appointments. I think we’ll say that again – absolutely nothing happens. JSA claimants must turn up at their jobcentre and have their attendance noted. One person reported a quick chat and check with a jobcentre adviser about jobs applied for – “and that’s ridiculous, because they can check everything that I am doing online,” he said. “They forced us to use [Universal] Jobmatch, so they can check everything already.”
Full story at Kate Belgrave.
Same Difference 
Reblogged this on sdbast.
LikeLike
So far it appears The Greens 2015 manifesto pledge would end most benefits and all this pointless and costly admin that is the true reason fo the rise of national debt caused by the Tories.
The Greens offer a universal Citizen Income, non-withdrawable, that does not require someone to be actively seeking work. You just get this amount up to the basic tax allowance, automatic as a citizen.
The Greens say there would be a supplement for disabled / chronic sick people on the Citizen Income.
I await a reply from The Greens if the early retired mostly women from the nearly 1 million austerity job cuts to overwhelmingly basic grades, would get a pro rata Citizen Income,
as it is unlikely that someone over 50 would get re-employed at all or if they do, on very low wages or low income self employed.
The average woman’s public sector works early or complete pension is around £2000-£5000 a year. Many such women hever had the chance of a private pension and if in the private sector, may never have had the opportunity of a works pension.
The loss of state pension payout to women turning 60 from 2013 (born from 1953) is a total loss, with all the cuts in benefit, even if disabled / chronic sick (the majority reason for the over 50s not being in work).
The poor old are back to being left to starve, other than by the Greens.
I await with obvious interest in food / fuel money in old age, as to what The Greens reply to me (and the 530,000 other women since 2013 who lost state pension payout).
LikeLike
Reblogged this on lawrencerowntree.
LikeLike