So it hasn’t been long, perhaps the first Flexible New Deal complaint?Flexible New Deal
Complaint:
I am writing to complain about the appalling treatment I recently received from the “Flexible New Deal” programme run by Working Links on the 13th of October 2009 at the YMCA Leisure Centre in Scarborough. I am 26 years old, I have two degrees and have suffered from M.E/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since I was 14, and have a past history of epilepsy.
A few days before, I received a phone call asking me to attend a compulsory workshop in Scarborough (23 miles from my home) as there was not one being run from my local Jobcentre in Malton. I was more than willing to attend this day, and even had some hopes that it would be useful to me. Although I did find the manner in which I was asked to attend quite abrupt and threatening, having been told repeatedly that I would lose my benefits if I did not attend.
Because of my health, early mornings are not easy for me, particularly if I have had a disrupted nights’ sleep, which often happens to people suffering from M.E. I can often wake feeling no more rested than when I went to bed. I arranged for my Mum to drive me to Scarborough as it is not safe for me to drive when very tired and there is no local public transport from my village. I had never been to Scarborough before so wanted to leave in plenty of time, to ensure I found the right building and was not late.
When I arrived there was no reception desk or anybody to let me know if I was in the correct place. I wandered round the building until I found somebody to ask. When I stated that I was there to attend the Working Links induction I was told that there was no Working Links happening that day and I must be there for the Jobcentre’s “Back to Work” session.
Although sceptical about this I could only go by what I was told so was directed to wait in the kitchen as they were not ready. The meeting according to my letter was due to start at 9.30am. At about 9.40am we were asked to take a seat in the room provided for the “Back to Work” session. On entering the room and taking a seat I and two other people were told that we were not on the list for that session. We took out our letters, which had been sent to us instructing us about the day and showed them to staff. When the staff saw these letters they were stunned as they were apparently unaware that any Working Links session was supposed to be held that day!
I had made a lot of effort to attend this session, my Mum had to sacrifice her time to take me, and the people supposed to be running it were totally unaware that we were coming.
There were about six of us in total attending the session so we were sent back to the kitchen to wait whilst staff, understandably panicked and rushed to arrange a hastily cobbled together plan for the Working Links session. We did not start the session until about 9.55am.
The letter I had received before attending stated clearly that during the induction we may be asked to discuss “the skills and work related abilities you have and anything that might be stopping you get where you want to be, including medical conditions” I was very keen to do this as, having two degrees already, it is my medical history, and not lack of training that has prevented me gaining employment. However, whenever I attempted to raise the issue I was treated dismissively and it became clear that during the induction we were not allowed to discuss anything other than “the new government rules.” We were expected to blindly obey these rules in order to continue to receive Jobseekers allowance.
We were told that to continue to receive benefits, we would have to be completing 30 hours of work related training and activities per week. I was understandably concerned by this because I am only supposed to be looking for part time work until I am strong enough to increase this. It has been recommended by my GP that I begin with working about 16 hours a week and build up gradually, to avoid having another set-back. When I tried to raise this problem I was aggressively and abruptly told that “those are the rules and if you don’t comply you will lose your benefits.” Jenny Tablet, who was delivering the un-planned seminar, did not want to hear of any problems or issues I may have, and there was an attitude taken towards me which implied I was just finding excuses.
No matter how calmly or how many times I tried to clarify certain issues, and ask for advice on my individual needs, I was answered dismissively and very unsympathetically. I was reduced to tears of frustration in the seminar, in front of a room full of strangers, and was made to feel absolutely miserable. I felt I was being treated like a second rate citizen who could not be bothered to find work.
I was at the time of the seminar already doing voluntary work at a local museum and had arranged this for myself with no outside help and have gained a huge amount of work experience. I had for some time tried to organise a work placement through the Job Centre but despite many phone calls and emails, the people who were trying to arrange this (RR of YH Training services Ltd) had ceased to contact me and no work placement ever materialised. Being desirous to work and gain experience I arranged one myself.
During the seminar we were told that in order to comply with the “Flexible New Deal” rules I would have to attend a session in Scarborough once a fortnight. Again this worried me as it is not exactly local or easy for me to get to. When I tried to ask a question about this, discussing my ability to get to Scarborough in relation to my health difficulties, I was again met with an aggressive response and threatened with having my benefits taken away. I live in a rural isolated location and there is no public transport within easy reach (the nearest bus stop being a mile away at least).
I was horrified by the prospect of having to get to Scarborough once a fortnight, especially if it was morning appointments as it had been that day. There is no guarantee I would be able to drive myself and could not expect my mother to drive me there and back every time as she had done that day.
I only recently passed my driving test (only having taken it recently due to a history of Epilepsy) and cannot drive when tired as it can be dangerous, I suffer cognitive dysfunction and myoclonic jerks due to my M.E. Again I tried to question the sense of forcing me to go to Scarborough once a fortnight when my local Job Centre in Malton allowed me to sign on by post, as according to them the distance from my home was far enough to warrant this.
I asked if there were any sessions run nearer to where I was living or if some could be run in the Malton Jobcentre. Again and again I was aggressively answered that I had to attend or I would lose my allowance. Jenny Tablet at one moment even sarcastically asked “well if you can’t get here, how are you going to get a job?” It was clear she wanted to assume that I was only out of work due to laziness, even though she knew absolutely nothing about my personal history. I spent much of the seminar in tears and felt totally humiliated by her responses to my concerns.
Jenny Tablet was completely unprepared for the seminar and her behaviour towards me was unprofessional.
The day was physically and emotionally exhausting and I felt ill and drained of all self-esteem. I have battled this illness since I was 14 years old and never once have I given up, I am proud of what I have achieved culminating in gaining my Masters degree. However during the seminar I was treated like a waste of time. I had gone to a lot of effort to prepare for the day and nobody was a bit interested in listening to what I had been doing to find work.
It was only after the event that I realised the letter I had received informing me of the day and stating what I should do in preparation was actually signed by Jenny Tablet. It is somewhat confusing that the letter informing us about the seminar was signed by the woman who on the day, claimed to have had no prior knowledge that we were due to attend.
The letter stated in the “what we expect from you” section, that I should: “tell us what you’ve done to find work. It’s easier if you write this down and bring letters from employers and anything else that shows us what kind of jobsearch activity you’re doing so we can be sure you’re getting the right support.” I did this and had prepared copies of my CV, records of jobs applied for locally, records of my voluntary work etc. but on the day Jenny Tablet was not the least bit interested in any of this and was merely going through the presentation and laying down the rules. The presentation itself heavily implied that we were out of work due to being “happy as we were” and not wanting to find employment.
The rest of the session was spent filling out various forms including basic knowledge tests etc. Even this seemed slightly degrading and we were not given any explanation as to the purpose of these forms, by that time I had lost all my strength and was just trying to fill them in as fast as I could so that I could go home. At one point in the “presentation” an image was put onto the screen which appeared to be some kind of optical illusion. Because of my history of epilepsy and cognitive dysfunction resulting from M.E I found this difficult to look at as such things often make me have involuntary jerks or spasms. When I mentioned this I was impatiently told by Jenny Tablet “well don’t look at it then”. What was baffling about this episode was that no explanation at all was given as to why we were supposed to be looking at it anyway. It seemed like yet another pointless exercise and, like the rest of the day, an utter waste of time.
The last few years have been a huge struggle for me, and it has been incredibly hard to get myself back on my feet and into a position where I am able to work part-time. I have had little or no help from anyone other than G.P. and my parents and am therefore proud of my achievements. The Working Links session made me feel like an utterly useless member of society. I left in tears, very shaken by the treatment I had received and so exhausted that I forgot the “Working Links” information pack that I had been given. For someone struggling to live with a chronic yet invisible illness the day was detrimental to my health and wellbeing. The effort involved to arrive on time was exhausting and the treatment I received left me in physical pain, emotional exhaustion and despair. The thought of ever returning filled me with dread but I was forced to arrange another appointment before leaving.
I wonder why, once I had explained my situation, I was not referred to the Specialist Disability Employment Programme, which I discovered existed when I looked at the Flexible New Deal information published on the DWP website. This programme’s web page states that: “The aim is to provide a tailored, coherent range of specialist employment services which can respond more flexibly to the individual needs of disabled people”. Surely this may have been a more appropriate programme for me, yet nobody even made me aware of it despite my asking about disability programmes on several occasions both at my local Job Centre and at the Working Links induction?
I would also like to quote the Disability Discrimination Act which states that: “it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you if you are disabled: by dismissing you, or subjecting you to any other negative treatment”. Perhaps Working Links should refer to this in the future to prevent them subjecting anyone else to the awful treatment I received.
To end on a positive note I can report that the day after the Working Links debacle I received a telephone call from the museum where I volunteer, asking me to begin part time employment with them. I do not want to be positive statistic for Working Links as my employment is nothing to do with their programme but is a result of my own hard work. The Museum that has hired me has, and is, being wonderfully flexible and understanding even though they are under no obligation.
The Jobcentre/Working Links programme were not in the least bit supportive. Part of my joy in hearing that I had secured paid employment was that I would no longer have to be treated like an employment evader by the Job Centre/Flexible New Deal.
On hearing of my ordeal my employers instantly offered to write in support of my case and show their own displeasure that “a hard working and conscientious” person could be treated so badly. Please ensure that this complaint is taken seriously as I do not wish anybody else recovering from, or trying to live with, a chronic illness to be treated the way I was.
Yours Faithfully
Hello there people reading about the various complaints, I have created a facebook group to highlight the problems and flaws etc with the Newdeal services
Please Join up using the following link
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&ref=ts&gid=10150144872840282
I plan on taking this sort of mandatory “training” down once and for all, the conservatives done it with “Jobclub” so this is hardly a new thing the Goverment are doing, they are just brushing people under the carpet to make it look like they are doing their jobs.
I don’t tolerate that, if you don’t either then join the group help make a difference to unemployed people!
Joseph Deally
17 Mar 10 at 10:49 am
This letter struck a real chord with me. I’m in a similar situation, although in my case my history since the latter years of school has involved several periods of serious depression. I also live in a small town where opportunities are rare.
My current situation is a contributory factor to my most recent (thankfully mild) experience with depression, and I find myself unable to sleep properly most nights. If I don’t take medication, I sometimes only get a couple of hours sleep. If I do take it, I remain drowsy all morning.
My own Working Links induction was very similar. They only wanted to make us perform tests and explain the rules, which includes the threat of “compulsory voluntary work” (how does that work? lol)
I had to fill in a stupid questionnaire about myself, which I’m assuming they use to identify my “needs”. Unfortunately it provides answers that are without context, and information may be missing if they didn’t ask for it. Nobody in the past 8 weeks has ever asked me for my opinion.
I’ve already identified my weaknesses and made efforts to correct them, but the extra stress provided by Working Links isn’t helping matters. They’ve sent me on “motivation” courses where we had to build towers out of newspaper and things like that. What rubbish!
Working Links treats you as if you are either lazy or mentally deficient. You’re obviously too stupid to know what’s good for you, hence why you must attend their “helpful” courses, or else.
I bet they’re looking forward to my MWRA so they can rake in the cash. What a useless organization.
Andrew Newberry
21 Mar 10 at 6:59 pm
A Working Links has started up in York and is a suppsedly a rival to A4e, they keep saying they are better than A4e but I just don’t see it.
Chrisinyork
4 Apr 10 at 9:08 am
Better than A4e? Does that mean provide a better service to jobseekers or are better at fraudulent activities and draining taxpayers’ money without doing much for the clients?
Flexible New Deal Scandal: New Deal Complaints Administrator
4 Apr 10 at 10:34 am
sorry to hear that you suffer from an illness, i myself did for wuite a period of time, so k now how hard it is, however the question arrises, why the hell are you on job seekers if you cleary cant work? i attend workinglinks at the moment and all i cna say is my experiecne is completly differnet to yours, yes they have the stuff they have to do to satisfy job centr, but the staff there seem to actually want to help me and are always ringing me tih jobs that have come in. all i can say is did you report this to them, as if you sont haw cant ehy ever improve/?
sarah
28 Apr 10 at 9:43 pm
Flexible new deal is more of a joke than new deal.While creating futures was a providers in the arun area i attended a 2 week work course,one computer between 8 people,i questioned the tutor because they could not spell and got taken off the course and 6 month sanction,creating futures lost the contract nothink was said.Now i am on FND WITH chichester college,was suppose to do a 3 day Cv course in January but did not do it till last week,6 months late, no explanation.went to my adviser on monday,said they did not care what job i applied for has long has the boxes on the jCPlus are filled in,they promise you they will help but in truth give you nothing,its just about government satistics and ticking boxes,all they keep threatening is you benefits will be cut
MR BIB STUFF
29 Jun 10 at 11:51 am
Flexible new deal is more of a joke than new deal.While creating futures was a providers in the arun area i attended a 2 week work course,one computer between 8 people,i questioned the tutor because they could not spell and got taken off the course and 6 month sanction,creating futures lost the contract nothing was said.Now i am on FND WITH chichester college,was suppose to do a 3 day Cv course in January but did not do it till last week,6 months late, no explanation.went to my adviser on Monday,said they did not care what job i applied for has long has the boxes on the jCPlus are filled in,they promise you they will help but in truth give you nothing,its just about government satistics and ticking boxes,all they keep threatening is your benefits will be cut
MR BIG STUFF
29 Jun 10 at 11:54 am
Flexible new deal is more of a joke than new deal.While creating futures was a providers in the arun area i attended a 2 week work course,one computer between 8 people,i questioned the tutor because they could not spell and got taken off the course and 6 month sanction,creating futures lost the contract nothing was said.Now i am on FND WITH chichester college,was suppose to do a 3 day Cv course in January but did not do it till last week,6 months late, no explanation.went to my adviser on Monday,said they did not care what job i applied for has long has the boxes on the jCPlus are filled in,they promise you they will help but in truth give you nothing,its just about government satistics and ticking boxes,all they keep doing is threatening me that my benefits will be cut
MR BIG STUFF
29 Jun 10 at 11:56 am
hello my name is louisa i am 20 years old and i am still going to new deal AFTER i made a complant about one of the stuff calling ME A SLAG. i have been into the jobcenter and i have see leflets about new deal and it says u DONT have to go to new deal if u dont want to well i say bullshit at one point i thought i was p…regnant one day i was late because i have a long way to go by bus and when i got there i just finished having somthing to eat when the stuff looked at me and said (put that away before i put it in the bin) and i said to them (sorry but i’v had nuffin to eat and i might be pregnant) and they said I DONT CARE
THIS HAS TO STOP I AM UNDER ALOT OF STRESS AT THE MOMENT i have to go from southampton to portsmouths and i have to be there by 9 in the morning by BUS
LOUISA
19 Jul 10 at 6:11 pm
Dear Guys
Well its me again! So I went to the Tribunal, needless to say none of the dozens of different people that sent letters to me (you are right they cross department it so no one individual can take responsibility) didn’t turn up. I laid my case to the Judge, gave all the details under good cause:Intellectual discrimination, not “tailored” to my needs (or indeed anyone who can successfully peel a banana upwards!),quoted many of the irregulations mentioned on your site, DMG laws,Human Right,UNESCO (right to suitable education) and recounted the story of the JC Adviser and his treatment and behaviour to me.
At the end of the trial the Judge (a certain Mrs Green,best omit this in case it actually is her name) had raised eyebrows, she said (and I quote): Will you come back for a retrial? If you do I believe it will be in your interest. I assured her I would and have heard nothing since! Bare in mind my unlawfully issued sanction (6 months tacked on to the first 2 weeks without a second 2 week sanction-the DMG states this is how it should be done-so they have effectively broken their own laws, and I have “good reason”) is due to end on Sept 6th 2010 and I have already had a threat about the second 6 month sanction that has been tacked on. I asked the lady I sign with 2 weekly (yes I go and I do it) if there is a similar legal interim they (the sanctioners!) have to adhere to prior to issuing a second sanction? She does not know and says none of them do as it is the first time it has been rolled out. So I write to my new PA (Personal Adviser) to ask, heard nothing yet.
Here’s the rub, by setting yet another 6 months sanction to follow the first they are effectively assuming that The Tribunal will go in their favor, the time The Tribunal has taken since the first hearing in setting a second Trial date, is fast encroaching the end of sanction 1 and approaching sanction 2. I have been without a regular meal or ANY MONEY for 5 months now (supportive friends and family 100%behind me) but it is hard and it seems a bit collusive that the Tribunal has not hurried through this second re Trial date. Also I was told it would not be the same Judge!
It does seem like there is active collusion between the JC and The Tribunal in deliberately dragging their feet to:
A. Put me off by wearing me down.
B.To address the issue in any way
C.Reluctance to try the “Set Sanctions” and their legality.
D.To acknowledge the Human Rights and other laws that question the legality of sanctions
E To put me at risk of incurring a second 6 month sanction.
I wrote to The Tribunal asking them to be mindful of my deteriorated circumstances and to please re Trial as soon as possible. I believe I have the right to have the first matter dealt with without the risk of running on to or incurring a second sanction no?
If a second sanction of 6 months is issued this will delay everything and potentially (if I get employment and say become redundant again) leave me facing another 6 months with no money should I make a future claim. Do you or any one know the policy and procedure on this? I feel that the JC are colluding somehow and do not understand how they have not been called to the Bar by the Judge to answer my case to them. If I sign off at the end of the first 6 month sanction can I still follow up and take the matter to re Trial as ordered by the Judge? How can a second sanction be imposed if the first is still under question? Am I safe to sign off before the second sanction (if allowed) begins and my first case against the second sanction still be valid? I want to follow this through because it is damn right disgusting and as you and many subscribers have pointed out, my work search and life has been further diminished by their actions. Remember I asked for access to a suitable programme over NVQ L2, which few of the current “providers” run.
I am writing again to the Judge to ask for a speedy re trial and mentioned the same points as above to them, including the fact it makes it look collusive! I wanted to post this but could not, is someone trying to stop the truth I wonder, counter hackers? or have they all just sent me in to a paranoid awareness of how low they will go? Please post this for me. You can go under “Jane” or “Etruscan” Hope to hear some resolve and advice.
Thank you so much for making this site it is about time! You have my total admiration and support.
Jane
27 Jul 10 at 5:12 pm
Jane are you not claiming hardship from the jc. This is normally a percentage of job deekers allowance paid to people in your situation. Ask at your jobcentre if you cannot claim this they can make a decision reasonably quickly.
laini1234
27 Aug 10 at 11:09 pm
I attend Working Links here in York and I see an advisor in an open office and there seems to be quite a lot working there, for some reason I have changed advisors and the one I am seeing now in front of other people asked if I have a criminal record! I dont but surely that should be discussed somewhere private anyway?!
Chrisinyork
31 Aug 10 at 4:38 pm