New Deal Scandal – No new posts

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FND for Flexible New Deal

I have launched a new website that redirects to the Flexible New Deal Discussion Forums.

This is designed to be easier to type.

Thank You

Almost the end.

I would like to thank (in no particular):

• Everyone who has visited Ipswich Unemployed Action, New Deal Scandal, New Deal Complaints, Jobseeker Advice, Flexible New Deal Discussion Boards etc.
• Everyone who has contributed to the sites and have used the commenting systems
• Everyone who has spread the word – in person, via the internet or via writing
• Everyone who has linked to the sites and the articles contained within
• Andrew Coates for forming the Ipswich Unemployed Action group and for speaking out about the New Deal (I found his blog which then started IUA, which led to this blog etc.)
• The Government/DWP and YMCA Training for letting this all happen (if I was treated fairly then New Deal courses nationwide wouldn’t have been exposed (so much)!)
• A4e Darren for confirming and denying some issues with A4e

The future?

New Deal Scandal will continue to be online and you can continue to comment but will not have any new updates. I will do a few more posts probably regarding my Tribunal. As New Deal has finished and been replaced with Flexible New Deal there isn’t much point continuing reporting on New Deal, however, it wont be forgotten about – besides we have other things to be focusing on, including, yes – Flexible New Deal!

Ipswich Unemployed Action will continue as usual.

Flexible New Deal Discussion Forums will continue to be updated.

Jobcentre Plus promotes illegal job vacancies

New Deal Scandal can reveal that not only does Jobcentre Plus promote illegal jobs but Department for Work and Pensions actually creates unlawful discriminative employment vacancies.

Flexible New Deal? New Deal Scandal is Number 3 on Google!

I am proud to acknowledge that New Deal Scandal is #3 for Flexible New Deal on Google – this is above all providers. Screenshot enclosed.

DWP = Dismissed With Prejudice???

OK, we know the Government department is called the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) but what more likely could DWP stand for?

Emma harrison doesn’t want to acknowledge the severe shortcomings of a4e

I have just received an email from someone who was kind enough to attach the email conversation with A4e’s Emma Harrison. Well, until she decided not to bother replying.

Flexible New Deal Discussion

New Deal Scandal has launched a new website called Flexible New Deal Discussion!

Up until now the deal has been I wrote the blog article and you give feedback (whether positive or negative) – since then I have expanded the site so very little by allowing you to rate the article and each individual comment. The maximum I can do with wordpress (thats said wordpress is my favourite blog platform).

I have decided it is a good idea to release a forum (feedback dot flexible new deal dot me dot uk) so you can now create a topic and discuss various topics including New Deal, Flexible New Deal, Welfare Reform and even Tell the world what you would do instead of flexible new deal if you was in charge!

DWP Code Cracked

As wordpress kept messing up, the third time… I given up on the introduction paragraph.

This is a New Deal Scandal exclusive!

Flexible New Deal | New Deal Scandal Review

I think it comes a good time to review the progress, successes and failures of the New Deal Scandal site.

New Deal Scandal is a blog designed to expose the Governments New Deal scheme, the New Deal prime contractors and New Deal subcontractors defrauding the system, the Flexible New Deal, Welfare Reform and the Government’s obvious intent of knowing about the poor conditions imposed on Jobseekers while refusing to do anything about it other than making it worse.

Is Jobseekers Allowance actually enough to live on?

We have previously highlighted the Jobseekers Allowance Scandal of how the weekly rate doesn’t include any money to seek employment and what the £64.30 weekly payment is intended to cover.

We will now highlight “How generous is Jobseekers Allowance?” and further criticise the amount of JSA.

Government keeps Ipswich Detention Centre open

Ipswich Unemployed Action has reported that Local Government has given YMCA Training the go ahead to keep Dencora House detention centre open.

£64.30 weekly jobseekers allowance broken into costs

New Deal Scandal can today reveal the official DWP response of how the £64.50 (over 25) Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) is calculated, after the Department for Work and Pensions responded to a Freedom of Information Act request.

New Deal TNG: New Deal or Bum Deal

Arturo Ui rather recently posted a long comment on this blog regarding an article on New Deal with the New Deal Provider TNG. I declined it as I thought it would be better as a seperate post than as a comment which would be harder to read. I have added line breaks so it is much easier to read. It is a recommend read on New Deal – Read on…

YMCA Training traded without planning permission over 6 months

It has been discovered that Dencora House in Ipswich, a training centre run and rented by YMCA Training didn’t have planning permission for over 6 months.  To run a training centre you require D1 planning consent. Dencora House and it’s 10 units all had B1 Offices planning consent.  When YMCA Training, one of the largest training providers with 31 years experience and over 40 locations, rented units  it was unaware of the law and therefore traded without permission.

Ipswich Borough Council took enforcement action when they discovered that they were illegally trading when they only had consent for offices. The council forced them to apply for planning permission.  After YMCA Training were responsible for a long list of problems including damage to cars, litter and noise disturbances – the neighbouring businesses downstairs of Dencora House and in the local area appealed against their application.

It wasn’t until July that year where they were granted full planning permission to change use from B1 offices to D1 non-residential training centre for a year trial period. It will expire July 31st 2009.

It is not known why DWP and Jobcentre Plus didn’t notice that they did not have planning permission when they did their checks to see if the training centre was up to a required standard to be used for New Deal.

Feel free to view the below posts about each attempt:

• YMCA Training’s first attempt for planning permission (appealed)
• YMCA Training’s second and successful attempt for planning permission (only granted for 1 year though)

£187,500: how much it cost Taxpayers to get a Jobseeker off the dole

£187,500

This is the amount it cost Taxpayers to get a single Jobseeker of the dole.

This is the bombshell that stuck the final nail in the coffin of New Deal. A scheme setup by Gordon Brown for New Labour aiming to get less people claiming unemployment benefits and stop living a “life on benefits” lifestyle.

How did we come across this figure? Well…   The New Deal scheme costs Taxpayers £75 billion and claimants have dropped by 400,000 people (this figure excludes the surge in new claimants due to the economical crisis) – this equates for each person who is not claiming benefit: £187,500!!

Of course, we shouldn’t presume that these 400,000 people have all obtained sustainable full time jobs, due to benefits being made more difficult to claim in this period. We also can’t presume or expect that these 400,000 less claims were a result from the New Deal courses.

What I can quite confidently state that with £75 Billion instead of the 13 week New Deal courses, the Government could have employed 9 times more people (assuming that those 400,000 people got full time jobs) – or 3.6 million people to stick it as a figure – full time on an annual salary of £20,000 for one year.

Alternatively, they could have employed over 360,000 people on a £20,000 annual salary for 10 years.

Welfare Reform: Criticism

I was reading a great article on Welfare Reform (the Welfare Reform Bill 2009) however I greatly disagreed with the points made in the article so I decided to quote sections of it and comment!

The Welfare Reform Bill is to be a tough piece of legislation that will compel people in meeting with their obligations. It comes as no surprise and is long overdue. One of the first targets will be in removing 1 million people off Incapacity Benefit and into work. The entire benefits system is to be streamlined with Income Support being replaced with a leaner ‘out of work benefits’ system. The time has come by which those who “fiddle” the system should take account of what their obligations and duties are.

Removing one million people off “Incapacity Benefit”? Incapacity Benefit doesn’t exist. To the best of my knowledge the Welfare Reform Act 2007 replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support with an Employment and Support Allowance in 2008.

Guide to Decision Makers Guide (DMG)

This is a quick guide on the Department for Work and Pensions‘ Decision Makers Guide…

A4e to lose Flexible New Deal contract for fraud: other training providers also under investigation

The Department for Work and Pensions has been investigating Action 4 Employment and at least 2 other undisclosed training providers for fraud over the last 13 months – this comes after Maatwerk had their contract terminated for fraud.

This means that even though they weren’t restricted or blacklisted from bidding for Flexible New Deal contracts: they will now lose the Flexible New Deal contracts after at least 20 cases of fraud have been discovered in May 2008 at A4e in Hull where two staff members falsified forms meant for the employer and also forged signatures on the forms in order to receive job outcome bonuses from DWP.

Action 4 Employment was also involved in a temporary job recruitment agency scam – thus forcing New Deal participants into temporary work which resulted in more job outcome bonuses from DWP.

Another New Deal provider has been forced to repay £48,000 for fraud – the name of the provider hasn’t been disclosed.

The DWP was happy to pay Pertemps PDG over 2 million when a report clearly stated fraud – in this instance no concerns other than as a report were raised.

Also, so far all fraud cases were consisting of forged signatures on forms and such like – the DWP have not yet picked up on timesheet abuses (paid to be there for x hours, as shown on timesheets, but participants are there for significantly less i.e. 10 hours instead of 30), dismissal abuses (dismissing participants for false or trivial reasons to receive full 13 weeks amount without them being there for even half that time), guaranteed jobs bonuses abuse (some participants have received a job offer before having to do the course starting 2-6 weeks after the course starts, providers still get job outcome payments intended as a bonus if they get the participant work, even if they had nothing to do with it) and future job outcome bonuses abuse (getting participants to enter an agreement where the provider has “permission” to contact any future employer after the course has ended to get job outcome bonus even though you got the job after the course unaided by them) to name a few.

New Deal ends in half of Great Britain

Since Monday, in half the country there will be no new referrals to New Deal. This could be due to implementing the Flexible New Deal or due to revelations of New Deal fraud we recently reported, as the Flexible New Deal (if contracts are signed on time) are not due to begin until October allowing a 13 week programme to commence this week.

New Deal should be subjected to a Serious Fraud Office inquiry

All New Deal training providers, past and present should be subject to an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.  The fraud investigation can’t be conducted by the Department for Work and Pensions as they also fall under the suspicion of fraudulent activity and other acts of unlawful misconduct and requires an outside independent investigation.

New Deal fraud technique: “exiting”

The illegal act of:

1. Acknowledging that regardless of the actual period of time the New Deal participant spends on the course they will get the full amount for the entire 13 weeks, unless they exceed their absence limit where they wont
2. Short listing those who appear not to be able to make the entire 13 weeks or those who are close to exceeding permitted absence limits to be dismissed – those who seem likely to “drop out” will not award provider with Job Outcome bonuses thus are surplus to requirements and those that are close to the limit regardless of being in their rights and not committing an offence are likely to become a liability to limit the amount projected to be received.
3. Acknowledging that the Jobseeker cannot appeal or prevent being dismissed, has no rights to find out the reason for dismissal or have a chance to put right/get a second chance,  and that it takes immediate effect.
4. Short listing random people for dismissal to ease overcrowding of training centres
5. Making false declarations under oath of a disclaimer claiming reasons for dismissals as rather severe (misconduct, Health and safety concerns etc.) all being lies, knowing that the Dismissal Form has a sole purpose of helping a Decision Maker impose sanctions on a jobseeker, who doesn’t get to see such a form.
6. Tell the Jobseeker verbally an entire  different story (such as due to attitude, not contributing enough etc.) consisting of rather mild reasons, so when he or she becomes required to give reasons why the training course ended or appeals to a decision of benefit sanctions,  the jobseeker merely complains about something irrelevant to the actual stated reason and becomes sanctioned as a result.
7. When a Decision Maker writes to the Training Provider, the training provider delays the reply so when the Decision Maker writes to the Jobseeker, he or she doesn’t get a copy of the answers provided as the system is intended to do.
8. Now that the people were exited – the training providers profit margins further reach the projections.

… is known as “exiting“.

Abolish the Jobseekers Agreement

As from today the New Deal Scandal network will be also promoting the abolishment of the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg), an proposed act of Welfare Reform

New Deal Fraud: A4e and Working Links response

Both Action 4 Employment and Working Links publicly release a statement on the Channel 4 News report broadcast on the 30th June 2009, dated 28/06/2009 (A4e) and 29/06/2009 (Working Links) up to 2 days before the public were aware of their fraudulent activities.

New Deal fraud: A4e employee jailed for fraud

Former Action 4 Employment (A4e) employee Elizabeth Orsman has been jailed for fraud with a total value of £15,833.

New Deal Fraud: Over 278 full fraud investigations

Evidence from 2003 has been uncovered showing information on fraud investigations of New Deal in the first 5 years of New Deal. You may have heard about cases regarding companies such as A4e, Maatwerk and Working Links being investigated for fraud, however, official Parliament documents show that up until winter 2002 there was over 278 in depth fraud investigations against New Deal providers, almost 2000 allegations of fraud committed by New Deal prime contractors and the rate of cases year on year seems to be on the increase. Read on for more!

1,869 fraud tip offs in the first half of New Deal

New Deal Scandal can reveal that there were 1,869 allegations of fraud made against New Deal providers within the first 5 years – 15% of these allegations (or roughly 1 in 6) resulted in full fraud investigations being carried out.

Welfare Reform Bill: There is more to come…

As the entire UK goes crazy with shocking new plans of changing welfare in the country, New Deal Scandal reveals that the worse is still to come! You thought the Welfare Reform Bill was bad? Read on…

New Deal fraud: the techniques used to rip off the taxpayer

Many New Deal providers are using a whole range of fraudulent techniques to receive money unlawfully from the Government. The Government generally isn’t interested in knowing about these techniques, they only recognise the fraud that is forging employer signatures.

What’s the point in Human Rights?

This article focuses on Human Rights in the United Kingdom.

How does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights work in the United Kingdom?

Department for Work and Pensions: thousand bogus applications

The Government department was involved in a racial experiment with recruitment processes says the Institute of Economic Affairs, which involved sending two identical applications for 1,000 jobs – the difference being one was a typical “white British” name and the other was from a pool of names from different “ethnic minority” groups to compare the outcome . The Equality and Human Rights Commission – those who failed to pick up on New Deal, the proposed Flexible New Deal and Welfare Reform Bill – urges a clause in the Equality Bill to ban names in application forms.

Reed in Partnership and the £3 million illegal immigrant fraud

New Deal Scandal recently reported that New Deal Provider Reed in Partnership was under investigation for multi-million pound fraud in 2001; we now can disclose that just two years later the Department for Work and Pensions was involved in a multi agency investigation of a fraud estimated at £3 million involving them finding jobs for illegal immigrants including failed asylum seekers.

DESPITE THESE TWO PREVIOUS MULTI-MILLION POUND FRAUDS:

Reed in Partnership still holds Government Contracts (including New Deal Prime Contractor, Employment Zone, Pathways to Work Phase 2).   Where is the logic in that?

Jobcentre Plus suppression continues: jobseekers have zero rights

It is official: jobseekers have no rights.  Jobcentre Plus doesn’t follow the law. There is no punishment against the Department for Work and Pensions for breaking the law or for human rights violations. Claiming benefits has become more difficult with many Benefit Delivery Centres using lie detectors which work by picking up anxiety etc. in the voice, the norm once been on hold for 20+ minutes, resulting in some people being unable to claim… and to top it off now New Deal Scandal has received numerous reports of jobseekers being removed from the Jobcentre without any legal justification and incriminated.

Jobcentre Plus suppression continues: false allegations

We recently reported about Jobcentre Plus suppression regarding the misuse of security officers and police time in ejecting jobseekers from the Jobcentre Plus offices for false incriminating reasons to prevent them getting their legal entitlement.

This misconduct was only the start: a blog reader added more worrying concerns who states that the Hackney Jobcentre Plus prevents Jobseekers using the Jobpoints also requesting police to remove the unemployed from the building. The misuse of public services which could be better used for fighting crime seems to be an growing common trait at the Jobcentre Plus offices around the country.

The Jobcentre now stops the unemployed jobseekers from accessing jobs: a requirement for receiving Jobseekers Allowance; an welfare benefit for those without employment to survive on.

This article focuses on more issues regarding the services provided by the largest UK Government department including making false allegations towards people, a claim I can also personally defend from my own circumstances and various sources all over the country too and also in the case we reported in the above article. 

New Deal: YMCA Training discloses confidential information to tracking statistic firm

YMCA Training has, without their New Deal participants consent, sent their contact details to some statistics company who has contacted them asking to complete an anonymous survey on the YMCA Training New Deal courses.

This company, however, uses a unique tracking code to check up on who said what – not anonymous – and the letter contained details advising the person taking the survey that they wouldn’t be able to be traced.

Jobcentre Plus: security and assaults

You may have heard about assaults on Jobcentre Plus staff in the news, however, these figures are largely distorted. They refer to Incident Cases and not solely due to physical assault – which we will explain later.

Six months ago Jobcentre Plus boasted over 1,600 security guards costing the taxpayer over £40 million a year.  I am sure this amount will be on the increase as new claimants are increasing.

This article will focus on: a) are all these security guards necessary?  and  b) how many actual assaults were there?

Jobseekers Allowance Scandal

Jobseekers Allowance: the Scandal (A MUST READ FOR ALL JOBSEEKERS)

How many scandals can there possibly be?!  Its becoming crazy now…

What the DWP doesn’t want you to know…

205 laptops lost or stolen full of confidential information.

Apparently the figures are as follows

2004 – 75 Laptops
2005 – 46 Laptops
2006 – 28 Laptops
2007 – 15 Laptops
2008 – 41 Laptops

£266,000 spent on entertainment.

2003-04 £79,000 (this particular figure is apparently just a estimate)
2004-05 £28,000
2005-06 £43,000
2006-07 £106,000
2007-08 £10,000

Maybe its all the christmas parties, who knows…

Thanks to the volunteers at the United Kingdom Benefits Information eXchange forums (UKBIX). A very recommended source by New Deal Scandal.

Update: QDP Services & YMCA Training

We recently reported that YMCA Training is disclosing past New Deal participants personal and confidential details which they should no longer hold, to a company called QDP Services, without the New Deal participants permission.

I thought it would be best to follow up this by quoting Q D P Services‘ pledge regarding handling confidential information.

It is best to point out that QDP Services are not to blame for the data disclosure – it is YMCA Training who kept the confidential data longer than required, a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and then disclosed it without permission.

QDP Services, however, are accountable for the” anonymous” survey which is tracked.

a4e bank: deposit your Jobseekers here!

It has been a rumour been going around for several months now, it deserves a post!

A4e founder Emma Harrison is said to have an ambition to start a bank!

That’s right, she wants to start a bank aimed at poor and disadvantaged communities (or Jobseekers)!

a4e: 47 welfare contracts but only 1 in 5 secure employment

In the last financial year, 2008-09, Action for Employment (a4e), the largest welfare to work provider who has 47 active welfare to work provisions only resulted in 20% of their clients securing employment. This is quite short of the 45% target.

Jobseekers Act 1995 (as amended)

If you are seeking work and claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) you would have heard about the Jobseekers Act 1995 however you are probably more familiar with it being written and acknowledged as the Jobseekers Act 1995 (as amended).

What does this mean? Read on for a brief explanation on the law that applies to you.

Housing Benefit Amendment (no 2) Regulations 2009

The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) has been asked by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to consider proposals for the above named regulations.
Currently, if the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate is higher than their contractual rent, customers are able to keep the excess benefit up to a maximum of £15 per week. The main change that these proposals would introduce is to limit the amount of Housing Benefit a person can be entitled to, to the level of their rent liability.

These changes would mean that:

• all those claiming housing benefit in the deregulated private sector on or after 5 April 2010 would not be entitled to any excess benefit over their contractual rent; and
• existing claimants who are currently entitled to an excess payment of up to £15, would see a reduction in their benefit when their claims are reviewed, usually on the anniversary date of their claim,

Before the Committee considers and reports on these proposals, it would like to hear from organisations and individuals who have views, in particular on the following aspects of the proposed changes:

• The potential impact of a reduction in income on the customers who will lose out;
• The potential effects of the amendments on child poverty;
• Equality issues, including the potential effect of the proposed changes on minority groups;
• The results of removing such an incentive for the customer to take more responsibility for their housing costs
• The possible unforseen repercussions, such as the behavioural responses of landlords and tenants.

The Committee would also like to hear from welfare rights advisers, landlords and others who may be able to supply information about the customer groups affected by the proposed change.

Those wishing to make representations to the Committee may obtain a copy of the Department’s explanatory memorandum and a copy of the draft regulations from the Secretary to the Committee, Gill Saunders (0207 412 1506) or from the SSAC website: www.ssac.org.uk.

Representations should be sent to the Committee at New Court, 48 Carey Street, London, WC2A 2LS, or by email to ssac@dwp.gsi.gov.uk, or via the consultation response facility on the website, to arrive no later than 03/08/2009

Comments welcome. From DWP News.

New Deal: wasn’t designed for the “highly skilled”

New Deal wasn’t designed for those with higher skills: why not?

How to negotiate a Jobseekers Agreement

So you are unemployed, about to make a claim for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) or have made a new claim for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) however not attended an New Jobseeker Interview (NJI) yet. This article explains what you need to know about claiming Jobseekers Allowance.

You wouldn’t have thought that the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) would be a crutial element to claiming. The problem is most claimants see it as simply a pathetic agreement which is created just as procedure, whereas the truth is the Jobseekers Agreement is in effect, within a limited capacity, your power to create a law to your specification of how some elements of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (as amended) are implemented and used.

The Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) has two main uses:- The first is to trap the typical naive Jobseeker in to being required to apply for more widespread jobs than otherwise could be argued as reasonable. As the average jobseeker doesn’t realise the full impact of the Jobseekers Agreement they will go along with whatever the Employment Officer (EO) suggests, they then sign and it becomes a large element of the rules for receiving Jobseekers Allowance. The second reason is for the Jobseekers Agreement to be used for enforcement – or should I say to decide about applying sanctions or refusing later benefit claims.

You may also hear the Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg) being an agreement you negotiate, where you pledge what you will do weekly to find work, what your responsibilities are, your availability and what restrictions you have.

Was it just me? ..Or did I hear the word negotiate mentioned? Read on…

£250 million cut to Housing Benefit: claimants plunged deeper into poverty

People are increasingly loosing jobs, forced to sign on to receive Jobseekers Allowance to scrape by, hundreds of people are now applying for the same jobs and if that wasn’t bad enough, in a bid to save £234 million a year, the Government has decided to pull the £15 per week excess from Local Housing Allowance which is to affect over 300,000 claimants including families.

New Deal Scandal believes that with the surge in new claims, that £234 million a year figure could rise to £250 million within a few months after coming in to effect next year.

At this time of widespread need, the public should be able to rely on the Government giving them extra support – after all collectively we have been paying taxes and their wages for the last few decades.

New Deal: A third went off benefits afterwards without finding employment

Statistics published on New Deal for Young People (NDYP) up to November 2008, shows a worrying trend with almost a third (31.27%) of New Deal participants not securing employment and not reclaiming benefit.

Previously published articles such as Dencora House detention centre and various news articles on “jobseekers being treated like cattle”  showing the poor under resourced and mistreatment of participants comes to no surprise how so many people (411,190 to be exact) have decided to plunge deeper into poverty to have their Human Rights respected.  I am sure a few people would have won some money on the horses or on the lottery but in the majority of cases will be strictly relying on friends and family to survive.

Icelandic bank scandal

This has nothing to do with DWP, Jobcentre Plus or New Deal. I have been constantly thinking whether to post this or not, and I have decided to post it.

£1.2 billion DWP Fraud: DWP Underspend, Claimants struggle

As a Jobseekers Allowance claimant myself (when my claim hasn’t been stopped or suspended for trivial reasons such as not attending an interview they never told me about) I am not surprised that the National Audit Office (NAO) has reported a £1.2 billion under spend last year.

To stick this figure into prospective (remember it is the DWP as a whole not just JSA) if the figure comprised totally of Jobseekers Allowance at the higher rate of £60 per week, it makes 10 million payments of 20 million benefit weeks not being paid out, or 384,615 claimants a year receiving no Jobseekers Allowance at all even though entitled to do so by law.

In fact this raises a huge question about DWP, Jobcentre Plus; and their repeatedly unlawful tactics and techniques to take ones legal entitlement away, which I will explain later in to the article. As the Jobseekers Act 1995 (as amended) makes it your legal entitlement and the Jobcentre is doing the best to avoid paying that money out to you this comes under fraud in my definition and as such this £1.2 billion under spend will be categorised as a £1.2 billion fraud.

This is on top of the £750 million under spending on the Tax Credits system – resulting in 1.2 million claims not being made. We recently reported about the Jobseekers Allowance Scandal and the quarter of a billion pounds a year Housing Allowance cut.

Do you trust the Department for Work and Pensions with your data?

If the answer is yes, then you should think again!

Details published from DWP themselves from the DWP Survey 2009 – a survey of 73,006 people (71%) – a response of under 3 in 4 members of staff, show some worrying statistics. Is your data safe?

26% of DWP employees do not know if they have qualifications

The DWP Survey 2009, states that 26% of employees taking the survey (71% of the total workforce) answered “not sure” to the following question: “Do you possess a Level 2 qualification (NVQ, BTEC, 5 GCSEs Grade A-C, or equivalent) or above?“. That is 18,982 employees not sure about their own qualifications.

New Deal Scandal: A4e 1 – Bloggers 1

New Deal Scandal is back!

Against the will of Action for Employment (a4e) we are not going away.

A4e may have successfully taken down watchingA4e as Webs (previously freewebs) bowed to the pressure but WordPress had the sense and courtesy to consult with me first before taking removal action. I proved to WordPress that this is nothing more than internet censorship as my source for that blog post was from the Government and is available to anyone who wishes to search the company register.

This makes it 1-1 on the score between A4e and Blogger!

This meant a little bit of downtime – well no new posts anyway and one being hidden (private) – but now we are back, and now have some more content on A4e that I am sure you will find interesting.

A4e, Secrets and Censorship

This is criticism against A4e and how they manage their business. This is relevant because they are the largest New Deal provider receiving money from, (guess who?) you, the taxpayer!

I couldn’t resist but to disclose how strange A4e operates being such a large company and all. I don’t know of anything like it. Please feel to continue reading (no its got nothing to do with the fraud investigation)

98% of Jobcentre Plus formal feedback are complaints

Just looked at the statistics on display at the Jobcentre the other day. In the last few months (last quarter) they received 247 complaints to only 5 praises.  A complaint is one to the District Manager in writing not a verbal complaint, written complaint/letter to your personal adviser or unofficial complaint made online in form of feedback.

If this figure included verbal complaints and complaints to your personal adviser then it would be much higher.

New Deal: New Deal providers are exempt from local planning laws

Call it another scandal if you wish, it seems that New Deal providers are exempt from planning legislation.

Banbury based YMCA Training, who have recently viewed this site today (leave a comment and say hello)  manages to deliver New Deal training courses without first acquiring the required D1 planning consent.

• YMCA Training     Ipswich      Wolsey House
• YMCA Training     Ipswich      517 London Road
• YMCA Training     Ipswich      Dencora House
• YMCA Training     Southend   Baryta House
• YMCA Training     Romford    Lambourne House

If you know of any others let me know.

Update: Added “Lambourne House” – Havering has responded to me stating they don’t have D1 consent and they should apply for retrospective planning permission costing around £335 for an application if they still use the building.

A4e Finance Director Resignation: the evidence

Please see the exact 288b form used to terminate the directorship below.

Housing Poverty: action required now!

Unfair charges

We have all heard about the Jobseekers Allowance Scandal, how LHA rates in most areas have fell dramatically while the rent prices have not decreased by so much and now today, we at New Deal Scandal expose the unfair charges that estate agents such as JSM Property (who were lucky to be featured, a nice link back above) imposed on people trying to get a roof over their heads.

A4e and NSPCC

You might be aware of A4e founder Emma Harrison’s involvement with the NSPCC. You might also be aware of the hub page regarding A4e supporting the British Heart Foundation by dumping its VSO clients there. We can report that A4e actually has done a U-turn on supporting charitable organisations such as the NSPCC, to which Emma Harrison is (or was) the Chairperson of the NSPCC’s Regional Full Stop Appeal and CEO Mark Lovell sits (or did sit) on the National Corporate Sponsorship Board of the NSPCC.

Jobcentre fraudster steals £24,373 by Giro scam

UKBIX announces to New Deal Scandal that Mark Hamilton, 36, a civil servant working at a Jobcentre Plus office in Scotland stole over £24,000 from Giros he made and cashed after he stole blank giros when the Jobcentre Plus office merged with another.

His seven month scamming spree was brought to a close when the DWP Fraud team contacted the police.

What took the DWP so long to notice?  

Internet Censorship: Why A4e should take a leaf out of Metropolitan International School’s book

A4e should give up trying to censor blogs like this one. For one, this is hosted in America for an American company and thus under American law they are NOT liable for the content contained within – so please stop harrassing them. They are only the middleman/service provider, not the publisher, I am. Metropolitan International School recently lost a court case against search engine giant Google (who happens to contain a lot of content from this blog, I wouldn’t advise going after them…) and found this out.

A4e experiments tax avoidance: pays no tax

New Deal Scandal can reveal that A4e had tried to avoid paying tax.

New Jobcentre Plus Chief Executive is pro compulsory national volunteering

New Deal Scandal can reveal that the new Jobcentre Plus CEO, Darra Singh OBE, was one of the masterminds behind a new National Service system where in particular young unemployed people are to be forced to “volunteer” or lose their benefits.

Mark Stanley replaces Neil Watson as Finance Director for A4e

New Deal Scandal can reveal that Neil Watson resigned as a director in addition to dropping down to a less senior position while Mark Stanley took the position of Finance Director.  This is a very rare occurence in business.

Been on New Deal? You are likely to be owed over £50

After some extensive research into UK Unemployment Benefit (Jobseekers Allowance) and New Deal related legislation, New Deal Scandal can inform you, confirmed by DWP, that the £4 weekly travel deductions are unlawful.  This means New Deal participants past and present are entitled to be reimbursed.

Everyone in Ely has visited us!

It only seemed a couple of days ago that I added a statement to the right sidebar saying we had just exceeded over 12,500 unique visitors.

Just now I have noticed it saying 15,007 unique visitors… a bit of research tells me it is approximately the size of the Cambridgeshire city of Ely.  

517 London Road planning permission finally applied for

YMCA Training had been using 517 London Road since April 2003. Ipswich Unemployed Action has reported that over 6 years later they have submitted a retrospective planning application to gain D1 consent.

This came long after a year when they had enforcement action taken against them for not having D1 consent for Dencora House.  They are also applying for permanent consent after receiving a year trial of D1 consent lasting a year had expired.

Use of Building for D1 purposes, 517 London Road, Ipswich

1. This statement relates to a retrospective planning application for the change of use of a former business premises involving elements of warehousing, manufacturing and office use, at 517 London Road. The site forms part of a small cluster of employment and commercial uses. To the east of the site are extensive residential areas.

2. Planning permission is sought for the use of the premises to a non-residential training centre (Use Class D1) operated by YMCA Training, a major training provided in the town, providing variety of training programmes for the state sector, public sector and private companies. The use has been operating from the site since April 2003.

Documents to download from New Deal Scandal for inspection:

• Application Form for YMCA Training 517 London Road (D1 consent)
• Statement for YMCA Training 517 London Road (D1 consent)

New Deal Fraud: 4 outstanding fraud investigations

New Deal Scandal can reveal that as of the end of July 2009 there are 4 ongoing fraud investigations regarding New Deal and 1 regarding Pathways to Work.

No prosecutions for New Deal Fraud

New Deal Scandal can reveal that the Department for Work and Pensions has no intention for making any prosecutions for prime contractors deliberately defrauding the system. The Department for Work and Pensions currently has no plans of stopping Flexible New Deal contracts being awarded to prime contractors who have previously defrauded the system on numerous occassions for the New Deal contracts.

How the Government can solve Unemployment for FREE!

For over a decade the Government has seen to want to throw money at solving problems such as unemployment, which doesn’t work.  I don’t doubt for one second that the New Deal created loads of new jobs and helped people find employment. Sadly though these jobs were mostly for training providers to help deliver the scheme.

National Minimum Wage (NMW)

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) has celebrated 10 years this year. 1.5 million people are cheated out of receiving the National Minimum Wage. New Deal Scandal asks “Has the National Minimum Wage solved anything?”

90,000 formal complaints to Jobcentre Plus

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. 

A4e Benefit Busters

For a 3 part documentary called “Benefit Busters” two episodes will feature A4e. One episode that was shown on the 20th August 2009 was at A4e Doncaster focusing on lone parents whilst the other episode coming up next week will be at A4e Hull focusing on the unemployed.

At A4e Doncaster, Hayley Taylor co-ordinates a 6 week intensive course named Elevate which aims to give lone parents the confidence and skills to enter employment and persuade them they will be better off working than continuing to claim benefit.

It was largely thought that the programme would be criticising a4e and be bad publicity; it was a PR stunt all along to help develop promotion while they attempt to move in to America. My inbox was flooded with websites picking up on the A4e biased publicity from a press release and was only the last couple of days when a few sources picked up on the fame of the lone parents involved. The A4e website even has a page dedicated to Benefit Busters.

A4e Benefit Busters: why A4e isn’t the answer for welfare

As we all might be aware that the Channel 4 Benefit Busters show was designed for publicity for A4e rather than a fair insight in to the benefit system.

Thursday’s (20th August) show which featured the training provider Action for Employment (otherwise known as A4e) and their star tutor/trainer/sales person/staff member Hayley Taylor (which I hear has since been sacked) pursuing ten single mums in to making the transition of going back to work, highlighted a major flaw.

Yes the PR backfired. Not solely due to opinion on the show which i will report later in a separate blog article but rather by their lack of success as the UK market-leader of providing Government welfare schemes.

A4e Benefit Busters Single Mums Review

So it has been a hot topic in the recent week…. Benefit Busters at A4e Doncaster.

I have already expressed disappointment regarding the low outcome by A4e the largest welfare provider in the UK that also has business interests overseas.

Since the Benefit Busters show, I have been reviewing feedback across the internet. The comments are shocking!

Working Links: no longer under investigation

We can report (thanks to UKBIX) that The Guardian has apologised on behalf of The Observer who had been misinformed by the Department for Work and Pensions for reporting recruitment company Working Links to be still under investigation for fraud.

IT NO LONGER APPEARS THAT WORKING LINKS IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR FRAUD. 

Benefit Busters: Episode 2 Preview

Benefit Busters is on again tomorrow at 9pm. The first episode of Series 1 of Benefit Busters spreaded a lot of anger of Princess Emma of Sheffield in her mansion and A4e: the largest New Deal Provider.

New Deal Scandal will review the preview clips of Episode 2 of Benefit Busters – this show could really damage the reputation of A4e.  The clips are “Easier on the dole” and “Job ready“. 

Benefit scroungers are Britains most annoying pet hate

It is official – the Government has succeeded with its campaign against bullying genuine claimants from claiming benefits they are legally entitled to. In a survey of the 100 most annoying things for 2008, benefit scroungers bet the Credit Crunch and Gordon Brown to the top spot.

Did A4e get Benefit Busters Episode 2 pulled from On Demand?

It seems that Channel 4’s Benefit Busters Episode 2 was pulled from Virgin Media On Demand service and the online 4od service. Why?

Rumour has it that perhaps A4e ordered the On Demand/Catch Up availability to be removed due to concerned pressures over the services provided which could lose them their Flexible New Deal contracts (?) and also there has been next to none reviews of the Episode 2 Long-term Unemployed show in the press.

I am aware that it was added to On Demand but since it has been pulled and “Dolce Vito – Dream Restaurant” replaced the 9pm Channel 4 slot on Thursday’s the 27th August On Demand (even though this programme was on at 8.30pm).

It also is reported that the repeat show has been dropped from Mondays listings.

Is A4e censoring the internet once again and goign a step further with the press?

Did the Government get A4e Benefit Busters Episode 2 pulled from On Demand?

We had recently reported that possibly A4e had pulled Benefit Busters Epidsode 2 from the TV repeat and On Demand services.

Last night there was concerns that maybe the Government was involved in pulling the show off the air and off the internet.

Benefit Busters Episode 2 temporarily pulled to conceal someones identity?

It appears that perhaps A4e did not pull episode 2 and perhaps the Government did not pull episode 2, says a regular blog viewer and commenter:

Channel 4 decided to remove this episode of BENEFIT BUSTERS because
subsequent to transmission a person contacted Channel 4 and asked for his
identity to be concealed in the programme. This person was incidental to the
programme, however, we will re-edit it so that they are not identifiable.
The removal has nothing to do with A4E. The new edit will be available as
soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Benefit Busters Episode 2: Channel 4 pulls Episode 2 preview clips

New Deal Scandal can reveal that Channel 4 has finally pulled the preview clips for Episode 2.

It has caused great controversy when Channel 4 decided to pull the Episode 2 Benefit Busters show from 4od and Virgin Media On Demand service while scrapping the repeat showing too.

There was confusion where most people were advised it wasn’t available due to Channel 4 not having the rights to show it on 4oD On Demand. This extended when cancelling the repeat slot and replacing it with another programme.

Finally, we hear it was due to someone complaining as they were shown in the programme. Only as of today the 2nd September has Channel 4 finally pulled the preview clips (even though Episode 2 of the programme was pulled last week).

Watch the pulled Episode 2 of Benefit Busters here!

Watch the controversial episode of Channel 4’s Benefit Busters Series 1 at A4e Hull here.

A4e Hull Benefit Busters Episode 2: now on 4oD

New Deal Scandal can reveal that Episode 2 of Benefit Busters is now back online on the Channel 4 website. 

Did Continental Landscapes get Benefit Busters Episode 2 pulled?

Doubts over the real reason for Benefit Busters Episode 2 being pulled has increased tonight when parts of the initial showing wasn’t available for viewing – being completely edited out!

The initial concerns were of such actions being carried out by A4e. Concerns then followed that episode 2 was pulled by the Government. After Channel 4 advised people that it wasn’t on 4oD due to  them not having the rights, it was finally emerged that Benefit Busters episode 2 was pulled due to conceal someones identity after someone complaining they featured in it without consent.

Benefit Busters: New Deal Scandal launches a new website

New Deal Scandal today officially opens the new Benefit Busters discussion blog aimed to focus specifically on the issues raised in all 3 episodes of the Benefit Busters series 1. 

New Deal Scandal number one on Yahoo for Flexible New Deal

I am proud to acknowledge that New Deal Scandal is #1 for Flexible New Deal on Yahoo – this is above all providers. Screenshot enclosed.

Jobcentre Plus forces jobseekers to sign empty pages

It has become more than a coincidence personally of being required to sign a declaration on a blank page.

A4e spams numerous blogs

Yes, not really the behaviour of a small business, but A4e Ltd (by far not a small business) has decided to spam blogs (which talk about New Deal, Welfare Reform and Flexible New Deal etc.) with their website. Very unprofessional.

Know Hope? More like No Hope! A4e Flexible New Deal

A short post. Just promoting a link to Watching A4e with an article on Know Hope which appears to be A4e’s marketing brand for Flexible New Deal.

Twittering A4e – and No (sorry, Know) Hope

I can’t help thinking that the slogan Know Hope is a mistake!

Probably a cheap marketing stunt to get people talking about A4e…

Emma Harrison declines interview request

I have been trying to get Emma Harrison to take part in an interview. She has declined it (by default) by not responding back to me after being so keen initially until I explained what the interview was for.

Darren Marsh of A4e marketing had previously expressed an interest in improving A4e. This was short lived. Seems like A4e had forgotten about this website. Well, until I emailed Emma I suppose. Emma: the offer still stands.

A4e Emma on Eggheads

“Bizchicks Vs Eggheads“

Apparently, the bizchicks (including a good friend Rachel Elnaugh – infamous for being booted off Dragons Den when her business hit the wall) lost but the Eggheads are really clever people, to be fair.

Episode 106 (“bizchicks Vs eggheads”) was shown on Monday 10 November 2008 at 6pm on BBC2 (last year) – I happened to miss it, did anyone get it?