• 🇬🇧󠁿 🇸🇪 🇿🇦 🇮🇪 🇬🇭 🇩🇪 🇪🇺
    European & African
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • EADD Moderators: Pissed_and_messed | Shinji Ikari

Jobseeker's Allowance Megathread ver. We're all overqualified!

I'm absolutely gobsmacked! When did they start sanctioning people????? I don't watch the news for two reasons: seeing kids being kidnapped, abused, go missing is upset n I wouldn't let my my daughter out of the house if I watched it. The other is all the talk about benefits.

So I wasn't aware they did this to people. They could at least find out WHY people haven't turned up to appointments n so forth. You're right, MDB, it is not going to help people find work. Meanwhile all these foregners are coming into the country n we can't afford to look after our own. Worst thing we EVER did was join the EU. We need out of that n we need to get like Australia. There'd be more jobs then n more money but of course they blame US! Apparently we sit on out backsides all day (anyway I'm starting to repeat myself now). But the country is becoming a complete n utter joke. I hope to God that the Tories are not voted in again.

Evey :) xxxx
 
i was kind of politically neutral before this period of unemployment. The tories have mistargeted their cuts so wrongly and unfairly that i will now vote for anyone excpet them for the rest of my days. Not that my 1 vote will make any difference in this here "seat" where Labour allways win by about an 80% majority.

I assume the rationale behind the policy is that "unemployed people are lazy, so if we dont give them any money they will have to get a job." It's wrong on so many levels i cant believe we are letting them get away with it, i dont recall seeing any protests over this issue but i may well have just forgotten about them. I think most people understand and accept that the UK has to cut its deficit and that budget cuts are required, but the places the cuts are being made are not in the correct places.

If anything at all the sanctions will lead to an increase in crime; there has been a significant increase in shop lifting and utility meter fiddling. I wonder why that might be, i cant for the life of me even begin to imagine. :\
 
Last edited:
mydrugbuddy said:
I assume the rationale behind the policy is that "unemployed people are lazy, so if we dont give them any money they will have to get a job."
Click to expand...

I think it's even simpler than that. Sanctions exist to massage unemplyment figures and pander to the red tops. Politicians may be arseholes but they are not stupid - they know as well as anybody that there simply aren't enough jobs to have everybody in employment, and they also know that they'll be blamed for high unemployment figures all the same, so to make it seem like they are "doing something about it" they just shuffle people back and forth between benefits (depending on whether the tabloids are up in arms about unemployment figures or sick/disabled figures) and sanction as many people as possible off the system temporarily. As long as they keep the number of sanctions high it will automatically cause what appears to be a longterm drop in unemployment figures when it's nothing of the sort. Why all these food banks and the like are having to spring up all over the country isn't explained cos it doesn't fit with what they are claiming so much as prove they are lying.
 
Exactly Shambles, apparently there are around half a million jobs going but 2.5 million unemployed.
So even if all those jobs are filled by currently unemployed folk then there would still be 2 million unemployed.
 
I thought we had somewhere around 7% unemployed (as far as figures go if not in reality)? That works out at a lot more than 2.5m people. Either way, there is obviously a vast difference between vacancies and those chasing them. And presumably the official unemployment figures are only those claiming JSA so don't take into account all the other unemployed who don't claim JSA (like those on ESA or DLA or sanctioned or even people in MDB's position who find the whole system so intimidating they don't even apply for benefits despite being eligible).
 
my current reason for not claiming benefits is not the same one as it was originally, where i was as you say intimidated by the form, i wasnt well enough to fill it in. That is very ironic to make a sickness form too difficult for 'sick' people to fill in.

Whatever though, your point still stands that many people are unemployed but not counted as unemployed because they are not signing on. I dont know how many people are in this situation, its very hard for any one to put a figure on it, but i would imagine it would be quite a large number of people.
 
Shambles said:
I thought we had somewhere around 7% unemployed (as far as figures go if not in reality)? That works out at a lot more than 2.5m people. Either way, there is obviously a vast difference between vacancies and those chasing them. And presumably the official unemployment figures are only those claiming JSA so don't take into account all the other unemployed who don't claim JSA (like those on ESA or DLA or sanctioned or even people in MDB's position who find the whole system so intimidating they don't even apply for benefits despite being eligible).
Click to expand...

Yes I believe that they only count people who are claiming JSA & not the other benefits that you mentioned.
Also if you are on a government scheme such as youth contract you are not counted either.
 
rickolasnice said:
Dunno if everyone here is aware of this or not but there are certain courses that the job centre will pay for you to go on..

I've got a CSCS (construction) card out of them and an SIA (security) license out of them.. They even gave me £200+ to buy the security badge once i'd completed the security course..

They've also paid for me to buy new boots and a new birth certificate (anything stopping you getting work)..

Just finished the online form to reclaim.. Yay.
Click to expand...

Shame they can't pay for my masters it costing me £650 a module. Oh well
Lol
 
mydrugbuddy said:
my current reason for not claiming benefits is not the same one as it was originally, where i was as you say intimidated by the form, i wasnt well enough to fill it in. That is very ironic to make a sickness form too difficult for 'sick' people to fill in.
Click to expand...

Yeah, apologies for speaking on your behalf, as it were. I knew you weren't claiming when you were eligible but obviously got the wrong end of the stick regarding the reasons. The forms can be very intimidating and they do look like they're trying to trap you (and probably are, frankly). I've started taking any forms I have to fill in to the advice centre and they go through it with me. I trust them to do it (in conjunction with myself) far more than I would doing it over the phone with DSP employees. If you're not in work - for whatever reason - you are entitled to benefits just the same as anybody else is. I recall you saying something about having savings and, yes, they do affect your entitlement but unless you have a helluva lot of savings you will still be eligible for benefits - albeit at maybe a lower rate than if you didn't have savings. It is, after all, what you paid your taxes for (amongst other things, obviously).

Eveleivibe said:
It's bloody ludicrous. How do they expect people to live? Xxxx
Click to expand...

You are assuming they give a shit how people live. As long as you're not messing up their figures I sincerely doubt they do. I think sanctions only affect JSA claimants but could be mistaken.
 
I believe that sanctions can also be applied to ESA claimants also. I think they can only do it to ESA if you are in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) but they can't sanction you if you are in the Support group.
 
Shambles said:
Yeah, apologies for speaking on your behalf, as it were. I knew you weren't claiming when you were eligible but obviously got the wrong end of the stick regarding the reasons. The forms can be very intimidating and they do look like they're trying to trap you (and probably are, frankly). I've started taking any forms I have to fill in to the advice centre and they go through it with me. I trust them to do it (in conjunction with myself) far more than I would doing it over the phone with DSP employees. If you're not in work - for whatever reason - you are entitled to benefits just the same as anybody else is. I recall you saying something about having savings and, yes, they do affect your entitlement but unless you have a helluva lot of savings you will still be eligible for benefits - albeit at maybe a lower rate than if you didn't have savings. It is, after all, what you paid your taxes for (amongst other things, obviously).
Click to expand...

No need for aplogies. It is better to be spoken about that not spoken about at all. :D

My situation was 'fluid' i suppose you could say. For my first few months after quitting work i was in a phenazepam haze and could not have completed the ESA form for the life of me, the guide alone was 300 pages long ! I believe i would have genuinely accrued enough points to qualify for ESA at that time. Since then my substance misuse and mental health problems have improved so that i dont think i would qualify for ESA any more. After a few months i eventually got myself together enough to sign on for contribution based JSA, which i was only entitled to for 6 months.
 
^ When the six months end you are automatically switched to the other version of JSA, no? Or do you have to fill in another form? Silly me. Don't know why I even asked 8)

I've never seen a guide to ESA forms - I'd balk at filling it in too if I thought I had to trawl through a 300 page DSP guide beforehand 8o

Honestly, it's not half as bad as it looks. Most of the questions you probably won't even have to answer - you only answer the parts that are valid for your condition. CAB are your friend if you need help with forms :)

maxalfie said:
I believe that sanctions can also be applied to ESA claimants also. I think they can only do it to ESA if you are in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) but they can't sanction you if you are in the Support group.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That would make sense cos being in the WRAG means that you do get sent on courses and stuff which they can presumably make complusory if they want to. My disability advisor has been really good actually. She suggests courses and training schemes each time I go. I go along to the ones that suit my situation but I turn down ones that are clearly not relevant and she's fine with that. She'll even tell me that she doesn't think a certain course would be right for me if that's the case. The ESA disability advisors (not sure if everybody on ESA sees those? maybe they just call them 'disability advisors' whether you're sick or disabled - I've always been classed as disabled) are much more helpful than the JSA staff, imo, ime, ymmv, etc, etc. Obviously it depends on the one you get and how you get along but the one I see is a star. Has been really helpful and never in the slightest judgemental or anything.
 
This meant that for every individual successfully engaged into employment through the WP the company would be paid approximately £3000 to £4000.
Click to expand...

In other words, about as much as an entire year's worth of JSA payments that go to the employer and the claimant still only gets their JSA. So the taxpayer is basically paying both the claimant and an employer now instead of just the claimant. Makes perfect money-saving sense to me 8)
 
Total farce isn't it Shambles?
Makes you wonder when they award these contracts to companies if anyone in government has a business interest with the companies and thus profiteering from the contract.
One company that runs Work Programme in parts of the country recently had 8 or 9 of their employees up in court for falsifying paperwork to say that they had found work placements for people when they hadn't done so and that way they could claim the extra payments from the government (taxpayer) for something that they had not done.
Bunch of crooks.
 
maxalfie said:
Makes you wonder when they award these contracts to companies if anyone in government has a business interest with the companies and thus profiteering from the contract.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly honest, it's not even a wonder it's a presumption based on previous behaviour. Jobs for the boys all the way. Of course I suppose I would say that but that kinda stuff happens so often it's at the stage where if you read a newpaper story about an honest MP you wouldn't believe it. Although it would certainly make the headlines cos they seem to be a rare beast. Not even just Tories either (although they do seem to be especially bad).

I'm sure there must be good, honest MPs who do genuinely work for the betterment of their constituents, but they stand no chance when facing the Old School Tie Brigade and the like. Let alone all the murky bizniz interests and side-jobs doing "consultancy" work and the like. I actually tend to agree with that idea of MPs being paid more - but only if they stick to being MPs and resign all their dubious lil sidelines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top