I have been living on this so called gravy train for about 8 years now. I was made redundant from a very well paid job, but the company was failing fast and was gone within a year of my redundancy. Over the course of my time working there, I paid well over 150k in taxes etc. I was lucky to get the job in the first place; as I had be looked after by the queen in one of her big houses, for close to a decade. I came out in 91 and did voluntary work for over 10 years, pushing wheelchairs and all sorts of other stuff. All unpaid and loved every minute of it, as it put things into perspective and showed me, how lucky I was to have my health and freedom. Having jumped off of a sinking ship, in early 2008, I thought I could just walk into another job, I was very good at what I did and had references coming out of my ears. However, I had not seen the Bankers crash coming, or considered that my past life, would still haunt me.
The Job center Plus, needs renaming: It is NOT a job center, as the number of job vacancies are limited to a hand full and often out of date. The staff are not there to find you work, as I have been told many times, it is a place to monitor and sanction; at any opportunity. They (DWP) publicly claim, that there are no sanction targets for the staff and yet they have dry wipe boards that show how coaches (Member of staff that have a number of unemployed as clients) are doing. The object of the DWP is to bring the figures down, so they can claim success, to the hard working tax payers. They bring those figures down, by any means. A sanction, means that person, is off of the 'unemployed total' for that period. When an appeal reverses that sanction, (between 60 to 80% of the time) the person, become a new claimant and thus, the long term figures are, reduced.
I am more than actively looking for work, I need to be able to work, to earn because right now, my choices are simple; pay the bills, or eat properly. I really wish I lived alone, as I would be better off in a number of ways. As a single guy, I could tolerate not having electric for a couple of days etc.. But with family dependent on me, the debt just increases. A couple, who has no choice but to sign on as a couple, gets £57 per week each to cover everything, including council tax at close to 20% of the whole bill and deductions for 'an extra room' in my home, off of the rent benefit. Not the £78 per week, as stated by the Tory press. I am reaching the stage of having to consider earning on the side; which being illegal, would be a violation of my life time parole. At the same time, there is no constructive support from the probation services, apart from the usual pep talks, of not loosing hope. In short, there is a growing number of people in my position that will never be able to work, due to their history. We can lie, about our pasts, or go our own way, out side of the system' both of which, can put us back into the the big house. There is the nothing in place to deal with these people, apart from humiliation and deprivation, which creates anger and resentment.
Yes: I see the same faces at JC+ and I know they are earning and milking the system. Yes they exist, but not as common as a few years ago, at the same time, the JC staff are blind to them and are told what they need to hear; by the experienced scroungers. I have demanded to be put on work trial at the job center, a number of times and have told them I can do the job and make a difference. However, the government would never consider employing me, even to clean the toilets and so we have come to an understanding. They know I am looking for work, my 'proof of evidence' is beyond any coaches expectations. I am constantly apply for funding for courses etc, all of which have been turned down; they are very happy to offer me loans, for basic courses etc., but nothing constructive, nothing that would make a difference.
35 hours a week is the target. You can be called to the JC 5 days a week, up to 6 hours per day, to be 'supervised' looking for work etc. (been there done that) which in theory does not meet their own demands, as they want job searching done 7 days a week. I have to ask, to leave my home town, in case they have something for me to do. I had to fill in forms and wait for a reply to visit my brother in a London hospital after he had a stroke. You have to be registered on the Universal Credit web-site; this is where the 'proof of evidence' has to be logged daily. The web-site has trojon cookies and long with key-stole cookies and they CAN monitor all of your activities on your PC through this. You HAVE to agree to said cookies, or you don't 'qualify' for a claim. The sad thing is: if the devoted as much funds and man hours to actually finding people work; as they spend on 'investigations, sanctions and lost appeals'. A lot more people would be in genuine employment.
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