Benefit Sanctions are unlawful, cruel, unjust punishments on the poor
Welcome to the Unlawful Sanctions website! This website is dedicated to exposing the unlawful, unfair, cruel and criminally unjust financial punishments on our societys poorest people. Whats more, criminals convicted of benefit fraud are sometimes "punished" by applying the same length sanctions to their current benefit claim (instead of jail) that Joe Bloggs, the typical genuine jobseeker is receiving for arriving late to sign on because the bus was late!
Added 04/2011:The Guardian, Unlawful Sanctions and PCS have received evidence about Jobcentre Plus offices setting targets and unfairly forcing sanctions on the disabled, those who speak English as a second language and by race. This violates the Equality Act 2010. Jobcentre Plus denied this before admitting to it. They have attempted to justify it as a “misunderstanding” and has ensured people that it has been resolved.
Why we care
The aims of Unlawful Sanctions
Unlawful Sanctions is a campaign against the unlawful benefit sanctions claimants receive.
We want to:
- Directly challenge the Government regarding these benefit sanctions
- Make sure benefit fraudsters are jailed or denied benefits instead of imposing pathetic benefit sanctions
- Abolish the unlawful benefit sanctions
So, you were made redundant, lost your job or left your job by other means or left university or other education but couldn’t secure a job … whatever your reason for being a jobseeker, regardless of the message the Government puts out about such people, Jobseekers Allowance is a very low benefit to scrape by while you look for employment. You can’t live on it comfortably in rip off Britain!
The Jobseekers Act 1995 which came into power in 1996 (making it 14 years old) outlawed the something-for-nothing benefit culture. Everytime a jobseeker signs on he or she must specify evidence showing that he or she has attempted to seek work. Jobseekers are obligated to register for any "training" to better their job prospects. Jobseekers are even forced to apply for selected jobs issued by an Employment Officer (EO) in the form of a Jobseekers Direction (JSD).
Jobseekers do not have the ability to free choice of labour – if submitted to a job they are expected to take it – regardless if they have a decent enough reason not to. Jobseekers are also required to attend specific dates as requested in writing to a depressing building called Jobcentre Plus. You can’t be a few minutes late but you could be waiting up to an hour to sign on without even an apology.
So lets get rid of any thought that jobseekers are people happy to live off the "dole" – its way below the poverty line and there are only a handful of people who are happy to remain on the dole. These have the common pattern of going through generations via the same families. This is a corruption in DWP and Jobcentre Plus as although the Jobseekers Act 1995 was designed to outlaw this and prevent people claiming who are not "Actively Seeking Employment" (ASE) for some reason these people rarely have any problems with their benefit claims.
Social Security: a right!
Some people may disagree but Social Security has long been an human right. This doesn’t mean a something-for-nothing culture or that people should be able to claim forever.
As far as Jobseekers Allowance goes, this human right has been layered with a conditional criteria to be able to claim. Again it is a human right, everyone has the ability to make an application for Jobseekers Allowance without restriction (whether its denied is another thing though). Even those caught fiddling the system and had been jailed for benefit fraud is freely able to reclaim after prison (how wrong is that?!)
The concern with the unlawful benefit sanctions is it is a loophole around the human right of social security. When you are sanctioned your claim for Social Security doesn’t end – you just don’t get paid. Your Jobseekers Allowance claim is still active and you are still requested to sign on. To most people like me and you can clearly see and understand that it is the point of benefit: to bring in money when you have none. The second aspect is, all offences resulting in a sanction are applied to your future claim thus again you are not denied Social Security (in the present anyway).
If Jobcentre Plus terminated your benefit claim and banned you from claiming for a set period – this would be against Human Rights (including Human Rights Act 1998 and the European ECHR).
It has not been tried that:
a) stopping a payment for a benefit is as good as terminating your benefit claim
b) preventing payment of a benefit for a set period is no different than banning someone from claiming for a set period
We want to take this argument to court – because it is a scam. If it was a business it would have been closed down but because its the public sector not private sector it seems to have been got away with. Its not the Government who loses, its you the taxpayer always!
A poor "jobseeker" isn’t a jobseeker
Just remember: if a person has no income its almost impossible for them to apply for jobs. This delay into finding employment cost the taxpayer much more than if they were claiming for a shorter period. The longer someone is unemployed the less likely they will secure sustainable employment.
Sanctions are unlawful under the Jobseekers Act 1995
Yes, it is true. The Jobseekers Act 1995 clearly states that Jobseekers Allowance (Contribution based or Income based) is paid in a benefit week. So common sense here: if a person commits a sanctionable offence in one week, how can he lose 2 (or more) weeks benefit? Whether or not the person loses out on that specific week or a future week of an ongoing claim is neither here or there – or so it could be argued.
Now
I received a letter today from DWP saying that i might get sanctioned as “a doubt had arisen about me applying for a job”. I checked back through my records and i applied for the job? I phoned them and asked what was going on as i had a copy of the email/CV i sent to the company. It also said i had 7 days to reply, but i’ve only received it 6 days after the date they sent it. So i’ve spent most of the day trying to get a copy of my application printed off in the library, now need to go tomorrow to the Jobcentre to hand it all in. What a joke. The stress and worry they cause people is unreal, why cant they just call the company to check my application?
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Ok i’m going to keep you guys posted on my little sanction process if for no other reason then for a laugh
Here is my reply to the follow up letter from the sunderland lm dma sector office ( above posting 58)
Dear Joe Kelly, PP, R Andrews.
I have decided to type my responses to your questions as there is very little space on the back of the form provided by you and also to make reading a lot easier due to the possibility that my handwriting might not be legible judging by the questions that you have asked in this letter.
1, did you apply for the warehouse controller vacancy?
2, if you did reply: on what date did you send in your cv/application?
3, if you obtained proof of posting please provide a copy.
4, you agreed to keep a written record of all your job search activities.
Please provide a copy of that record from 1.3.11 to date.
I have also enclosed a copy of my first response as a reference to your questions.
Question 1 answer,
Yes, as I suspected it was the job opportunity to which I had already replied yes to in my first response (please view first response) and thank you for clarifying the situation.
Question 2 answer,
I posted it on the 6th of March along with 2 other letters, one being another copy of my resume and cover letter for a different job.
Question 3 answer,
Yes your employee at Byker job centre recorded my job activities on the 18th of March as part of my job search for that 2 week period; the job in question was one of the opportunities that I listed as having applied for.
Question 4 answer,
I only received this letter from you on Monday the 6th of June! It is therefore impossible for me to look through all my sent emails and notes, make a comprehensive list and hope to return this to you in the short space of time bearing in mind that it might take 2 days to reach you and you stated that you wanted this reply by the 8th June. I have however listed below the written record which I handed to one of your employee’s as evidence of my job search for the period from the 4th of March until the 18th march covering the job opportunity that you have brought into question.
However I think your find my entire job search activity for the requested 3 month period already in your system as provided by me to your employee’s during the process of my signing on appointments.
Deputy night manager, with Smiths news plc
Warehouse assistant in Gateshead with stakeholder pension recruitment
Warehouse team leader with nrgplc.com
Supply chain operative with the lmra team
Warehouse controller in north shields with Joanne champney
Customer service with hsbc
German speaking customer support with meridian business support
Stores and despatch zone leader with appointments
German customer advisers in longbeaton with cisco systems
Further to this I check various websites everyday and also newspapers weekly
Sincerely: Dated:
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Lol Brian, reading your post sums it up, lol I wish it was more simple to sort out all the shity problems DWP cause for people and without feeling the need to stash a weapon under mi jacket but I do see your point, you aint impressed are ya? Nor am I. Chin up as I have seen ways of working round the bullshit rules we face, its not the un-employment agency we have to scrap against, its the CONSERVATIVES.
They cough out the rules, therefore, theyre to blame. I am wasting time keeping up with rules and regs now, something I never thought would happen to me, like many others will say.. appeal or re-claim or as I predict- go along with it all then when 80% of us all fall sick with depression caused by being under pressure, the crunch will be NO one will be fit for nothing! Therefore, will result in everyone will be claiming sick lol lol!
Silly tw@s wont have a leg to stand on eventually, unless you are still about with ya claw hammer and done the job first lol.
jj.anyway, take care and remember keep coool!!
Kris
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I got put on a sanction for 4 weeks (which to my delight found out its 6 weeks due to baccs system) i actually felt wronged as my reason for not taking a job direction was that i moved out and into a different property with friends as i could no longer afford my own place, that said i misplaced the paper during the packing/unpacking process and when i went to the jobcentre to get another print out that job was taken, i dont know what else i could have done in that situation…..i actually live on next to nothing and i have barely ate for over a week now, this is playing havoc on my mental health, i cant afford to eat, i can’t afford to travel to look for anything, i have little to no energy to do anything due to this poor diet and if it wasn’t for friends id be homeless too, i like everyone has bills and direct debits and now there is a good chance i will be going to court with court costs that i can’t afford…….i applied for hardship and it got accepted with my reasons being ‘i will die of starvation before my next sign on date” which was last week and im still waiting for it to come through, although on paper i agree with a system of “if your going to do nothing you will loose it” but this is not paper, this is life, more attention to that individuals case should be looked at and talked about as i jump through all their hoops so to say and still i get this …..and the people who work at the dole get a wage simply because the unemployed don’t, that doesn’t mean they are better than anyone…..it actually makes me sick how someone in a office actually gets a kick out of starving and kicking the poor when their down
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they want you and so many others to fall through the cracks
skimming away the poor, sick, weak and otherwise unprofitable individuals.
we have to do something, people must get angrier, this age of apathy needs to end soon or end never
once the EU consolidates under one big government it will be too late.
satellites, CCTV, cell tracking…. watching our every move.
right now if you kill someone important, they’ll get you.
one day if you refuse to work, don’t wear what they tell you, don’t jump through the hoops ALL THE TIME, NOT JUST AT THE NOB CENTRE,……. they’ll get you.
this is hitler 2.0 people.
they seize control slowly and quietly like darkness envelopes the moon as it turns
PERMACULTURE AND SELF SUSTAINABILITY CAN SAVE US
INFORM YOURSELF
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LOL “Nob Centre”. I’ll ask for that when i phone their helpline.
GOOD comments ricardo
K
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I am told that I have to go on the Work Programme. I only just finished the New Deal rubbish in December 2010. Is Preston Jobcentre lying to me say that I HAVE to do it.
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They have now suspended my claim indefinitely because my job-goals are deemed to be unreasonable restrictions. WTF?
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can you specify more details? like what the job goals are etc.?
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I too fell into a JCP trap last year. Was told to attend some kind of interview or course at a provider’s office in a town that I wasn’t familiar with. Arrived on time, explained to the receptionist why I was there, and she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. Waited ten minutes for her to talk to a supervisor and figure out that I was meant to go to the other office, at the opposite end of the same road! The address on the letter I was sent simply stated that it was on “X Road”, no mention that there were two offices and only one was correct!
So off I trot to the other office, only to be told on arrival that I’m too late and the session had finished (after only 15 minutes – rather pointless even going…) – I immediately ring my JCP advisor, fearful for the health of my claim, and am assured that it’s no problem and it’ll be sorted at my next appointment.
Appointment day… advisor sympathises with my story, says that it’s unfortunate, etc.
The following day, the dreaded brown DWP stationary pops through my letterbox informing me that I’ve been Sanctioned for a month for “failure to attend an employment opportunity”. Note that in this case I couldn’t lie and say I had attended, as it was a session monitored by JCP and the provider, and the list of people who didn’t attend was automatically forwarded to DWP for sanctioning. I quite literally had no chance whatsoever to prevent my sanction.
Unwilling to keep turning up at the Job Centre when I wasn’t going to be getting any money from them, I signed off. As luck would have it, I found employment (on my own initiative!) two weeks later, but I dread to think what would have happened otherwise. Sadly I’m now claiming again, but far wiser and mindful of the “strategies” that JCP use against hapless jobseekers.
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I have been sanctioned this month for missing signing on by 2hours 15minutes!
My EA advised me to apply for a crisis loan; I duly did (3 times) and on the first two occasions I was told I could not apply because I had been sanctioned. On the third I was refused because of the sanction (application taken). I have since been informed by a review decision maker at Social Fund that it is ILLEGAL for any telephone operator NOT to take any application regardless of the expected outcome!
My questions to everybody here are: If it is illegal how do I prosecute? and what does this statement mean? “How much money the law says you need to live on each week”. Which is at the back of my benefit claim letter.
Sanctioning somebody is breaking this law….it is currently my intention to prove that.
I have written to the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP- Secretary of State for Works and Pensions asking for answers; I’m pretty sure that he won’t answer personally but I won’t stop there!
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im with ipswich TNG, they are contracted by the UBO to give me training and help me find employment.
i recently had an appointment with them but could not find the paperwork as my landlord has builders in fitting new kitchen amongst other things. anyway, i was sure the interview was on a wednesday but wasnt sure of the time. so i went to TNG on the monday and asked the reception guy to look my details up on the computer. he said no, no appointment is set up for you. i asked him to double check and still there was no appointment. i kept insisting there was an appointment for me but was told “we are full today, you need to go.”
a few weeks later, i get a letter from the UBO stating that i have been sanctioned for missing the appointment!! wonderfull…. i complained to TNG but was told, “sorry m8 we just followed procedure.” they couldnt have atleast phoned me to ask why i had not attended before grassing me up to the UBO office? NOPE!!
anyway, to make matters worse, i have recently joined a care agency that want me to do quite alot of training. problem is its a 30 mile round trip and i havent ANY money so i cannot afford bus fare. i cant even afford to eat, id get a crisis loan but was refused as i “might” be getting a payment sometime soon. complete BS.
so rather than help me to gain employment, TNG are hindering my attempts at gaining employment. infact, if i fail to attend my training sessions i may well be sanctioned again.
anyway, i have appealed and am still waiting on a reply. i wont hold my breath but i may starve.
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So many people at TNG on Flexible New Deal are experiencing this. Especially in the Ipswich office. There is one person who has a “sanction doubt” raised to what seems like every other week… has fell victim to a successful sanction twice in the period he has been there.
He says the appointments are like 2 minutes to set the next one including the job search sessions. No support or anything to get into work. A joke when the time allocated to each is apparently 30 minutes and somehow there is always a next client waiting.
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Perhaps someone has received TNG’s Mk 2 letter?
“You are aware that attendance at TNG is obligatory. Failure to attend may result in sanctioning.”
This is sent out the occasion after a successful sanction doubt has been raised by them.
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Work Programme by Avanta (TNG):
Introducing ourselves
Our dedicated customer contact centre will call the customer directly where we’ll explain how everything works, tell them what to expect and find out a little more about their situation. We’ll then arrange an Insight appointment for them at the Avanta office that’s most convenient for them.
Confirming the appointment
We’ll write to them to confirm their appointment, explain what they can expect at their Insight appointment and provide them with directions to the office, including public transport links.
Getting started
We’ll provide a warm welcome for all customers and take care of all the necessary paperwork, ensure that they’re set up on our IT systems, explain how much better off financially they will be and make sure that they’re ready to start looking for work.
The Insight appointment
Our employment consultant will talk with the customer about their aspirations and what they want to achieve. We’ll then agree a personal plan of action with them as to how they’ll achieve their goals, such as getting skills that local employers are looking for.
Getting People Into A Job With A Future
Once we have got our customer the job that they want then our focus will switch to making sure that their job has a future. We’ll make our customers aware that we’re on hand for up to two years after their job is started, providing support on training and wellbeing to ensure job sustainability.
We’re also developing a network of mentors, including people who’ve been through the Work Programme, to offer further guidance to those wanting extra support.
I assume “insight” is an alternative for “is shite” just because they cannot say that to the DWP! Their contact centre are very rude and unreasonable – they wont explain much about the Work Programme as its what the initial appointment is. Its true that they give transport link details (even if are wrong). They dont provide that much of a “warm” welcome (more luke-warm) and the rest is nonsense.
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I was sanctioned for 26 weeks in February because I failed to turn up for appointments at A4e that I was unaware of. In the meantime I was signing as normal and so was face to face with an ‘adviser’ who never once mentioned the fact that I had missed an appointment, and as a result I did nothing about it. Both A4e and the job centre have my telephone number but it seems that it is much easier to rely on the post and assume that the person has received the letter.
When my sanction kicked in I obviously contacted the Job Centre asking why my benefit had not been paid. I searched the house and found one letter unopened and I admitted to my mistake and got in touch with A4e and finished my programme.I was told that more than one letter had been sent although I have never seen them ( although I have seen a copy of one)
I have applied for hardship allowance and a crisis loan because I have literally no money coming in at all but I was refused on the grounds of my ‘not being in a vulnerable group’ i.e. I am a 47 year old man with no kids, but I cannot imagine feeling more vulnerable than I do now. I have borrowed off every Tom,Dick and Harry that will listen, I have not paid a bill for four months and am expecting to have services cut off very soon although this may well be irrelevant as I expect to be evicted from my flat at the beginning of July anyway as my landlord has lost patience with my stalling.
I am embarrassed at the fact that I mislaid some post and got myself in this situation but I would argue that the adviser at the Job Centre should’ve told me that I had missed an appointment, thereby nipping the situation in the bud and at worst meaning that I was sanctioned for a week and not for six months! Had I been overpaid benefits I feel sure that they would have been quick to find a way to tell me.
Needless to say my appeals have fallen on deaf ears and have been rejected so I have literally been thrown on the homeless scrap heap over this. It has reached the point where I really don’t know where to turn. I have already started rooting through supermarket bins to get food months ago! but the thought of being on the street scares me to death.
I am constantly looking for work but as many of you will know, it is rare to even get a reply these days, and without money for postage and phonecalls it is even harder to search.
I would like to make it clear that my non attendance was a complete accident on my part. Up to that point I had been to Job Clubs, had my CV updated, attended Jobs Fairs etc. I had never so much as been late for a signing before..and now this.
I am beginning to think that I would’ve been better off going to prison for six months.The debts, the stress, the very real possibility of homelessness affect every waking moment and I despair that in 2011 people can literally be expected to live off nothing AND look for work.
The real irony is this. I am unemployed and yet I could solve the problem that has affected me in a second. Every appointment that is made for a Job Seeker should have to be signed for as and when the person signs anyway. That way there can be no argument about whether or not the person knew about the appointment.Too easy I guess, and begs the question whether it is in the interests of the DSS to actually tell you you have missed an appointment. Far better to leave it until they can do you for 26 weeks worth of money (approaching £1800).
If anyone has any advice for me as to whether it is worth contacting MP’s or appealing in some other way I would be grateful. I’m at my wit’s end.
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This is because of the The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme) Regulations which came into effect on 20th May 2011. (The Jobseekers Allowance Regulations have been amended to include “a “person in hardship” does not include a claimant who is required at that time to participate in the Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme.””). This ignored and over overlooked measure of outstanding brutality that effectively removes hardship payments unless the claimant is in a “vulnerable” group. Claimants are being mislead into believing that they will receive hardship payments when in fact they wont. The upcoming Welfare Reform Bill also makes provision for hardship payments(for those claimants still entitled to them)to be repayable.
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Ive just been Sanctioned for being 1 second late for an appointment.Due to traffic i was late for my apt by approx 10 mins. The jc rules says i must not be over 10 mins late. So the problems start. This will get me into deep debt as bills will try and come out and my account i will go over drawn thus incurring charges of 25 pound and 15 pound a day till the account is in credit.Altogether il get in debt for 235 pounds because of this sanction.Is there any way i can get it over turned because it will get me into deep debt. Any advice would be great thanks.
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i had my benifit stopped for 6 months cause i missed 2 appointments at my new deal provider (a4e) i missed them cause thay fell on the same day as my doctors appiontment i showed the job center my doctors note and thay still gave me the sanction i went back to my doctor and he told me he could’nt give me a note to show i had been to see him cause if he gave me one he would have to give one to everyone that went in to see him. my adviser wrote him a letter to explane why the note was needed… but he said it was not a good reason to give me a note… i had a infection which stopped me from being able to fulfil my commitment but now my doc says he can give me a not but would need written writing from the decision maker when i informed the job centre of this i was told the decision maker will not be filling for a medical note as who ever the decision maker is he or she is happy to tell me to ride the decision out i was sanctioned in march 26th 2011 and wont be able to get money till November 15 2011…..what am i to do
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The Jobcentre always rile me! Currently I am under sanction at the moment for a job which I failed to apply for back in march. This job was a post I have previously held with the same employer a few years ago which I must admit, was a bad experience. Back then I applied for a 40 hour permenant job, which I never got, instead I was lucky to even get 10 hours a week. These are the reasons which I gave to the jobcentre in march for not applying again. Never once did the jobcentre write to me in all this time to tell me I’d been sanctioned although they still made me sign on and would not tell me why I recieved no allowance.
Well, today I went to the Citizens advice and told them what I just told you. They informed me that it is ILLEGAL to impose a sanction on someone without prior notification, well, I only found out I was sanctioned last week on the phone. They’ve had since march to inform me and it is now June. With the help of the CAB, we will be appealing against this decision and getting our local MP involved, The jobcentre do not realise what trouble they will find themselves in as this is an illegal act they have committed.
You would think that public services such as the Jobcentre would promote honesty and law abidance. They are supposed to be there to help you, instead treat you like a criminal just because you have come upon hard times and want to find a job. Some day, someones really going to open everyones eyes to what a pile of crap the jobcentre really is and close the whole operation down. Nuff said!
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Just had a letter this morning saying my JSA has been sanctioned for 26weeks.
I was presented with details of a job and told if i can not get to Cannock then send my CV and a covering letter to the company. I did this as Cannock is 23miles away from where i live.
I got a form through asking why i didn’t attend. I explained on the form that i had sent my CV to the company.
Today i got a letter saying my JSA has been sanctioned for 26 weeks.
Surely this is unfair and unlawful?
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Yes you are right !!, SANCTIONS ARE AGAINST THE LAW. The jobcentre so far have gotten away with most cases but that is very soon to end. Dont worry ! Sanctions are very shortly to be eradicated from being used, The bottom line is this : Job seekers are all poor, ALL POOR ! so to sanction a poor person is without doubt in-human and is an act of evil from any job centre adviser to try and impose a sanction let alone the sanction being allowed in the first place.
and its only a matter of time before this Paula will be personaly SUED !!!!!!!. These days are just around the corner so hang on in there…… justice will come very shortlty as I said I have INSIDE information that suggests sancioning is an offence !!!!!!!!!!. and I will be happy to see my jobseeker adviser TAKEN OUT OF THE JOBCENTRE IN HANDCUFFS !!!! THEN THEY CAN HAVE A PIECE OF THE MISERY THEY ARE PUTTING OTHERS THROUGH – MEETING THERE SNACTION TARGETS SHALL SEE THE END OF THERE PERSONAL CAREERS. hahahaha, they are being taken by a ride by the JC !!. The staff are evil !!!! and we all know first hand dont we ?!!!!
Just to clear things up – it wont be the JOB centre ONLY who gets into trouble !!!. It will be individuals that impose the sanction that will get sued !!!. for example : If paula decides to sanction maralyn ( not being able to turn up to an appointment because her car wouldnt start ) Paula will be committing an offence sanctioning her !
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David cameron ! What a mistake . if the jobseekers advisers get jailed for sanctioning then justice is a juicy berry just about to ripen ! these EVIL humans will get sued, And since its aginst the law to sanction sombody ( benifits are a human right and they cant stop our payments ) They can argue all they like that its a punishment for whatever it is we done that they didnt like !! Unlawfull and illegal and lets sue these b*stards
any good lawyer can prove this with little effort. Apparently it has already been tried and worked. lets not feel sorry for ourselves and make a stand.
Also we should have a confidence vote !!!!!!!!!! and get rid of CONSERVATIVE NOW !!! I dont care if we have to have labour back.
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Ok first off didnt want to use my real name for this.
i got a sanction on the 15th june till the 1st of november. Thats 5months 16days without any income at all! I got referred to two jobs (first two in a year might i add) one was a trainee office assistant and the other was a caretaker at a school i think. I want to be a tiler by way. After a few months i got to see personal advisor who sent me to back to work colleges who help you get skills and help get back into work programs which for me would of been great because i done tiling years ago but would catch me up on anything new and find me work. Also would help me get CSCS card. When i left school i became a painter as an apprentice so never got paperwork from a college and didnt know about CSCS card for construction sites (you must have one now). So i went to a place twice and somewhere else but couldnt find the place, spent about 4hours on the bus to the places and back aswell as being there. The last one i got onto was in november and it lasted 4-6weeks i think which was great getting money, training and hopefully a job before christmas. All i needed was the job centre to sign a form to let me go there. So i went to job centre and my advisor was off due to family reasons so couldnt get it done (i had a time limit to get it signed before the course started) the next time i went all the computors were down so he couldnt send anything or something but could send the hting off so i got paid then the next time he was ill so another waste and then it was too late the chance had gone. No one at the job centre could sign it but him. The next time i went i was annoyed about it so i asked whats going off and guess what he said? Due to the fact i was on the job seekers for a year now i was being signed over to remploy which is over two hours there and back on the bus and all we did was sit at a computor screen looking on job sites like job centre, jobs direct etc for three hours (it was so boring). Remploy told me they going bust and i proberly wouldnt have to go but check at job centre when i go next which i did and they didnt say anything, i got a letter the other day saying i need to go next week i think. I asked the job centre about certain courses to get some skills they said ask remploy so i did and they said ask job centre because they dont have the money to send people on courses so i did and the job centre said to tell them its their job to send people on them because im their responablitiy now which i did and got the no funds answer again! I have gone to every meeting the job centre sent me to and on time but i get a warning for not going for two jobs because the caretaker is like construction and the office job was because i mention remploy told me to go for a buisness course for a bigger goal of running a tiling company so made an enquiry (due to remploy going bust the guy who told me has lost his job). The two jobs are no where near what im into which i made it clear and the caretaker one they accepted i didnt have the skills but the trainee office one they didnt because it was trainee. I looked for both jobs after i got told that i needed to go for them and couldnt find them which i explained and the women told me i should of still applied for it and made my point but said ok not thinking i would get punished. I went to sign two weeks later and they said i was told to go somewhere else after i asked about princess trust and i got told i already been told about it, she wasnt even on my job seekers page! Then she goes you have a sanction for not going for office job i said you joking me she goes no you didnt applie so i told her all of this and still nothing so i said no point me being on job seekers then and she said there is to get my stamp! I get just under £110 every two weeks. I cant afford petrol or insurance on car so cant use it which limits job search due to wanting to be a tiler. I have a 6 n half month daughter but cant claim because dont live with her mum and not sole carer even though i have her on my own sometimes and they come over every weekend and stay for few days if not more so i have to pay for food for us three aswell as clothes etc for baby.
I think thats everything. I could of been off job seekers months ago, got the skills and proberly a job by now if it wasnt for them and even before that if it hadnt of taken them so many months to say you now get to see an advisor because first few months they dont give a rats ass about you! I know people who go pub everyday for hours during the day or out doing stuff or doing nothing at all and they on job seekers and dole and they dont get punished but when someone whos tried to get their life in order they do! I also had that problem about not writing down cleary so i did as i was told and still not good enough so did more and didnt see her the next time i was there when got the sanction. Its a complete joke!
If anyone got any advice or comments then feel free and sorry for long post
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they really are bastards arnt they ,
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See your doc, claim sick, give yourself a break for 6 weeks to gather up your plans how to tackle all the shit job centre and remploy are wanting to throw at you.
best wishes
K
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Oh dear !, looks like you fell right into their trap !. Do you recal them telling you off for not applying for the jobs ? because this is how they trick you, You said ‘OK’ didnt you ?, so basicly you agreed to be sanctioned !!!!!!!!!!. even though they didnt mention the word sanction, They have your agree-ance that you didnt do what you where supposed to do. In other words you should have argued out your point that the jobs where innapropriate for you hence you did not apply for good reason. This would have possibly ment the case would have gone to a decsicion maker instead of the immediate sanction.
And I have a feeling I will be in a situation very close to yours very soon. Sanctions are against the law though and its only a matter of time before they cannot be used. It feels like a prison sentance but you have to stay positive and remember that the country has a responsiblity of well-being for each individual , so you may have to jump over some hurdles and do loop-da-loop a couple of times, You will get what you are entitled to, I dont reccomend going to citizens advice buero though !!!, I have been there on a few occasions – they are a dissapointment to say the least, Google will offer more help if you ask the right questions. Citizens A.B are just volunteers who are not really that well informed ( I knew more than the adviser on nearly everything ) Waste of time !. Try googling sanctioned not apply job hardship 60 percent , And then at some of the cached pages ( blue link under google description ) will help you speed read to the important bits. Good luck 
, you are not alone but you are smart to ask on here for help. and well done for not putting your name on too 
If you have your daughter with you for 4 days out of 7 then you are in a vulnerable group ( because you have a child/baby) which means you can apply for hardship payments ( 60 percent of your usual payments ) that will keep you alive ‘Just’ . You MUST STILL GO TO THE JOBCENTRE TO SIGN ON !!!!! if you are sanctioned then you are still claiming jobseekers allowance, so you recieve housing benifit/council tax benifit/NI stamps. If you are on a sanction you STILL GET THESE !!! BUT YOU LOOSE THE JSA PAYMENTS OF £110 (YOUR PERSONAL ALLOWANCE ). In other words, if you get these other benifits then you will still have to sign on to get them EVEN though you are sanctioned. If you can get your daughter with you fo 51 percent of the week then she is your dependant which will entitle you to hardship payments even though you have a sanction so if you can see the picture I am painting ??? ( you are sanctioned but still get 60 percent of £110 = £66, plus by signing on you also keep your entitlement of housing benifit ect…. In other words, its a big hardship you will have to go through but you can survive if you are smart and keep signing on. I feel very sorry for you
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Thanks for the information. I never refused or tell them i wasnt going to go for the jobs, i said i would look into them even though i wasnt happy about them which i did and i couldnt even find them! Im currently living at home and have to travel to hers or they come here so dont have own place but were looking for one but its hard because people not taking housing benefits and we cant afford to rent as it stands. I do pay board to my parents towars water and electric and food but i also buy seperate stuff for my daughter so to have no income and using up savings means everything i need i wont be able to get let alone example: take them on holiday or nice places. I did argue about it but the women who sorted them out was on dinner and after waiting about an hour to be seen and being peed off i thought would be best to leave asap. I have job centre tomorro so going to argue and see what happens because its a disgrace! Thanks again and will look into what you said
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Read Q6 and arnswer 6, This mentions about sanctioned people still keep jobseekers payments in this link : http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldselect/ldmerit/126/12606.htm
Then read this :
http://www.goodadvicematters.co.uk/index.php/jsa/the-nasty-world-of-the-jsa-sanction/
And this :
http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyandlegal/otherbenefits/Pages/jsa-claims.aspx
Knoledge is POWER !!!
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I have just been informed (today) that i have been sanctioned from the 9th june upto the 22nd of june….this is due to failure to attend a govermant run CTF programme..AKA Avanta (TNG)…although i should state that i didnt attend when i was RE-refered…this is because i had good reason not to due to ill health and my teeth falling out which i had to have 2 teeth out in the space of 2 months due to immence pain..hence while all this was happening i was suppose to be on this CTF programme but in my opinion with obvious enough resons not to attend was told that i had been sanctioned due to failure to start the programme i was given a form to fill out by my adviser and was totally honest and told them that i had tooth problems and on one occasion i must admit when i was going to start i just genuinly got up late due to me bein so poor i cant even offord a damn alarm clock so got up late for the programme. I rang TNG to let them no i was on my was as i was only half hour late by the time i’d rung in but they said not to bother attending AND to get back intouch with my JCP adviser which was really quite embaressing after he had just re referred me a few days earlier was made to fill out another form stating this reason for failure to attend and was given a sanction for it i’v been told today that there are now 2 sanctions on my claim and i wont be recieving any money till atleast the 14th july..i’m a single 24 yr old man living in rented council accomadation have no food my electrics on its last few pounds and im told that i have to still attend the programme as i have been re referred but they dont care that im having to walk over 5 miles each morning to get their due to me having absalutly no money whatsoever to even get their. So after being told this i am now walking to the programme so as not to get another sanction running on top of the ones i already have cause they dont care that i cant even get their due to no money hence how do they expect a jobseeker to be jobseeking with no money?. i feel theirs an injustice in all of this as i was really ill at the time of failure to start the programme and in my opinion i had a good enough reasons why i didnt attend…why am i being punished for not doing right from wrong?…all of this is a total scam and i feel it targets the more vunerable in sociaty and the poorest.
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