UC sanctions should be temporarily lifted

[Needachangee]

NC as been discussing with a friend who uses MN

I am on UC currently but have been sanctioned for missing appointments as my mum was in hospital. I had a single piece of toast yesterday, I just started my period, it’s 30 degrees and I have 3 potatoes and half a tin of beans to last until Monday. That’s when I can apply for a hardship payment that I might not even receive and if I do it won’t come through till Tuesday.

AIBU to think sanctions should be lifted temporarily with the cost of living crisis. I understand that there has to be consequences and incentives to make people attend the job centre but the alternative is people like myself are close to starving. The only positive outlook I have is I’m starting work in September. Food banks are scarce as everyone is struggling to buy their own shops let alone donate.

The country is on its knees so I know there can’t be an increase in UC and as I say I will be earning myself soon enough but as I’ve been sanctioned the most I will get is £100 if I’m accepted for a hardship payment to see me through till payday in September. I think sanctions should be banned temporarily as a help to people like the increase during lockdown.

There is no proof though. That is the point.

In a court there is a chance to hear two sides of a story before a decision is made. Proof is needed.

In this case its the interviewers word without any evidence how can that be right?

Er, what? All I’ve said to the OP is that she should appeal, and that I hope she is OK. What on Earth do you think that you are responding to?

@QueenieL1 this is about sanctioning people able to work, not those with health conditions etc that mean they can't

Yes, I’m aware of that, thanks. It’s UC that I’d not be eligible for, because of my savings.

@roarfeckingroarr You can have a mental health condition/disability/chronic health condition and still be found 'fit to work'.

And still be threatened with and actually sanctioned.

"The claimant has the right to appeal and in my experience, the minute mental health is mentioned, whether that is supported with a med cert or not, the decision gets overturned."

I used to work in a Jobcentre with UC customers and can absolutely back what @Athenajm80 said. In the 8 months leading up to Covid, we would have to approach our manager after someone had missed 3 appointments, who would then scour the entire claim for any note on 'MH'. If found, a referral to a decision maker to consider sanction wouldn't even be processed.

There were plenty of people who struggled with their MH, (as the majority of the population sadly will at some point), but plenty who new how to play the system. Plenty who would walk up to the door and say "I got mental health" or "I'm vulnerable" because they knew they'd receive special treatment, often above those who needed it more.

People are forgetting that Jobcentres also act as a middle ground to signpost those in need to vital services. And sanctions prevent those who are genuinely vulnerable from fully disengaging with those services and help, and from society in general. This attitude of scrap the sanction helps no one.

its only ludicrous in your opinion dosent mean your right.

Oooh found a "leftist propaganda" comment. Bingo!

#torieseverywhere

@ImWell the post that I reported and had removed, when you mocked her for fooling someone into giving her a job.

Shame that never seems to apply to Utility bosses and multi million pound bonuses.

But lets all gang up on the guy with MH issues, jobless who forgets to turn up for a pointless 5min interview, make the xxxxer starve, that'll learn ee.

Easy to see how Hitler manipulated the population to turn a blind eye to the disabled, gypsies etc etc.... baby steps.

No, it isn’t hard to sack someone. You tell them to leave, security escorts them out, and you send their pay for notice and holidays on afterwards.

You can sack someone on a whim, or because you dislike their perfume, or their boyfriend, or because you were in a bad mood.

It’s a bit weird that you are insinuating that you are in a job but have no concept of how the world of work functions.

What’s the actual story here? Student, living off parents’ money?

@QueenieL1 if it's debilitating you shouldn't be declared fit for worth. If you're dealing with manageable depression / anxiety 1) work is probably going to help to an extent and 2) what do you think employed people do? We crack on.

Its not the first one, i can assure you.

DWP have tie ups with some employers, they are in it together, the advisor will ask how the interview went to the company. Its usually the crappy jobs nobody wants.

Of this were the case, the why did the DWP invest several billion with reed to supply the Restart Program?
I do t think they would have if they could have done it themselves..

I do t think you actually know what you're talking about and you're spreading misinformation that you've picked up from anecdotal experience of a handful of.people that have twisted the actual truth and facts to suit their biased agenda.

I've fought for several years against IC and the effects it had on the poor of my.communotors. one of the worst things we've had to fight is the constant stream of.misinformation and lies that have coloured both sides of UC.

Claimants have been demonised by the media and politicians, UC has been demonised by people listening to misinformation and.lies.

No one agrees.woth sanctions, they're evil and cruel. But they're NOT giving out on a whim. They are not given out by coaches. They do not.stop all of someone's money etc etc etc. To say as such is to spread.misi formation and lies and fear, doing the governments job for them and that's exactly what you're doing.

That wasn’t the OP, it was a lister go has made no claims of mental health issues. I suppose expecting you to keep,track of the conversation before getting offended would be too much though.

@AndreaC74 the bosses are employed in the private sector and deemed to be worth it. What have they to do with people who don't work expecting taxpayers' money for nothing?

Is it true that DWP advisors can be ‘rewarded’ for getting people off benefits?

@roarfeckingroarr Yes I'm aware that the employed 'crack on', I'm more concerned with very vulnerable people who slip through the cracks, get assessed wrongly, if anything goes wrong for them they can end up destitute and even dead.

@ImWell I apologise if I got that wrong.

If you believe that driving test centres have to fail 30% of applicants...

There's always rumblings of these targets, it's usually third or fourth hand I formation. I'm yet to see any real evidence to say it's true.

How offensive, comparing people in hugely responsible jobs with people receiving benefits.

You’ve really outdone yourself with the hitler comparison though.

Still, I shouldn’t complain, people like you are the main reason we don’t have Labour governments any more, so please, do continue, your work is very much appreciated.

When incapacity benefit began to be replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) in 2008 claimants were for the first time split into two groups. Those who were assessed as unable to work due to illness for the foreseeable. This group had no sanctions. The other group were assessed as unable to work currently but may possibly be able to start looking for work in the near to middle future. Under the Coalition government many were placed in this group and research suggested many who in reality we’re probably not capable of working for a long time or had poorly understood illnesses where the prognosis of full recovery was over optimistic. People with mental health conditions were often put in this group too. This group are subject to sanctions so you can have people not well enough to work in reality but being subject to sanctions.

@ImWell It's not about being offended, my adult son has severe chronic health conditions and is having to claim JSA, he wants a job very badly but because his health is poor and will only get worse as he gets older, I don't see what he can do. He is very vulnerable and at the mercy of the Jobcentre advisors. I find it heartbreaking the callousness of people posting on here.

@ImWell
How do you know you will never be able to claim universal credit? Can you see into the future? I understand your saying you wouldn't be entitled to claim now if you were made unemployed I'm guessing it's because you have savings over the amount disregarded, but you don't know what could happen in future to say that you will never be able to claim universal credit