Are there any other ladies who have tried to return to work after looking after a parent, who have been put on one of these 'forced work' schemes, or told they would be sanctioned if they refused?
My friend paid tax and NI for over 20 years - worked as a Medical Receptionist - and did not even claim a penny after giving up work to care for her elderly mother. On her death, she was unable to find work , signed on for the first time ever, and now, after being registered for 6 months, was suddenly offered a 'work experience' placement with a charity - sounded fine, but the trick was the 'charity' were then sending these claimants to work for 30 hours a week FREE with businesses who could afford to pay them a minimum wage. Is this happening to anyone else? She's in Bournemouth. So desperate were they to reduce the number of claimants, that one week she was given three 'jobs from the board' by the JobCentre staff - you have to apply for these, or your benefits are withdrawn - for each one of them, you had to pay for your own Criminal Records Bureau check - that costs £25 a time. This meant she had to pay out £75 in one week - given that she only received £67.50 a week in Jobseeker's allowance, she was damned if she did, and damned if she didn't - they cut off your benefit if you fail to apply for these jobs off the board. Its dreadful down there - it seems like they have been told to get x people off the unemployment list each week, and they dont care much who that is - is anyone else experiencing this in their area?