JCP Actions Drive a Customer to Overdose

Jobentre Plus part of the DWP

A JCP customer is recovering after taking an overdose, so upset was he at his treatment by the DWP. Mr P had a job interview in London and was told to arrive at a particular Jobcentre Plus at 09:00AM which he did. He was then told that the member of staff dealing with Travel Warrants was not in till 09:30AM and he was asked could Mr P comeback at 10:00AM - which he duly did.

Mr P arrived back at 10:00AM to be told to come back at 12:30PM. Mr P interview was at 03:00PM in Liverpool Street 55 minutes on the train, and he had to get to the station and buy a ticket. At least 30 - 40 minutes under normal circumstances. Of course there would be some travelling from the station in London, and finding the location.

At 12:30PM Mr P’s alleged his Travel Warrant had still not been organised. The ensuing row, allegedly, became so heated that at one stage it was threatened the police might be called. Eventually Mr P did make his interview (just) yet oddly received a telephone call from the JCP just a couple of minutes before the interview was due to start. The journey home was no less eventful due to train delays and he arrived home, he claimed, at around 09:00PM.

Mr P received a letter from the JCP informing him he had been given a two week sanction. Mr P took an overdose caused by depression brought on by this action and the way he had been treated by the JCP. He spent two days in hospital recovering.  

The Charity MIND became involved after the suggestion of a relative, and following this development, Mr P’s sanction was lifted and his Jobseekers allowance was paid. He since received a very humble apology from two senior staff and has been given contact details should he have further problems. We must congratulate MIND for a first class intervention.

From our experience this situation is not unusual. Job interviews are stressful at the best of times and if you’re desperately trying to join the workforce even more so.

It is true that fraud prevention measures are making the processing of Travel Warrants more complex, however with the high cost of privatised public transport, assistance to attend job interviews is vital.  

JCP wages are not high, and if you pay peanuts you end up with monkeys, however if JCP managers and staff are NOT committed to helping people trying to get into work, they should be replaced.

For too long now, the shoddy service that some JCP offices or staff provide has been allowed to continue. There has been the stupid ideology that if you make unemployed peoples life a misery it might encourage them into work - in a country where the Labour Market Survey LMS has shown the true rate of unemployent to be far higher than the actual Claimants Count. 

Complaints against the JCP are denied away by a system of appeals that costs a fortune to administer and this allows staff to get away with standards of service that would be completely unacceptable in a private company.

Gainful employment is a way to achieve a more rewarding meaningful and fulfilling lifestyle, and it can be a way out of poverty, however it is not the ‘be all and end all’.  We wish Mr P well and hope that’s the last incident like this we hear of.