Work TV

The UK's net public sector borrowing is up £7.4bn for the financial year, totalling over £40bn for April to September.

The country's public debt grew as an absolute figure, but fell by 1.2 per cent as a proportion of GDP.

John Hawksworth from PwC commented, 'Today's data showed the UK public finances heading further into the red,' adding that 'this borrowing overshoot will not make the chancellor's choices any easier as he heads towards his first Budget on 6 November."

Looking ahead to the fiscal event of the year, Sajid Javid has said, 'I will be setting out our plan to shape the economy for the future and triggering the start of our infrastructure revolution.'

 Javid has previously stated that the Government is 'turning the page on austerity', with last month's Spending Round allocating around £14bn investment in areas such as health, policing, and Brexit preparation.

ABC Comment, have your say below:

JOB FAIR -The Folkestone Job Fair took place in the Victorian genteel pile, the Grand Hotel that majestically overlooks the English Channel. The job fair was run by JobsinKent, who also run JobsinEssex, JobsinSurrey and JobsinSussex.

There was a broad mix of exhibitors and plenty of information on offer for job seekers.

JobsinKent, claims to be Kent’s largest Jobsite and we would not dispute that claim, after a chat with Jordan Tait, account manager.

Image: JobsinKent account manager, Jordan Tait. 

The Grand Hotel at the Leas, Folkestone CT20 2XL recruit and train staff and they can be found at www.grand-uk.com Tel: 01303 222 222. If hospitality interests, you why not call them? Wendy Graetz, weddings and events (sales) manager was on hand to tell more.  

The Princes’ Trust, Get Connected scheme is for young people aged 18-30 in the Thanet area who are not in full-time education, employment or training. There are mentoring, workshops and bursaries available for building young people’s confidence and skills – supporting their journey towards positive outcomes. You don’t have to have completed another Princes’ Trust program to participate in, Get Connected. If you are aged 18-30, Home Address in a Thanet postcode and you are a NEET or studying/working less than 16 hours per week this is for you. To apply fill in a form obtained from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Image: Don't let that smile fool you, Ixion were giving some very useful advice to budding entrepenuers making the jump into self-employment. 

IXION Holdings is one of the big names in training and we spent time discussing the self-employment options on Universal Credit. The new NEA – New Enterprise Allowance scheme.

• NEA you get a weekly allowance at £65 from commencing trading, weeks 1 – 13 (65 per week).
• NEA continues during trading, week 14 to 26 (at £33 per week)
• Continued mentoring and support throughout your initial trading period & into sustainment.

If you are already self-employed and want to increase your earnings discuss this with your jobcentre work coach and get a referral to the Ixion ESE program. Call the ESE Team on Tel: 0845 200 1057 or 0203 2234.

Image: The Kent police offer a rewarding career for those interested in serving the community.  

Kent police, were recruiting, and a decent starting salary can grow to over £40K in just seven years. Detectives complete two years in uniform, but you do not need a university degree - good A-Level passes are enough to open the doors to a career detecting crime. The police have many other roles. Call Handling and Operational Dispatch, Health and Welfare, Designated Detention Officer and support staff within HR, Finance, Comms, IT and more. You can find out more visiting the website: www.kent.police.uk/jobs

Romney Resource Centre (RRC) helps you improve Maths, English and IT grades and build confidence. If you want to improve basic skills you can contact them on 01797 367 455 www.romney-resource.co.uk

Kent County Council were on hand in the form of the Canterbury Education Centre. We chatted with the partnership manager of Kent Training and Apprenticeships. You can contact them on Tel: 03000 411512.

Image: Folkestone Jobs Fair, hall view. 

Image:  Nurseplus were on the lookout for Homecare and Community Care Workers. 

Nurseplus are recruiting for Homecare and Community Care Workers. Are you looking for a career, full or part-time, or just a few hours a week or weekends only? Experienced or not Nurseplus can train you and there are excellent rates of pay. Contact your local branch: Tel: 01304 273300 nurseplusuk.com/jobs

MaSt Recruitment, recruit staff in Industrial, Hospitality, Commercial and construction. Stacey Christou is a director. Tel: 01303 253 421 Web: www.mastrecruitmentltd.com

In that vein, we spoke to Elite Appointments, Fiona Nayer FIRP. You can find more here at the website: wwweliteappointments.co.uk

CareTech is recruiting for workers. Full training is given. CareTech helps people live independently by developing their skills. You can find out more at website: www.caretech-uk.com

RBLI (Royal British Legion Industries) offers support for people from all walks of life. Qualifications below level 2, At risk of redundancy, 182 and not in employment, have a health condition or disability, parents returning to work, long-term unemployed, leaving education or training, 50+ They can provide advice, job search guidance, CV creation, help with social media, advice on training and qualifications, help to move towards a goal. Website: www.rbli.co.uk/back-to-work-support

Social Enterprise Kent CIC, is assisting the unemployed in Folkestone. The Working Together project part of the Folkestone Community Works Programme, managed by Hythe District Council. You can find out more here: www.sekgroup.org.uk

image: The Grand Hotel tea room entrance.

Also

The National Careers Service: website: nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk Tel: 0800 100 900

Folkstone College, website: www.folkestonecollege.ac.uk Tel: 01303 858216

Care in Kent, website: www.careinkent.co.uk

NAG Recruitment Specialists, web: www.newappointmentsgroup.co.uk

Affinity Water, who provided this information

Water usage:

• A bath - 80 liters
• A 5 min. power shower - 65 Litres
• Washing-up - 30 Litres
• Washing machine one load - 50 Litres
• Brushing teeth leaving the tap on - 12 Litres
• Toilet, one flush - 13 Litres
• Shower five minutes - 40 Litres
• Washing-up per bowl - 8 Litres
• Dishwasher, one-load - 10 Litres
• Teeth cleaning, tap-off - 1 Litre

Those were just a few of the exhibitors. Finally...we stopped for a break!

Image: If some refreshment was needed help was on hand from the friendly Grand Hotel staff.

ABC Comment, have your say below:

JOBS - FareShare Forklift Truck Training places
 
FareShare are completing their John Lewis funded employability programme and have some places remaining for unemployed people to undertake accredited FLT training for counterbalance and reach permits.
This is part of their 8-week employability programme.

Unemployed people can have an immediate start. The warehouse where they would be based is in Beeston and under the scheme bus fares can be paid and Personal Protective Equipment provided.

To join they need to contact Mark, FareShare's Training Manager on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Leeds Food Aid Network brought this to our attention. 

ABC Comment Have your say below:

 THIS WEDNESDAY - JobsInKent we have been invited to the at The Grand, The Leas, Folkestone, CT20 2XL, 10am - 3pm, 23rd October.

 It's a great opportunity for you to meet, face to face, local employers who are recruiting, and also to connect with local training providers and support agencies.

Sign up for excellent careers advice

Find out what your ideal career is

Attend 10 minute workshops on 'Creating Your Job Pitch', 'Top Tips for Interview', 'Identifying Your Transferable Skills'

If you have one, bring along your CV for an expert review

Companies recruiting include:

• Barclays Bank
• Brett Aggregates
• British Army
• Folkestone College
• Kent Fire and Rescue Services
• Kent Police
• LDC Care Co
• Mainstream
• NursePlus
• Nusteel Stuctures Ltd
• Ship Safe Training Group
• Social Enterprise Kent
• Superior Healthcare
• Vertas

Posh up your CV and get down their:

ABC Comment, have your say below:

DISABILITY SHOPPING - Purple Tuesday is designed to promote the improvement of the customer experience across retail and dining for people with disabilities. It will involve organisations of all sizes and from all sectors taking decisive, practical actions to meet the needs of disabled customers and will see businesses adorned with the colour which has become widely associated with the disability rights movement.

Purple Tuesday 2019 is an international call to action, focused on changing the customer experience for disabled people. It will involve organisations of all sizes and from all sectors taking decisive, practical actions to meet the needs of disabled customers.

Across the UK, the Purple Pound – the consumer spending power of disabled people and their families – is worth £249 billion and is rising by an average of 14% per annum. Worldwide, the Purple Pound equates to a staggering £2.25 trillion, yet less than 10% of businesses have a targeted plan to access this disability market.

Purple Tuesday is about creating a step change improvement in the awareness of the value and needs of disabled customers. It is about making the customer experience accessible. Participating organisations will make public commitments (a minimum of one new activity or initiative) to ensure sustainable changes are made. For organisations, this will result in the opening up of products and services to the disability market.

ABC comment - have your say below:

CHRISTMAS JOBS - DWP’s Find a job service enables employers to advertise jobs and jobseekers to view and apply for those jobs, with 1.2 million registered jobseekers making 40 million page visits each month.

We are launching a campaign to highlight the thousands of Christmas jobs and seasonal vacancies on the service.

To advertise Christmas vacancies on Find a job, use the words ‘Christmas job’ in the job description. That way, your job will appear as part of the Christmas jobs campaign.

To find out more and to register as an employer on Find a job please visit www.findajob.dwp.gov.uk. 

ABC comment, have your say below:

CHRISTMAS PAYMENTS - The Department of Work and Pensions has announced when Universal Credit and other benefits will be paid.

Money will be arriving earlier than expected.

Those in receipt of Attendance Allowance, the state pension, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Pension Credit and Personal Independence Payment may also receive early Christmas payments.

You can find out the dates for this below.

Universal Credit dates over Christmas

These are paid every two weeks (employment support allowance, income support and jobseekers' allowance) or monthly (all other benefits including Universal Credit).

• Payment due: Wednesday, December 25. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Thursday, December 26. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Wednesday, January 1. Payment sent: Tuesday, December 31

Tax Credit payments over Christmas

If you usually receive payments on the following dates, this is when it'll come through instead:

• Payment due: Wednesday, December 25. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Thursday, December 26. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Wednesday, January 1. Payment sent: Tuesday, December 31

Child benefit payments over Christmas

If you usually receive payments on the following dates, here's when your money will arrive:

• Payment due: Wednesday, December 25. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Thursday, December 26. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Wednesday, January 1. Payment sent: Tuesday, December 31

What about the state pension, ESA, income support, Carer's Allowance and other benefits over Christmas?

When other payments should reach you

Attendance Allowance, the state pension, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Pension Credit and Personal Independence Payments will vary too.

The ABC have run through when your payment is usually due versus when you'll be paid instead, below.

• Payment due: Wednesday, December 25. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Thursday, December 26. Payment sent: Tuesday December 24
• Payment due: Wednesday, January 1. Payment sent: Tuesday, December 31

If you don't get your benefits payment on the revised date, you should contact the DWP on the helplines listed below.

However, you should do this ON the Tuesday, as you won't be able to speak to benefits staff on the bank holiday itself.

Helpline numbers for Universal Credit are as follows:

Telephone: 0800 328 9344  (this replaces the old number 0345 600 0723)

Welsh language: 0800 012 1888

Textphone for those with hearing problems: 0800 328 1344

Lines are open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (closed on bank holidays).

All calls to the Universal Credit helplines are free.

Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, Incapacity Benefit or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

Telephone: 0800 169 0310

Welsh language: 0800 328 1744

Textphone: 0800 169 0314

ABC comment, have your say below:

A COUNCILLOR says “no-one is above the law” – including himself - after several local government in Tendring and Colchester figures failed to pay their council tax on time.

This was according to a report collated by Newsquest’s Data Investigations Unit, between 2015-2018 six Tendring and Colchester councillors were late with council tax payments.

Over the three-year period more than £3,500 in council tax payments were either paid late or not submitted at all in some cases, resulting in court summons having to be issued.

Ukip representative Peter Cawthron, ward councillor for Coppins in Clacton, was given a “liability order” on four separate occasions after failing to pay demands totalling more than £400.

Colchester ward councillor for Berechurch, Dave Harris, forgot to pay his council tax on time on five occasions between 2015-2018, totalling £697.

In Tendring, St Bartholomew’s ward councillor Kanagasundaram King (Holland-on-Sea and Eastcliff Matters), was late in paying amounts of just under £2,000 over two years and received one court summons.

Ward councillor for Old Heath and The Hythe in Colchester, Lee Scordis was sent a reminder for £139.03.

Reproduced from an article in the Colchester Gazette. 

Image: The Colchester area.

ABC Note: Councillors are only human and paying the bills is not easy these days. However don't think you are alone if you are struggling. 

ABC Comment, have your say below: 

NEW LAWS - The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, T.D., steered a Bill providing for a new social insurance scheme of Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-Employed (JBSE) through its final stages in the Dáil tonight.

Once signed by the President, the new Act will provide for support to self-employed PRSI contributors who lose their businesses and are no longer engaged in self-employment with the scheme commencing in November 2019.

Minister Doherty commented:

“When the economy crashed in 2008, many suffered. Self-employed traders such as plumbers, electricians and painters all around the country suddenly found themselves with no work and with very little support from the State. This new scheme will rectify that situation and create more fairness in our system of supports for those who create jobs for themselves and others.
“This measure is very much in keeping with this Government's policy of supporting self-employment and entrepreneurship and builds on other significant improvements for the self-employed in recent years, such as access to Invalidity Pension and Treatment Benefits.”

Many of the features of the existing Jobseeker’s Benefit available to employees will apply to the new scheme. These include:

• Rates of payment will also be the same as those paid to employees receiving Jobseeker’s Benefit - currently €203 max. personal rate per week. Payments, including increases for qualified adults and children will also be made in line with that in place for existing Jobseekers Benefit.

• Payments will be subject to tax, in line with the current Jobseeker’s Benefit scheme for employees. 

A self-employed person who loses their self-employment will have to satisfy the qualifying conditions for the new scheme including satisfying a PRSI contribution requirement. They will have access to the full range of activation supports available to all jobseekers such as referral to group information sessions, one to one interviews with caseworkers and subsequent caseworker support.

ABC Comment, have your say below:

SLEEP OUT - Following on from the success of 2017 and 2018, Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park goes global with major sleep out events taking place in 50 cities on one night, including Edinburgh, on Saturday 7th December. Edinburgh’s World’s Big Sleep Out event will take place in Princes Street Gardens and will raise money to support local people experiencing homelessness in Edinburgh through Social Bite, among other global initiatives.

You can click here to register to sleep out at the Edinburgh event. To sign up, you make an initial donation of £15 and thenorganisers will set you up with an online fundraising page. They need you to raise as much money as you can to help people in a situation of homelessness in their area and throughout the world. Last year, for Sleep in the Park events, organisers found most people raised at least £100! 

Get your friends, family, loved ones involved and see how much you can raise say organisers.

Will Smith, american actor, rapper and media personality is supporting the event. You can see the video below:

ABC Comments, have your say below: