The Work Programme

Hello,

We have been contacted by e-mail by someone with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder who has been placed in the WRAG and been sent to Maximus to deliver the Work Programme.

JC+ stated to the client that she would probably be seen once a month and would not be put under any stress.

When she got to Maximus they have stated that they do not recognise the difference between someone being sent to them who is on JSA or ESA and tried to get the client to fill in an application form for a job during the first session. They have also said she has to come back twice a month and have said they will use her CV to apply for jobs.

It appears as though the JC+ have done things right from their end (I don’t think the client thinks she should be in the support group and although it is not clear from her e-mail she may be out of time to appeal) however now that the Work Programme providers have taken over does anyone have any tips in terms of redress?

I have suggested she make a formal complaint and escalate to ICE if necessary once formal process exhausted- however this all takes time and the pressure Maximus are putting on her is affecting her mental health now.

I have also suggested she ask for her Action Plan to be reconsidered as per Reg 7 of the ESA(WRA) Regs 2001 (SI 1349) and to speak to the Disability Employment Adviser at her local JC+.

Does anyone have any other ideas or experiences they can share in relation to this?

Thanks

See here.

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/1516/P15/

If the pressure put on your client by being in the WRAG is proved to be making her mental health worse to the point where it becomes a serious risk to her health and safety then maybe one tactic could be to apply to have her placed into the support group. I dont believe that there is a 1 month time limit for this as i have managed to get a couple of mine in there a few months after they were put in WRAG.
Worth a shot however you may need some strong medical evidence (IE from a CPN) to support this.
Clutching at straws (as usual) but there you go.

People in the Work related activity group are expected to do work-related activity which should not include looking for work. It certainly doesn’t include work except exempt work. This provider si well out of order.

Maximus is a service provider and therefore subject to the Equality Act which incorporated the provisions of the old Disability Discrimination Act(s) . Apart from anything else, they are obliged to make reasonable adjustments for their ‘customer’.

I’ve had two calls about this today. The staff who are doing the face to face work as part of the work programme don’t seem to even know there is a difference between the requirements placed on ESA claimants and JSA claimants. In both cases ESA claimants had been told that they would have to apply for jobs or their benefit would be stopped. All very concerning.

At least the provider can’t stop the benefit - they have to refer the client back to a DM to take that decision, and hopefully a DM will know the difference.

I did wonder at the time what the incentive is for providers to take on people in the WRAG who can’t be forced to look for work, when payment is by outcomes. I asked once but never got an answer.

I am not at all suprised this is happening.  I attended the A4e workshop at the NAWRA conference in Sheffield earlier this year.  The people conducting the workshop, described as a Regional Business Development Manager and an Operations Manager, did not seem to draw a distinction between JSA and ESA claimants coming on to the Programme and were pretty clear that they expected similar jobsearch activity from both groups.  When challenged about this they did not seem to really accept the difference in requirements for the two groups.  This was from people responsible for overseeing the development and practice of the Work Programme for A4e so it would hardly be surprising if those delivering the Programme do not appreciate that ESA claimants do not have to be available for work etc in the same way as JSA claimants.

Thanks for the replies, I have also advised on the Equality Act requirement to make reasonable adjustments- however given that they don’t know the difference between ESA and JSA I am not so confident they fully understand what a reasonable adjustment for someone with mental health problems could be- we shall see.

It is a massive worry that the providers don’t seem to have a clue yet there doesn’t seem to be a clear way of feeding this back to the JC+

Definitely one to keep an eye on

Cheers :-)

I am not sure that the providers don’t have a clue, in the sense that they are not capable of understanding - more it being in their financial interests not to have one.

Tony

CPAG WR Bulletin 223, Aug 2011, has good article about Benefits and the Work Programme by Simon Osborne, covering sanctions/reductions for JSA and ESA claimants, etc.