Fri 14-Jan-05 09:24 AM by shawn

Re: Todays news story on "partner" organisations promoting Direct Payments. Who are they? I assume that they are bankers and other financial organisations. Shouldn't they be spending their time ensuring that those paid by cheque payment receive them on time and retain a local Post Office to cash them in. Even better bring back order books for those people for whom Direct Payments are not a suitable arrangement for receiving benefit. (No I'm not reactionary, technophobic, un 21st century - Direct Payments are an absolutely marvelous method of payment for those who benefit from it - but it does not work for all)

Is it just me but there seems to be a lot of non government welfare organisations delivering government policies. I've changed my mind, I must be be reactionary because I remember in the good old days they existed to give support to those that needed help because of the effects of government social security policies. The reply must be because you can do both. I bet you didn't say that 10 years ago.

Needless to say the above opinion is my own and is not intended to be read as the opinion of those I work for or who I work with.

Many thanks

Shaun

In the year 5045 in the socialist republic of the planet Terra where the people are the government and professional politicians and classes no longer exist then we can all hold hands and congratulate ourselves on the fact that we are all marching in the same direction and delivering the same agenda.

Until then we shall do well to remember that the state and the ruling class has its own agenda and the welfare of the workers (other than to render them fit for maximum productivity) is not on it.

As Neil Bateman so eloquently said, welfare rights is not neutral. It is a classic political tactic that the best way to neutralise opposition groups and movements is to infiltrate them and impose your own agenda on them, usually by stealth.

Welfare rights groups need to be alert to this as I am sure most of them are. Where the needs of the individual and the state collide we must be in a position to side with the individual without having to look over our shoulders to see if the hand of the state is about to feel our collars.

If we are not in a position to defend the weak without being compromised then eventually the weak will band together and defend themselves and we will be discredited. It has happened before (the unemployed claimant’s union in the 1980’s for example) and it will happen again.

This is not to say that we should not give credit where it is due. If the state genuinely moves to improve the lives of individuals then we should recognise that. But we should not let ourselves get carried away. It is not the role of welfare rights organisations to promote or defend government policy. We must keep our distance and not get complacent. We need to keep a close eye on the state at all times and above all to maintain our complete and utter independence from it. That is non-negotiable.

Keep the faith
Paul

the dwp press release does talk about 'community organisations' .. so i'm assuming it's not banks etc ?

(although did you see the guardian story today about privatising jobcentres ........... http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1390067,00.html )

I rang the DWP Press Office to follow up this release and to explore potential for an article. They told me that the organisations involved were:

1. "Some CABs"; they did not know which ones.
2. Age Concern Wirral.
3. London & Quadrant Housing Association and one other housing association.
4. Impact Welfare Rights (Basildon).
5. About half a dozen private training providers such as Pelcombe and Reed in Partnership.

Far from there being a mass of community organisations helping the DWP get people onto direct payment, it's yet another example of the tendency of the DWP to promote the image of partnership work when it suits them and to give credibility to a policy which a significant minority of claimants are hostile to.

Lovely I'm sure as the idea of these direct payments are, just spent much of the day (week) being bounced between the Pension Service, Local office and Post Office in an attempt to locate missing payments. Seems that there was 'yet another computer glitch this week'.

Contacted Pension Services who on the 14th January admitted that they were responsible for delaying a payment to one client by not having actioned instructions to combine benefits, but today said they had never had the instruction, the local office who eventually admitted that they were in fact responsible for issuing the payment, and had done so twice, and the postoffice accounts customer helpline, who maintained that no one had issued any payment to the account.

All three stating that they are 'not able to communicate directly to the others'. Result for at least one client is that if their 'SDA' payments are not in the account the local office will 'Have to take it up with their bank payment team'. Requests for Giro issue greated with horror, cos could end up with double payment, obviously much better not to pay them at all than issue a non recoverable over payment!

I got info sent to me, possibly because I am registered on the DWP publicity register. What I received was a letter, a leaflet"How to change to Direct Payment" and a poster. There was also referral in the letetr to www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/direct.asp

Also reference to www.dwp.gov.uk/directpayment

Living in an area with decreasing post offices, and several bus journeys to a bank, or working cash machine, the information was of little practical use.

Surprise, surprise, the client with the missing payments has just left, payment still not in account. Phoned the local office as suggested yesterday, asked for it to be passed on the bank account support group, only to be told that now they suspect the reason for the missing payments is that they have the wrong account details. Amended the system for next week, but 'will have to investigate what caused the error, if it's the departments fault payments will be re issued, if the error is the clients fault eg hand writing is unclear then no payment will be issued, unless it can be recovered by the post office'.

In the process of recalling the files!

How long before they start the 'sorry, that paperwork is kept in the computer room and we don't have access to the computer room', cycle?