Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
More Annotations
![A complete backup of https://greetlandacademy.org.uk](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/f4b72d4d-e691-4382-b50b-17b589d8cd9e.png)
A complete backup of https://greetlandacademy.org.uk
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://myriadcoin.org](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/f04cd40a-b656-4a41-befa-8d541fb95340.png)
A complete backup of https://myriadcoin.org
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://gamer.com.tw](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/19fb33f0-ce6d-4b3b-a7a2-13f735be61fd.png)
A complete backup of https://gamer.com.tw
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://creditreform-magazin.de](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/f5677485-6dd6-424d-8719-6423c0b76147.png)
A complete backup of https://creditreform-magazin.de
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://nhlearningsolutions.com](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/03a5443a-9362-4122-ab09-892123a4bcf2.png)
A complete backup of https://nhlearningsolutions.com
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://tiemmespa.it](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/81b00d76-377a-46c0-97ad-0269331f6551.png)
A complete backup of https://tiemmespa.it
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://olukai.com](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/cb2d913e-8c0d-4689-8f2b-79c81c62a3f5.png)
A complete backup of https://olukai.com
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://jjwxc.net](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/f0726ed7-1a1e-40b7-aa1b-933979221c0c.png)
A complete backup of https://jjwxc.net
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://connorcourtpublishing.com.au](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/8df45605-2b3b-472d-b5c3-198b81650fa2.png)
A complete backup of https://connorcourtpublishing.com.au
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://greenegrape.com](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/8d1f15db-263a-490a-a0ff-d5e98ab6d61b.png)
A complete backup of https://greenegrape.com
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://travelwyoming.com](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/7841c3dd-71c1-4129-8405-7cc9b06ec464.png)
A complete backup of https://travelwyoming.com
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![A complete backup of https://paieterno.com.br](https://www.archivebay.com/archive6/images/35807784-c8dd-405b-b8b1-903d934de12c.png)
A complete backup of https://paieterno.com.br
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
Favourite Annotations
![BIN - Validate, Verify, Check, Calculate & Generate](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/4a357f5f-2056-422e-a045-da35150a2c89.png)
BIN - Validate, Verify, Check, Calculate & Generate
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![Find Jobs In Pakistan – Jobs, Help, Guidance & Tests](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/ab0dc9d7-26d3-4a68-b5ed-880525cb4c20.png)
Find Jobs In Pakistan – Jobs, Help, Guidance & Tests
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![ĮRANKIAI | Makita, Festool, Metabo, Bosch, DeWalt | Matavimo prietaisai | Perforatoriai | Elektriniai įrankiai](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/90deeef0-7f47-4b55-ac34-7348420bfc49.png)
ĮRANKIAI | Makita, Festool, Metabo, Bosch, DeWalt | Matavimo prietaisai | Perforatoriai | Elektriniai įrankiai
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![Wellbeck Survival Guide | Preparedness When You Need It](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/7a823453-b881-42cc-ba2e-340016bceeb1.png)
Wellbeck Survival Guide | Preparedness When You Need It
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![Мобильные аксессуары оптом. Доставка по Казахстану и СНГ](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/dbaeba14-6610-4993-bdd7-ed39015daebb.png)
Мобильные аксессуары оптом. Доставка по Казахстану и СНГ
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![Asociación de Scouts de Venezuela – Scouts de Venezuela](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/e4dc70ab-2700-48bd-9aca-66b7b94265fb.png)
Asociación de Scouts de Venezuela – Scouts de Venezuela
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
![Sonny's Par 4 and Driving Range | Maine Driving Range | Maine Golf](https://www.archivebay.com/archive/be7d005e-d36d-47da-97ac-95fbee0831f6.png)
Sonny's Par 4 and Driving Range | Maine Driving Range | Maine Golf
Are you over 18 and want to see adult content?
Text
and employer.
UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on APRIL | 2020 | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK As a result, Scotland now has one of the largest death tolls of any of the small nations on a worldwide basis. With a population of 5.4 million, Scotland’s deaths now number 1,120 (as at 24/04/20), compared with Greece, 10.8 million, 130 deaths; New Zealand, 4,8 million, 17 deaths; Denmark, 5.8 million, 403 deaths; Norway, 5.4million, 199
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
The DWP wants to make everyone manage their benefits on line. If you are in the UC Full Service, you are expected to do this even if it means relying on help from family and friends. Councils are providing computer rooms and training. If this is impossible, ring the UC helpline (0800 328 5644) – but they aren’t much help. COVID-19 PRACTICALITIES AND POLITICS If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a £2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employee and employer. It will also take a bit of time to get up and running Employers won’t get the money back untilRINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, FROM A TRICKLE TO A STREAM From a trickle to a stream. March 7, 2020 suwn. Bob emerged from a routine appointment in the Jobcentre looking shaken. He explained that had been stopped by security personnel when entering the office, who had “closed in like automatic doors from each side”. He obviously felt intimidated and had asked his advisor what they weredoing.
FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZATHE WORK PROGRAMME
The Work Programme – a survival guide. April 2017 – There are no further referrals to this programme, but people already on it will have to complete their 2 years. The Work Programme is a 2-year stint of activities, which are supposed to make you more ‘employable’, administered by private companies subcontracted to the DWP. BOOK – RIGHTING WELFARE WRONGS RIGHTING WELFARE WRONGS: Dispatches and Analysis from the Front Line of the Fight Against Austerity – by the SUWN You can buy a copy from our publishers, Commonprint, HERE for WHEN YOU’RE ‘FIT FOR WORK’, BUT NOT FIT FOR WORK With the DWP targeting the sick and disabled, we are constantly being approached by people who have been found ‘fit for work’ when they clearly are not. They have challenged the decision – always worth doing as the success rate is very high – but before they can put ina full appeal, they
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been onUNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again.DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Document Library. A leaflet to give to Jobcentre workers, drawn up by Salford Unemployed Community Resource Centre – Law on Social Security for DWP workers. DWP Guidance Documents – these are the rules that the private companies working for the DWP (such as Working Links, Learndirect and Triage) are expected to follow. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE Editorial Health Warnings: This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security The budget is a draft budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT Today the world is an even more hostile place. The UK election has dealt another blow to the planet and corroded truth. It is a gift to the warmongers and the bloodsuckers. It is an attack on all the hard-won gains of the post-war welfare state. It will make life harder for the vast majority NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. WHY UNPAID LABOUR IS BAD FOR EVERYONE Why unpaid labour is bad for everyone. December 1, 2017 suwn. The announcement that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party – £26 a ticket and estimated to bring in business worth £40 Million – is advertising for 300 unpaid volunteers, is yet another indictment on our society, and on our local government who could stop this from happening. IF YOU ARE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT YOU’D BETTER NOT GET ILL If you are on Universal Credit you’d better not get ill. July 22, 2017 suwn. A recent phone query revealed yet another serious problem with Universal Credit. Frank rang us on behalf of his daughter, Jen, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Jen is on Universal Credit and was caught by the last throws of the Work Programme, so she can SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been onUNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again.DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Document Library. A leaflet to give to Jobcentre workers, drawn up by Salford Unemployed Community Resource Centre – Law on Social Security for DWP workers. DWP Guidance Documents – these are the rules that the private companies working for the DWP (such as Working Links, Learndirect and Triage) are expected to follow. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE Editorial Health Warnings: This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security The budget is a draft budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT Today the world is an even more hostile place. The UK election has dealt another blow to the planet and corroded truth. It is a gift to the warmongers and the bloodsuckers. It is an attack on all the hard-won gains of the post-war welfare state. It will make life harder for the vast majority NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. WHY UNPAID LABOUR IS BAD FOR EVERYONE Why unpaid labour is bad for everyone. December 1, 2017 suwn. The announcement that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party – £26 a ticket and estimated to bring in business worth £40 Million – is advertising for 300 unpaid volunteers, is yet another indictment on our society, and on our local government who could stop this from happening. IF YOU ARE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT YOU’D BETTER NOT GET ILL If you are on Universal Credit you’d better not get ill. July 22, 2017 suwn. A recent phone query revealed yet another serious problem with Universal Credit. Frank rang us on behalf of his daughter, Jen, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Jen is on Universal Credit and was caught by the last throws of the Work Programme, so she can SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZA UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in GETTING THE RIGHT BIT OF PAPER Getting the right bit of paper. October 29, 2017. October 29, 2017. suwn. A report from this weeks stall: Jen had come to the jobcentre to find out what was happening with her Work Capability Assessment – but of course that is the last place that might be able to help. She has numerous health problems, including two sorts of epilepsy, but she IT MAY BE THE DWP’S MISTAKE, BUT IT’S YOUR PROBLEM Even as we did our bit for the national protest against Universal Credit on Wednesday, we encountered yet more problems with the ‘benefit’. Kylie, who has a young child, had just discovered that she had been wrongly moved onto Universal Credit. People on Income Support have to start looking for work when their youngest child SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been onUNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again.DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Document Library. A leaflet to give to Jobcentre workers, drawn up by Salford Unemployed Community Resource Centre – Law on Social Security for DWP workers. DWP Guidance Documents – these are the rules that the private companies working for the DWP (such as Working Links, Learndirect and Triage) are expected to follow. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services. LESS THAN EVERYTHING YOU (DIDN’T) WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE Editorial Health Warnings: This is a very brief, unstructured, synopsis of the key points relating to Social Security The budget is a draft budget, subject to approval by Holyrood Committees & Parliament The full document is 283 pages (very) long. Spending plans may be included in different “portfolios” (e.g. voluntary organisations that are funded centrally SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT Today the world is an even more hostile place. The UK election has dealt another blow to the planet and corroded truth. It is a gift to the warmongers and the bloodsuckers. It is an attack on all the hard-won gains of the post-war welfare state. It will make life harder for the vast majority NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. WHY UNPAID LABOUR IS BAD FOR EVERYONE Why unpaid labour is bad for everyone. December 1, 2017 suwn. The announcement that Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party – £26 a ticket and estimated to bring in business worth £40 Million – is advertising for 300 unpaid volunteers, is yet another indictment on our society, and on our local government who could stop this from happening. IF YOU ARE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT YOU’D BETTER NOT GET ILL If you are on Universal Credit you’d better not get ill. July 22, 2017 suwn. A recent phone query revealed yet another serious problem with Universal Credit. Frank rang us on behalf of his daughter, Jen, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Jen is on Universal Credit and was caught by the last throws of the Work Programme, so she can SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZARINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK If the UK government had set out to demonstrate that capitalism can’t cope with a pandemic, they couldn’t have made things much clearer. Their initial reluctance to do anything that would interrupt the economy will be blamed for thousands of extra deaths; and, even now that they have realised the need to take action and spend large sums of money, the focus of their expenditure has been on ABOUT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK About Us. The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (SUWN) is an independent organisation, founded in 2011, that combines campaigning with practical welfare work. We organise activity ourselves and also co-ordinate with other groups across Scotland and beyond. The unemployed are in the front line of the current attack on the poorthat
HISTORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT Reuters newsreel report on the marchers’ reception by ‘the most humane force in the world’! (This is the 1932 Hunger March, which has been wrongly labeled on Youtube) The authorities responded to the rising protests by banning demonstrations in central areas and also by attempting to encourage non-political organisations for the unemployed so as to cut across the NUWM.SUWN PUBLICATIONS
SANCTIONED VOICES: A report on the impact of the DWP sanctions regime as implemented in Dundee Job Centre, compiled by volunteers for the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network (December 2014) pdf: Sanctioned_Voices HOW WELFARE WAS WON: A history starring the unemployed pdf: How Welfare was Won Youtube NEWSLETTERS 19 - June 2015: SUWN Newsletter 19 18 - February 2015: SUWN FIT NOTES AFTER BEING FOUND ‘FIT FOR WORK’ RULES FOR ‘FIT NOTES’ AND ‘EXTENDED PERIOD OF SICKNESS’ Someone who has signed onto JSA after being found ‘fit for work’ has to be treated like anyone else on JSA. This includes rules around fit notes. The rules for giving an Extended Period of Sickness are set out in Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996. Point 55ZARINSE AND REPEAT
This handful of cases from a recent stall perfectly illustrates once again the horrors of the UK benefit system, and why we need to keep pushing. We are determined to keep going until real change is made. Ernie is a young man who has, for some time, SCOTLAND FREE OR A DESERT During the ‘Scottish Insurrection’ of 1820, Hardie, Baird and Wilson believed that revolution was necessary because Scotland was either ‘free’ or it was ‘a desert’, and this battle cry was taken up by John MacLean during the political upsurges that accompanied the end of World War One. Another century on, it remainsas true as before.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA Not (yet) the end of an era – and a poem from Sir IDS. As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks UNPAID WORK FOR THE JOBCENTRE, ANYONE? Once upon a time work experience was something school pupils did for a few days to give them a sense of what the future held in store for them. And basic training was provided by your job. Today, unemployment is portrayed as a personal failing rather than a TRIAL BY TORTURE AT DUNDEE ESA ASSESSMENT CENTRE Linda works as a cleaner for Angela, who is 58 years old, and suffers from a badly damaged back, comprising three fractured vertebrae and five bulging disks. In addition, Angela has also been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a hiatus hernia and depression (these are only her main conditions - she has many more). Back in COVID-19 ESSENTIAL ADVICE This has dictated their funding priorities, including the establishment of a Job Retention Scheme. If your employer is short of work due to COVID-19, the government will fund them to keep you on the books, and not working, but receiving 80% of your wages (up to a 2,500 a month). This arrangement has to be agreed between employeeand employer.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
The DWP wants to make everyone manage their benefits on line. If you are in the UC Full Service, you are expected to do this even if it means relying on help from family and friends. Councils are providing computer rooms and training. If this is impossible, ring the UC helpline (0800 328 5644) – but they aren’t much help.UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Universal Credit (UC) is a means-tested benefit for everyone of working age – those who are unemployed, those who are unable to work, and those who are in work but not earning much. It is replacing means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit andChild Tax Credit.
CONTACT US | SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Facebook Page Facebook Group email: admin@scottishunemployedworkers.net mobile: 07803 052239 or 07899798979
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORK Frankie told me that it had taken two whiskies for him to be able to leave the house in order to get to the jobcentre. His mental health problems include severe anxiety and agoraphobia, and, although he has been off drugs and clean for three years, he was worried that the stress of compulsory appointments was going to push him back to relying on the drugs again. FOR A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME For people such as Milton Friedman, UBI provides an alternative to social services – to the social provision of education, health, housing, transport and the rest of the welfare state. For them, this is a way of getting rid of socialisation and making everyone individual consumers. For the Left, UBI is an addition to these socialised services.A LOAD O’ SHITE
A load o’ shite. October 19, 2019 suwn. At our advice stalls we always try to ask people leaving the jobcentre if they need any help. “Any bother?” we asked one guy. “Nah. It’s a load o’ shite!” he said, rapidly retreating. The interaction was brief. The man’s comment illustrates the general level of frustration at thesystem.
NOT (YET) THE END OF AN ERA As we end a decade of Tory rule with a prime minister who is more right wing than any in recent memory, the fightback is far from over. The SUWN was set up in response to the first year of Tory ‘Austerity’ and attacks on the unemployed, and although the situation today looks frightening on so many levels, we mustn’t forget the gains that welfare activists have won. COMPUTERS AND WASHING MACHINES: A STALL REPORT Computers and Washing Machines: A Stall Report. It’s impossible to know how busy an SUWN stall will be. Recently they have been either very quiet or very busy. There has been no middle ground. This week we debated holding the stall somewhere else in the city. In the end we chose to set up shop outside the Jobcentre once again. UNIVERSAL CREDIT PROBLEM NUMBER A MILLION AND ONE A few grassroots activists can only directly help a tiny proportion of those who need assistance, but we hope by writing about what we do we can reach a few more people with similar problems, and also make a wider public a bit more aware of the realities of life relying on theDWP. The
Skip to content
SCOTTISH UNEMPLOYED WORKERS' NETWORKPRIMARY MENU
Menu
* Home
* About Us
* Know Your Rights
* Universal Credit
* BOOK – Righting Welfare Wrongs * History of Unemployment * For a Universal Basic Income * The Work Programme – a survival guide * Fit Notes after being found ‘Fit for Work’* SUWN Publications
* Document Library
* Links
* CONTACT US
IT’S A DUG’S LIFEAugust 4, 2019
suwn
2 Comments
We make no apology if these blogs are often grim reading. We write this record of our experiences to inform both those in similar situations and a wider public, and to serve as an archive for the future. Reports from the stalls are a record of what is happening as a result of UK Government policy. At this week’s stall we were joined by Brandy and Trudy, two affiliate canine members of the group. Connor has a mobility disability and is being shifted from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment. This is happening nationwide, and it seems to have struck our local area a lot recently. Connor is one of a number of people we have spoken to about their move from DLA to PIP. As ever, we gave the standard advice: get someone to help you fill in the form, and get someone to go into the assessmentwith you.
Alison is also moving onto PIP. She is being helped by Citizen’s Advice (CAB) to fill in her forms. Unfortunately, CAB is over-subscribed and her appointment with them falls two days after the form’s deadline. She will need to ask the DWP for an extension. (Unlike for Work Capability Assessment claims, two-week extensions can be given for PIP fairly routinely, but this is a worrying situation.) Alison took one of our leaflets, and may ask us to accompany her to the assessment, as CAB doesn’t do that bit. We also advised Sean that he could be eligible for PIP. He’d left his driving job due to health problems. His former employers agreed that he couldn’t do his job. The DWP, however, had assessed him as ‘fit for work’. He took the case to a Mandatory Reconsideration, which failed. Sean is now getting help to appeal the decision. In the meantime, he has no savings, and will have to apply for Universal Credit. (You can only get contributions-based ‘New Style’ JSA for 6 months after you have left work) We also advised him to apply forPIP.
Michelle is on New-Style ESA. However, this does not cover her housing costs, and she had to apply for UC as well to pay her rent. Due to the delays in her UC, she had to get an initial loan. Repaying the loan has left her very little actually to live on. We suggested she apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund, as that might ease her financialsituation.
It can get tedious giving out the same information again and again to different people. What is particularly frustrating is that this is often basic information that the Jobcentre/DWP is either not telling people, or getting wrong. It is gratifying therefore to hear the words of people like Harry. Harry is a new Universal Credit claimant. As he was going in, he took one of our leaflets and simply said, “It’s reassuring to know that there’s someone helping people.”Advertisements
Report this ad
Report this ad
MENTAL ILLNESS, MONEY, AND SURVIVALJuly 20, 2019
suwn
5 Comments
We are constantly being told that mental illness is an epidemic. Indeed it is. Especially among men. Last year the UK Government created the much-ridiculed position of ‘Minister for Suicide Prevention’. Since 2011 they have collected statistics on happiness and ‘wellbeing’. To those with real mental health issues these derisory public relations stunts are insulting and ultimately meaningless. Back in the real world, we all know that economics is a major cause of the UK’s mental health crisis. The link between poverty and poor mental health is indisputable fact. We all know this link: money is survival. Money means shelter. Money means warmth. Money means food. Without these basic needs met, human beings cannot survive. If we cannot achieve these basic needs, we worry about them and we are anxious. Prolonged mental anguish leads to mental illness, chronic anxiety, depression and, if left unchecked, suicide. This is why benefit sanctions are so scandalous. Sanctions take away the means of survival. People literally worry about where their next meal is coming from. In the deep past our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to contend with these worries on a daily basis. Eventually our species invented agriculture. Agriculture meant being able to store food so we had enough to eat during lean periods. In today’s world of plenty, it is appalling that anyone goes hungry. That it happens as a result of government policy in a rich country like the UK is nothingshort of immoral.
The DWP accept that in certain circumstances poor mental health can mean you are unable to work or even that you are fully disabled. Actually proving this is incredibly hard work. It is stressful in itself, and they make the system even worse, to the point where itfeels like torture.
Recovering from depression is a long and fragile process. Just about anything can trigger a relapse, including the DWP deciding to re-evaluate your case. One associate of the SUWN suffers chronic depression. His condition means that he is unable to work, and he claims Employment and Support Allowance. The DWP recently put his ESA case up for re-evaluation. The appointment letter for his assessment arrived, and he spent the following two weeks lying on the sofa unable to think about much else. He now has the agonising wait for the decision. If that decision goes against him, his income will disappear, and he will be unable to support himself. He will also face the stress of a Mandatory Reconsideration, and possibly an appeal. NONE of this is conducive to him recovering from a serious depressive illness, nor, indeed, will it help him get employed. He’s far from the only one suffering from the stress of trying to survive. At this week’s SUWN stall another man picked up one of our leaflets and asked about renegotiating his Universal Credit loan repayment. Another asked about hardship payments. In the end both men were sent off in the direction of Dundee Council’s Welfare Rights team. Two separate women at the stall asked about the process of applying for PIP, both are getting help from other sources, so there was little more we could do to advise them. Away from the stalls, the SUWN helped another woman fill in her PIP form, as she is being transferred from DLA. It is always good to see that people are asking for help, and that they are not suffering alone. But, these people should not have to suffer at all. The stress that people are under can only lead to a worsening of their mental and physical health, and add to the mental health crisis that the Government claims to be addressing. Take away someone’s money, and you take away their means of survival. Uncertainty about the next meal leads to anxiety. Chronic anxiety leads a mental health crisis. If the UK Government really wanted to address mental health, they could start with a serious look at the chaos they have created within the benefits system. It really is that simple. If you are feeling down or stressed and need someone to talk to try: Breathing Space (Scotland): 0800 83 8587
Samaritans
(UK):
08457 90 90 90 or from Mobiles: 116 123 Samaritans (Rep. Ireland): 1850 60 90 90 SANCTIONED CLAIMANTS NOT GETTING HARDSHIP PAYMENTS July 14, 2019July 14, 2019suwn
2 Comments
UK Benefits are already notoriously low and barely enough to survive on: certainly not enough to build up any reserves for a rainy day. Yet, as David Webster’s recent analysis shows (19-05 UC Hardship Payments – D.Webster),
the vast majority of those sanctioned don’t claim hardship payments. Hardship payments were claimed by 45% of people sanctioned from JSA, but only 17% of people sanctioned from UC. The reasons aren’t hard to guess. Hardship payments are now a loan, paid back off future benefits, which effectively increases the sanction period to 2 ½ times its nominal length. This comes on top of a system that seems calculated to push people into ever more distressing and unmanageable levels of debt, starting with the initial waiting period, for which many need an advance loan. Hardship payments are also harder to get under UC and have to be reapplied for everymonth.
The sanction rate may be down from the high percentages of five years ago, but the impact of getting sanctioned can be a lot worse. Of course the official statistics don’t examine how people who have been sanctioned actually survive, but anecdotal evidence tells us that many have to fall back on family and friends who are themselves struggling to make ends meet, while some will turn to less legal methods. They also don’t tell us what impact this has on mental and physical health and family relationships. RESTRICTING THE SCOTTISH WELFARE FUND – A CASE OFMISUSED STATISTICS
June 23, 2019
suwn
Leave a comment
Of the various suggestions in our petition calling on the Scottish Government to do more to mitigate the Tory welfare cuts, the simplest was to increase the discretionary help given to those most in need through the Scottish Welfare Fund, administered by the local councils. The case for increasing the fund was so strong that this was recommended by the Scottish Government’s own Social Security Committee. But it was ultimately refused on the grounds that the fund was being underspent. As we argued at the time, this is an indication of poor administration of the grant, not of lack of need. A new report by Menu for Change delves into the background of this underspend and shows that not only does spend vary hugely from council to council – some subsidise the fund with their own money, but this will not appear in Scottish Government statistics – but councils are also avoiding advertising the fund as they wouldn’t be able to cope with the increase in demand. The latest official statistics on the fund can be seen here.
They explain the background of the fund, which has not gone up since it was established in 2013, and admit to lack of any central recording of overspend by councils: > _The Scottish Welfare Fund is a discretionary, budget-limited grant > scheme that prioritises applications according to need. It provides > grants that do not have to be repaid. It does not provide loans. The > DWP transferred the funding spent in Scotland on its Community Care > Grants and Crisis Loans for Living Expenses to the Scottish > Government. For 2013/14 and 2014/15 this amounted to £23.8 million. > The Scottish Government topped this amount up by a further £9.2 > million, giving the Scottish Welfare Fund a total budget of £33 > million for both these years. This level has been maintained at £33 > million from 2015/16 to 2018/19 by the Scottish Government. Local > Authorities have been able to top this up with their own funds, > together with any underspends carried forward from previous years. > There is no statutory limit on the amount of money which can be > spent on the Scottish Welfare Fund._>
> _In previous publications, we have included funds provided by Local > Authorities in the available budget when calculating the proportion > of budget spent. However, for this version of the publication this > funding has been removed from calculations. Available budget > therefore only represents the amounts allocated by Scottish > Government plus any estimated underspend from previous years, and it > is assumed that Local Authorities meet any overspend each year. > However, some local authorities may also have committed to adding > extra funds to their budgets._ The Menu for Change report can be seen here(emphasis
added).
> _Increasing local authorities’ ability to advertise and administer > the fund will undoubtedly impact how much money is available to give > to applicants . In her letter answering the recommendation made by > the Scottish Parliament’s Social Security Committee that programme > funding should be increased (i .e . the pot each local authority > receives to pay out), the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and > Older People, Shirley-Anne Somerville, pointed out that there was an > overall underspend to the programme budget in 2017/18 . This could > be interpreted as suggesting there is not a compelling reason to > increase the programme budget . However, there are several possible > reasons for the underspend . For example, the underspend could be > explained by the persistent under resourcing of the administration > budget . IF COUNCILS FEEL IT NECESSARY TO TAKE FROM THEIR OWN > GENERAL FUNDS TO KEEP THE FUND RUNNING AT CURRENT LEVELS, IT IS > UNDERSTANDABLE THAT THEY WOULD NOT LOOK TO WIDEN ACCESS TO THE FUND > IN ORDER TO TRY TO KEEP STAFF WORKLOAD MANAGEABLE . AS OUTLINED > ABOVE, SEVERAL LOCAL AUTHORITIES ALSO SUGGESTED THEY WOULD NOT BE > ABLE TO COPE WITH DEMAND_ I_F THEY WERE TO ADVERTISE THE FUND . IT > SHOULD ALSO BE POINTED OUT THAT 68% OF THE PROGRAMME BUDGET > UNDERSPEND IN 2017/18 IS ATTRIBUTED TO ONLY SIX COUNCILS . IN FACT, > NINE COUNCILS OVERSPENT, AND TWO COUNCILS SIGNIFICANTLY OVERSPENT IN > THE SAME TIME FRAME – ONE COUNCIL OVERSPENT BY £100,000 AND > ANOTHER BY OVER £300,000 .__This suggests the underspend is not > clearly attributable to a lack of need, and can be explained by > differences in local authority practices and demographics . If the > Scottish Government is going to make the Scottish Welfare Fund work > to its full potential, ensuring people facing acute income crisis > receive adequate cash based support, it must be prepared to properly > fund the administration budget so local authorities can administer > the fund to the highest standard . However, this must be accompanied > by an increase in the programme budget to meet the increased demand > which a rise in awareness of the fund, and enhanced practice in the > delivery of it, is highly likely to create ._ Of course, we fully recognise that the origin of the cuts is Westminster, and that Scotland provides more help than other places. But we also recognise that further help is desperately needed, and that it could and should be provided by the Scottish Government. While we don’t (yet) have the powers to make fundamental improvements to the system that Independence would bring, Scotland already has the ability to increase revenue through more progressive taxation, and to use this to repair the holes in the vital welfare safety net. Whatever the colour of the administration, politicians at all levels must beheld to account.
_Thank you to Ian Davidson for his persistence in going through government documents and for finding the above quotes._ _The image is from our protest outside the Scottish Parliament budgetdebate in March_
UNIVERSAL CREDIT AS A GATEWAY TO DRUG DEALINGJune 16, 2019
suwn
3 Comments
In addition to this week’s stall, we had a discussion with Davy in central Scotland that underlines the true extent of the damage that Universal Credit is causing. Davy had recently emerged from jail to find nothing waiting for him on the outside. As a result, he was forced to sign up to Universal Credit, and the interminable 5-plus week wait for his payments to come through, meaning that he was also forced to accept an advance payment loan. When he eventually received his first UC payment, he was shocked to find that he was now being forced to survive on £50 per week until his advance payment is paid back in full, which will take months. He admitted that he couldn’t possibly survive on such short rations, and contrasted the way he has been treated on the outside with his experience of prison, where he received three meals a day and where he didn’t constantly have to worry about his lights and heating shutting down because, as had often happened, he had no money for the meter in his bare flat. When I asked Davy how he was surviving he admitted that he had been forced back into drug dealing, particularly since he had started taking heroin again, which has been part of his life, on and off, for over twenty years. He was now using his UC payments to buy Valium tablets, which he was then selling on. We have come across many similar stories over the years, of folk forced into the choice of going hungry or shoplifting and dealing, but, with over 50% of new UC claimants now applying for advance payments, the chances are that this problem will only increase. Nothing can underline just how broken and unfit for purpose Universal Credit is than the fact that it is now serving as a major prompt towards a life of crime for many folk, some of whom have little or no other option in order to survive. When we met Valerie outside the buroo, she was not best pleased, to say the least. Her husband has incurable Leukemia, and because she is his main carer she had been called into the buroo on her sole day off to confirm that she is still working. She also revealed that she and her husband were very worried about the PIP application process that he is currently going through, and admitted that she was ‘just waiting for him to be declared fit for work’. We attempted to put her mind at rest, pointing out that it was very unlikely that, given the nature of his condition, her husband would fail the PIP assessment, and, that if he did we would make sure that all hell would break loose. (PIP isn’t, of course, actually about ability to work, that’s ESA, but the process and worries are very similar.) We also tried to calm Valerie’s nerves regarding her appointment by suggesting that her summons to appear at the buroo was in all likelihood an automatically generated letter from the DWP, which her ‘job coach’ was unaware of, and that there was probably nothing to worry about. We did, though, offer to send someone in with her, but after we had put her mind at rest she didn’t think it would be necessary. She was, though, still very angry, and we advised her to ‘keep a calm sooth’ when she went upstairs. When Valerie emerged twenty minutes or so later, her smile confirmed that there had been no problems. She reported that the job coach had been very sympathetic and had explained that the appointment letter was, as we had earlier suggested, an automatically generated letter from the DWP. Just the usual DWP disregard for the worries they cause. Jim was also less than pleased. He is a weel kent face to us, and had stopped by to tell us that a friend of his had received no money for three months. When we asked why, Jim informed us that she had actually disengaged from UC altogether. She is sixty-one years old, has worked all her life, and had recently been made redundant. When she was going through the application process for UC, however, she had become so enraged by her work coach’s patronising and dismissive attitude that she had, in no uncertain manner, given him a piece of her mind, and stormed out of the buroo before security could be called. According to Jim, the work coach was around the same age as her son. (We don’t know the full details, but if her national insurance payments were up to date she shouldn’t have had to rely on UC straight away anyway, as she would be eligible for 6 months Jobseekers Allowance.) _Norma, Jonathan, Katy, Tony and Duncan were on this week’s stall._ SUNSHINE, SMILES AND STOLEN TENTS – A QUIET DAY AT DUNDEE BUROO June 8, 2019June 8, 2019suwn
1 Comment
The stall this week was drenched in sun, which was both very unusual and very welcome: six volunteers had turned up, expecting to be kept busy. It proved, however, to be a long two hours as active cases were thin on the ground – not that we are reading too much into this, as we have often experienced alternating weeks of relative calm and then frenetic activity, and fully expect next week’s stall to conform tothat pattern.
Whilst cases were few and far between, this was no consolation to the folk who did have problems. Tim, who is homeless and had been camping in a local park until his tent and camping equipment had been stolen, was without any means of subsistence whatsoever and had emerged from the buroo very upset after being told that he could not be helped because he did not have a permanent address. The buroo had simply passed the problem onto the local council, and, as he was new to the town, one of our volunteers offered to chum him along to the council offices to get advice and help from the housing department. When the SUWN volunteer, Gary, returned he reported that Tim was in pieces and that he kept bursting into tears as they had walked towards the council offices. Gary left Tim at the housing department waiting to be seen, and we had provided him with our leaflet and contact details, just in case he required further help. So far, we have heard nothing, and we can only hope that this means Tim received the assistance he desperately needs – though if he can’t demonstrate a link with Dundee and has a link with somewhere else they could try and pass his case on, as Shelter explains here.
We also came across John who had emerged from twenty-four hours on remand only to find that his ESA claim had been shut down. We advised him to contact Welfare Rights immediately in order to get this ridiculous decision overturned, asap. These cases proved to be exceptions, and we were greeting many of the folk emerging from the buroo with the observation that, ‘I can tell yir noa hivin problems by the smile oan yir coupon’. It was Friday, it was sunny, and these folk had got through another appointment without any problems, something remarked upon by a guy who stopped to have a crack. He shook his head, smiling, when asked if he was having any problems, and informed us that whilst he did not have any issues with his work coach, who was, he felt, pretty reasonable, this didn’t stop him from feeling nervous when going into appointments and from feeling relieved when the meeting had ended without difficulties – hence his smile. And, although cases were thin on the ground, we did have a regular flow of folk approaching the stall asking for more general pieces of advice, picking up advice leaflets, and sharing their experiences. One woman sparked a fair amount of discussion and debate over problems that a friend of hers had encountered who had started to experience severe seizures, but who had found help difficult to come by as, following a whole battery of tests, she still had not had a firm diagnosis, although the woman feared that her friend may well be suffering from grand mal epilepsy. As we have mentioned in previous blogs, we also field online and telephone inquiries, and one piece of good news was received from Nottingham concerning a PIP case that we had been dealing with for some months. Gerald describes himself as ‘a rather large black lad’ who has not had the best of luck with the DWP and local welfare services. He suffers from depression, but recently failed a PIP assessment. We advised him to appeal the decision, despite his local welfare officer advising against it, and he had just received word that he had qualified for the Daily Living component of PIP after gaining extra points at the appeal tribunal. He was delighted with the result, and grateful that we had taken his case up, remarking, ‘I wish you guys were down here, as if it’d been left to the local welfare organisations I wouldn’t even have bothered applying for PIP.’ The plight of Gerald and the other benefit claimants in England (and Wales) we deal with only underlines the fact that, as bad as things are up here, it is nothing compared with the situation down south, where there is very often little or no help and advice available – not even the limited Welfare Fund and advice services provided by the Scottish government – for English folk who get caught in the clutches of DWP numptydom. Duncan, Jonathan, Katy, Gary, Norma and Tony were at this week’sstall.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ADVICEJune 6, 2019
suwn
1 Comment
But who’s going to pay for it? Of the various proposals that we made in our petition to the Scottish Government, more support for benefit advice was perhaps the one that could have been most easily met. Instead, we were given a £600,000 cut in funding from the legal aid board, which hit the Citizens Advice Service hard, and continued squeezing of council budgets, which is transmitted down into pressure on advice budgets (especially as welfare advice is not a ‘protected service’). So the recent discussion of advice services by the Scottish Social Security Committee was doubly interesting. The part of the discussion that hit the headlines concerned the DWP’s slight of hand when they transferred the administration of support for people signing onto Universal Credit from the local authorities to the Citizens Advice Service. When this was done through the councils, they were empowered to log a new claim as beginning from the date of first contact. A legal quibble means that CAB doesn’t have that power, so if – as is often the case – there is a delay in the claim getting submitted, the claimant will only get paid benefits for the period of the delay if they also log their claim with the jobcentre. Glasgow City Council has suggested that a great many people will loose out on vital benefits. They have also pointed out that the CAB contract, unlike the previous contract with the local authorities, does not provide for ongoing help after the first 6weeks.
The CAB rep was given quite a grilling by the Committee for CAB’s failure to negotiate a better deal for benefit claimants – but third sector organisations are always compromised when they rely on bidding for contracts from government. I am reminded of the problems Shelter got into a decade back when they tightened up on their costs so much in order to win a government contract that their employees went on strike because they couldn’t afford their own housing costs. The Social Security Committee also discussed the provision of advice services more generally, and it was good to see a general recognition of the growing need for them, and also for the wider benefits that can be gained from timely help before people’s lives unravel. Several speakers talked about the returns, both social and financial, from investment in welfare services. BUT, with the exception of Alison Johnstone for the Greens, no one talked about getting any more money to put into this potential investment. The right to ‘advocacy’ is mentioned in the Scottish Social Security Act, but it is not clear what this means – and there was concern that the Scottish Government is focused on help for people applying for the new Scottish-administered benefits and not the whole picture. There was plenty of valuable discussion about better coordination and the importance of being able to look at someone’s position in the round and not just one benefit problem at a time, but lack of resources seems to be generally accepted as a lamentable fact of existence. That needn’t be, and shouldn’t be, the case. TOO ILL TO WORK? HOW THE DWP ASSESSES YOUMay 26, 2019
suwn
1 Comment
At this week’s stall, three separate people approached us asking advice about claiming benefits when they are unfit for work. With this is mind, we thought it would be useful to restate the basic rules of engagement. (Most of this information is on our current leaflet.) The general advice we give is: ALWAYS get someone who knows the system to help you to fill in forms. ALWAYS take someone with you to assessments as a witness and support. ALWAYS remember that you are not alone. There are people out there tohelp you.
Under the ‘old’ system, you would apply for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). If you have recently stopped working, and have enough National Insurance contributions, you are entitled to apply for what they now call ‘New Style’ ESA, which is not means tested. Otherwise, you will need to apply through Universal Credit. Once you have been on Doctor’s lines on UC for 4 weeks, the DWP should send you a UC35 form for being treated as unfit for work long term. If you don’t receive this, then ask for it. As for ESA, you will have to fill in the forms and attend a Work Capability Assessment. You may still be asked to look for work while waiting for an assessment, but you can argue – with the help of your GP – that there would be substantial risk to your health if you were made to look for work. Work Capability Assessments are point based, so it is useful to have a copy of what scores what points when filling out the forms. You’ll need to relate these to your condition as much as possible, and not be tempted to downplay your problems. The scoring system – the Work Capability Assessment descriptors – can be found online, but we always advise getting help from a Welfare Advisor if you can. (There’s excellent detailed advice guides on the Benefits and Work website , but you do have to pay a membership fee to access these.) If you don’t get enough points from the assessment, you can ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration. While this is looked at, you will need to sign on as though you were fit for work. You can ask your doctor for a note to say that the pressures from the Jobcentre are making your health worse and you are not able to work. If the Mandatory Reconsideration doesn’t work, you can appeal. Welfare advisors should help with this. Appeals have a good success rate. PIP is a separate benefit that is replacing ‘Disability Living Allowance’. It is supposed to cover the extra costs associated with being sick or disabled, and is not means tested. Although the assessment process is similar to ESA, the focus of the questions is a bit different as they are meant to assess your need for help with daily living and with mobility, not whether you can work. You can be eligible for PIP even if you are in work, and if you are getting benefits as unfit for work it is often worth applying for PIP too. Both benefits don’t just cover physical disabilities, but also mental health issues such as severe anxiety and depression.Good luck!
SANCTIONED FOR GRIEVING, DWP NUMPTYDOM, AND GETTING YOUR JOB BACK: THREE SIDES OF LIFE AND DEATH ON UNIVERSAL CREDITMay 18, 2019
suwn
2 Comments
Can you imagine waking up next to your partner only to find that they have died during the night? How would you feel, and how would you react? When we met John, he was caught between shock and anger. He was agitated, and his eyes darted to left and right as we spoke to him; he seemed to be a man on the edge, still computing the terrible loss that he had suffered. He was also angry, very angry, as he had just learned that he had been sanctioned for two weeks as a result of missing an appointment on the very day he had lost Joan, his partner. He had turned up at the buroo with a sicknote from his GP, but this appeared to make little difference to his ‘work coach’ and all she could suggest was to apply for a miserly DWP hardship payment. We offered our sympathy, and an opportunity for John to express his frustration and grief without being judged or threatened with arrest because of the anger sparked by his still raw sense of loss. When he had calmed down a little we went through the appeal process with him, the financial help he might be able to access towards paying for Joan’s funeral costs, and information on bereavement allowances. John didn’t want to know. He was only relieved that the funeral had been paid for by Joan’s wider family; and he wasn’t eligible for a bereavement allowance, as, whilst he and Joan had been in a long-term relationship, they were not married, and had no children. We provided John with contact details for welfare rights organisations that might be able to help him through the appeal process, and also suggested that he should claim a Welfare Fund grant. John feared that he had reached the limit of what the authorities were prepared to give, but we urged him to get the local council to clarify the situation; and, if, as he feared, no help was forthcoming, to get back in contact with us. We haven’t yet heard back from John, so it could be that he did receive some assistance, but, as experience has taught us, that is, perhaps, an assumption too far. After all, what kind of assistance would it take to relieve the heartbreak of grief? (For further details of help available to the bereaved, see here.)
Big Joe greeted us with a beaming smile on his face – he’s a cheery kind of guy, anyway, but, today, there was an almost mischievous twinkle in his eye. He admitted that, whilst feeling he was almost unemployable, he still quite liked going into the buroo for an invigorating joust with the system. He had just had a ‘wee spat’ with his ‘work coach’, which, while quickly resolved, was only the latest in a long line of such encounters. He gleefully recounted a notable confrontation that had taken place 2-3 years ago, when Dundee buroo was in the eye of the sanction storm. He had run into problems with his ‘work coach’ who, as a result of his continuing lack of job search success, had suggested that he ‘wis daen something wrang’ and that he should be more ‘economical with the truth’ about his quite extensive qualifications. Jim had reacted to this suggestion by arching his eyebrows, leaning over the table and asking, ‘yir noa suggesting that I should lie, are yi?’ After lecturing the increasingly exasperated ‘work coach’ on the morality of asking him to tell porkies, big Joe found himself surrounded by a number of security guards. As they edged closer, he turned round in his chair and demanded to see their i.d. cards, which stopped them dead in their tracks. None of them had any i.d., which led to a rapid retreat by both the security staff and ‘work coach’. The job centre staff, perhaps not surprisingly, are now very wary of pulling up big Joe, who, whilst he is nearing retirement, still revels in his ‘little victories’ over DWP numptydom. We also met Piotr, a Polish guy in his forties who has been living and working in Dundee for ten years. He likes Scotland and his daughter is now married to a local lad in Edinburgh, but Piotr admitted to us that he had started to suffer from quite serious depression, which was often so bad that he couldn’t manage it into work. As a result, he had been sacked from his job at a Dundee engineering firm, despite his line manager being fully aware of his mental health problems. He had turned towards the job centre for help, only to be informed that, due to being sacked, he was not eligible for anything. Not surprisingly, the prospect of absolute penury had done little to help with Piotr’s mounting mental health problems. The situation had, though, been quickly, and almost miraculously, resolved when his old line manager had been replaced. This led to a complete climb down on the part of his employers: he had received a full apology from management and he had just re-started his job, on a trial basis, for four hours per week. As he crossed the road from the buroo, Piotr left us with this parting shot, ‘I like Scottish people, but not bosses – they werenot good to me.’
Duncan, Gary and Tony were on this weeks stall. ‘WELCOME TO HELL’May 12, 2019
suwn
1 Comment
Jim was far from happy when we met him. Rules governing UC claimants who are in irregular employment were making his life a misery, and making him question the whole point of working. Jim, however, is no ‘skiver’, that largely mythical creature, so beloved of Tory ministers and their willing little mouthpieces in the main stream media. As he himself put it, ‘I hae to work, it’s noa jist the money, but it’s getting harder and harder.’ In the last few months his UC claim has been repeatedly shut down. In the past, someone who got short-term work could make a rapid reclaim when it ended to get back onto JSA, and any way there was no long initial wait to get payments. Now, with the supposedly simplified system of UC, which was meant to make it easier to go in and out of work, your claim can get shut down if even a short term job takes you over the monthly threshold, and how long it takes to start up again is a lottery, depending on when in your assessment cycle your job ends. As we explained in a previous blog,
you may be plunged into deep economic insecurity for as long as nine weeks before getting back on UC payments. In the last year alone, Jim has had five separate jobs, and has had his UC claim shut down on two occasions. As a manual worker who is employed on zero hour and short term contracts, he is keenly aware of the difference between Tory rhetoric regarding life on UC and the sometimes brutal reality of working at the front line of ‘the gig economy’ that neo-liberal ‘voodoo economics’ have brought intobeing.
And, having worked for a wide range of employers, Jim is also well aware of the ‘tricks’ employers use to deceive and pressurise workers: of employers who take you on but then ‘punt you when their order is completed’; of managers at the Amazon warehouse in Dunfermline who take on new workers and then ‘beast them until they go faster, or get rid of them altogether’; of workers who receive verbal warnings (‘three strikes and you’re out’) for spending five minutes in the toilet rather than the two minutes they are allowed. As we talked, he turned to the buroo, and, pointing to its entrance, exclaimed, ‘There should be sign up ower that door, saying “Welcome to Hell”’.POSTS NAVIGATION
← Older posts
Older posts
Search for:
RECENT POSTS
* It’s a Dug’s life * Mental illness, money, and survival * Sanctioned claimants not getting hardship payments * Restricting the Scottish Welfare Fund – a case ofmisused statistics
* Universal Credit as a gateway to drug dealingRECENT COMMENTS
dorsetiww on It’s a Dug’s … dorsetiww on Mental illness, money,and…
dorsetiww on Sanctioned claimantsnot getti…
Ian Davidson on It’s a Dug’s … suwn on Mental illness, money, and…ARCHIVES
* August 2019
* July 2019
* June 2019
* May 2019
* April 2019
* March 2019
* February 2019
* January 2019
* December 2018
* November 2018
* October 2018
* September 2018
* August 2018
* July 2018
* June 2018
* May 2018
* April 2018
* March 2018
* February 2018
* January 2018
* December 2017
* November 2017
* October 2017
* September 2017
* August 2017
* July 2017
* June 2017
* May 2017
* April 2017
* March 2017
* February 2017
* January 2017
* December 2016
* November 2016
* October 2016
* September 2016
* August 2016
* July 2016
* June 2016
* May 2016
* April 2016
* March 2016
* February 2016
* January 2016
* December 2015
CATEGORIES
* Uncategorized
META
* Register
* Log in
* Entries RSS
* Comments RSS
* WordPress.com
Search for:
RECENT POSTS
* It’s a Dug’s life * Mental illness, money, and survival * Sanctioned claimants not getting hardship payments * Restricting the Scottish Welfare Fund – a case ofmisused statistics
* Universal Credit as a gateway to drug dealingRECENT COMMENTS
dorsetiww on It’s a Dug’s … dorsetiww on Mental illness, money,and…
dorsetiww on Sanctioned claimantsnot getti…
Ian Davidson on It’s a Dug’s … suwn on Mental illness, money, and…ARCHIVES
* August 2019
* July 2019
* June 2019
* May 2019
* April 2019
* March 2019
* February 2019
* January 2019
* December 2018
* November 2018
* October 2018
* September 2018
* August 2018
* July 2018
* June 2018
* May 2018
* April 2018
* March 2018
* February 2018
* January 2018
* December 2017
* November 2017
* October 2017
* September 2017
* August 2017
* July 2017
* June 2017
* May 2017
* April 2017
* March 2017
* February 2017
* January 2017
* December 2016
* November 2016
* October 2016
* September 2016
* August 2016
* July 2016
* June 2016
* May 2016
* April 2016
* March 2016
* February 2016
* January 2016
* December 2015
CATEGORIES
* Uncategorized
META
* Register
* Log in
* Entries RSS
* Comments RSS
* WordPress.com
Blog at WordPress.com.Post to
Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: CookiePolicy
* Follow
*
* scottish unemployed workers' network* Customize
* Follow
* Sign up
* Log in
* Report this content * Manage subscriptions* Collapse this bar
Details
Copyright © 2024 ArchiveBay.com. All rights reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | DMCA | 2021 | Feedback | Advertising | RSS 2.0