DWP forced to reveal firms using benefit claimants for unpaid work after 4-year legal fight
![[Image: Getty.]](https://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160729-Mandatory-Work-Activity-firms.jpg)
[Image: Getty.]
In the meantime, here’s the (very long) list of companies that took advantage of taxpayer-funded workers courtesy of the DWP. Feel free to use the information in whatever way you see fit.
1. African Childrens Fund
2. Abacus Children’s Wear
3. ABCAL
4. Ability
5. Ace of Clubs Charity Shop
6. Acorns
7. Action for Disability
8. Action Housing
9. Active Community Team
10. Advocacy Support
11. Afro Caribbean Centre
12. Age Concern
13. Age UK
14. Agnew Community Centre
15. Air Ambulance
16. Aire Valley Recycling Ltd
17. Airedale Computers,
18. Al-Khair Foundation
19. All Aboard
20. Allied Healthcare
21. Almadene Care Home
22. AMF Torquay Bowling Alley
23. Amicus Horizon Housing Association
24. Animal Krackers
25. ARAS German Shepherd Inn
26. ARC
27. Archer Project
28. Arthritis Research UK
29. Arthur Rank
30. Arts Factory
31. ASAN
32. Asda
33. Asha Charity Shop
34. Ashgate Hospice
35. Aspire Community Enterprise Ltd
36. Auchinleck Talbot F.C.
37. Autism Plus
38. Aylestone Park Boys Football Club
39. Babygear
40. Back2Earth
41. Bangladesh People
42. Bangladeshi ass sangag centre
43. Barnardos
44. Basic Life Charity
45. B’Dwe
46. Beaumaris Hostel
47. Bedfordshire Education Academy
48. Belgrave Hall Museum
49. Bernicia Group (Social housing provider)
50. BHF
51. Blaby & Whetstone Boys Club
52. Blue Cross
53. Bluebell Wood
54. Bookers
55. Boots
56. Botanical Gardens
57. Bottle Rescue Aireworth Mill
58. BR Environmental
59. Bradford Autism Centre
60. Bradford Community repaint
61. Breaking Free
62. Brian Jackson House
63. Briardale Community Centre
64. Bright House
65. Brighton and hove wood recycling
66. Britannia College
67. British Heart Foundation
68. British Red Cross
69. British Waterways
70. Brockhurst Community Centre
71. Bryncynon Strategy
72. Bryncynon Strategy
73. Butterwick Hospice
74. Cancer Research
75. Cancer Uk
76. Capability Scotland
77. Care & Repair
78. Carers Centre
79. Caribbean Centre
80. Caribbean Restaurant (Streatham)
81. Carlisle Park
82. Carr Vale Allotments
83. Cash Convertors
84. Castle Gresley Community Centre
85. Cat Haven
86. Cats Protection League
87. Cauwood day services
88. CCA Furniture Outlet
89. Cerebal Palsey Care
90. Changing Lives in Clevedon
91. chapletown youth community centre
92. Chesterfield FC Community Trust
93. Chestnut Tree House Shop
94. Children in Distress
95. Children Scrapstore Reuse Centre
96. Children Trust
97. Childrens Society
98. Chopsticks North Yorkshire
99. Circulate
100. Citizen Advice Bureau
101. Claire House
102. Clic Sargent
103. Comfort Kids
104. Community Association – Trefechan
105. Community Re-Paint
106. Community Resource Centre
107. Community Voice
108. Complete Professional Care
109. Compton Hospice
110. Congburn Nurseries
111. Cooke Computers
112. Cooke E – Learning Foundation
113. Co-op
114. Corby Boating Lake
115. Cornerstone
116. Cornwall Hospice Care
117. County Durham Furniture Help Scheme
118. Croydon animal samaritans
119. CSV Media
120. Cusworth Hall
121. CVS Furniture
122. Dan’s Den Colwyn Bay
123. Dapp UK
124. DC Cleaning
125. Deans
126. Debra
127. Demzela
128. Derbyshire Timber Scheme
129. DHL
130. Dial Intake
131. Didcot Railyway Museum
132. Disabled Childrens Services
133. Discovery Community Cafe
134. Dogs Trust Glasgow
135. Dogsthorpe Recycling Centre
136. Doncaster College
137. Doncaster Community Centre
138. Dorothy House Hospice
139. Dorset Reclaim
140. Dovehouse Hospice Shop
141. Dragon Bands
142. Durham Wildlife Trust
143. E Waste Solutions
144. Earl Mountbatten Hospice
145. East Anglia Childrens Hospice Shop
146. East Cleveland Wildlife Trust
147. East Durham Partnership
148. East Midlands Islamic Relief Project
149. East West Community Project
150. Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
151. eco Innovation Centre
152. Elleanor Lion Hospice
153. ELVON
154. Encephalitis society
155. English Landscapes
156. Enhanced Care Training
157. Enterprise UK
158. Environmental Resource Centre
159. Essex County Council
160. Extra care Charitable Trust
161. Fable
162. Family Support
163. Fara
164. Fare share Malmo Food Park
165. Featherstone Rovers
166. Fenland District Council
167. First Fruits
168. FN! Eastbourne
169. Foal Farm
170. Food Cycle
171. Fops Shop
172. forget me not childrens hospice
173. Foundation for Paediatric Osteopathy
174. Fountain Abbey
175. Fox Rush Farm
176. FRADE
177. Frame
178. FRESCH
179. Fresh water christian charity
180. Friends of St Nicholas Fields
181. Furnish
182. Furniture for You
183. Furniture Project
184. FurnitureLink
185. Gateway funiture
186. Genesis Trust
187. George Thomas Hospice – Barry
188. Geranium Shop For The Blind
189. Glasgow Furniture Initative
190. Glen Street Play Provision
191. Goodwin Development Trust
192. Govanhill Baths Community Trust
193. Greenacres Animal Rescue Shop
194. Greenfingers
195. Greenscape
196. Greenstreams Huddersfield/ environmental alliance
197. Grimsby District Health care charity
198. Ground Work
199. Hadston House
200. Happy Staffie
201. Harlington Hospice
202. Hart Wildlife Rescue
203. Hartlepool Council
204. Hartlepool Hospice
205. Hartlepool Prop (Mental Health)
206. Hartlepool Trust Opening Doors
207. Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling Project
208. Havens Childrens Hospice Shop
209. Havering Country Park
210. headway
211. Healthy Living Centre
212. Hebburn Community Centre
213. Help the Aged
214. helping hands
215. High Beech Care Home
216. High Wycombe Central Aid
217. Hillam Nurseries
218. Hinsley Hall Headingley
219. Hobbit Hotel
220. Holmescarr Community Centre
221. Home Start
222. Homemakers
223. Hope central
224. Hospice of hope
225. Hounslow Community Transport Furniture Project
226. Hull Animal Welfare Trust Hull
227. Humanity at Heart
228. I Trust
229. Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation (IRMO)
230. Intraining Employers
231. Ipswich Furniture Project
232. Iranian Association
233. Islamic Relief
234. Jacabs Well Care Center
235. Jesus Army Centre
236. JHP
237. Julian House Charity Shop
238. K.T. Performing Arts
239. Kagyu Samye Dzong London
240. Keech Hospice Care Shop
241. Keighley & District Disabled
242. Kier Services – Corby
243. Kilbryde Hospice
244. Killie Can Cycle
245. Kingston Community Furniture Project
246. Kiveton Park & Wales Community Development Trust
247. LAMH
248. Leeds & Moortown Furniture Store
249. Leicester City Council
250. Leicester Riders
251. Leicester Shopmobility
252. Leicestershire Aids Support Services
253. Leicestershire Cares
254. Lifework
255. Lighthouse
256. Linacre Reservoir
257. London Borough of Havering
258. London College of Engineering & Management Woolwich
259. Longley Organised Community Association
260. Lyme Trust
261. Lynemouth Resource Centre
262. Mackworth Comm. Charity Shop
263. Making a Difference
264. Marie Curie
265. Mark2 (marc)
266. Martin House Hospice
267. Mary Stevens Hospice
268. Matalan
269. Matchbox
270. Matthew25 Mission
271. Mayflower Sanctuary
272. MDJ Lightbrothers
273. Meadow Well Connected
274. MEC
275. Mental Health Support
276. Midland Railway Trust
277. MIND
278. Miners Welfare community centre
279. Mistley Place Park
280. Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal Regeneration Partnership Scheme
281. Moore Cleaning
282. Morrisons
283. Muslim Aid
284. Myton Hospice
285. Nandos
286. Naomi Hospice
287. National Railway Museum
288. National Trust
289. NDDT
290. Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
291. Necessary Furniture
292. Neighbourhood funiture
293. Neterlands Dog Rescue
294. New Life Church
295. Newham Volenteers Group
296. Newport City Council
297. Nightingale House
298. NOAH enterprise
299. North East Lincs Motor Project
300. North London Hospice Shop
301. North Ormesby Community Shop
302. Northumberland County Council
303. Norwood
304. Old Nick Theatre
305. One 0 One
306. Open Secret
307. Overgate Hospice
308. Oxfam
309. Papworth Trust
310. Partner Shop
311. Paul Sartori Warehouse
312. Paws Animal Welfare Shop
313. PDSA
314. Pegswood Community Centre
315. Pennywell Community Association
316. Peterborough Streets
317. Pheonix Community Furniture
318. Pilgrim Hospice
319. Placement Furniture Project
320. Platform 51 Doncaster Womens Centre
321. Playworks
322. Plymouth Food Bank
323. Plymouth Play Association
324. Plymouth Volunteer Centre
325. Pound stretcher
326. POW Shop
327. Powys Animal Welfare Shop
328. PPE Paving
329. Preen Community Interest Company
330. Primrose
331. PRINCE & PRINCESS OF WALES
332. Prince of Wales Sherburn in elmet
333. Princess Trust
334. Queen Elizabeth Foundation
335. Queens Walk Community
336. Queensland Multi-Media Arts Centre
337. Rainbow Centre
338. Rainbows End Burngreave
339. Real Time Music
340. Recycling unlimited
341. Red Cross
342. Refurnish
343. Regenerate Community Enterprise
344. Remploy
345. Restore
346. Rhyl Adventure Playground Association
347. Right Time Foundation
348. RNID
349. Rochford Council
350. Rosalie Ryrie Foundation
351. Rosliston Foresty
352. Royal Society for Blind.
353. Royal Wotton Bassett Town Council
354. RSPB
355. RSPCA
356. Rudenotto
357. Rudyard Lake
358. S & S Services
359. Saffcare
360. Sainsburys
361. Salvation Army
362. Santosh Community Centre
363. Sara
364. Save the children
365. Savera Resource Centre
366. Scallywags
367. Scarborough Council
368. SCD Fabrications
369. School of English Studies
370. Scope
371. Scottish Cancer Support
372. Scottish International Relief
373. Scunthorpe Central Community Centre
374. Seagull Recycling
375. Seahouses Development Trust
376. Second Chance
377. Second Opportunities
378. Sedgemoor Furniture Store
379. Sense
380. Sesku Acadamy Centre
381. Shaw Trust
382. Sheffield Reclamation Ltd – Reclaim
383. Shelter
384. Shooting Stars
385. Shopmobility & Community Transport – Access
386. Slough Furniture Project
387. Smythe
388. Sneyd Green
389. Somali Community Parents Association
390. Somerfields
391. Somerset Wood Re-Cycling
392. South Ayrshire Council
393. South Bucks Hospice Warehouse
394. South Wales Boarders Museum
395. Southend United Football Club
396. Spaghetti House
397. Spitafields Crypt Trust
398. Splash fit
399. St Barnabas
400. St Catherines Hospice Trading
401. St Chads Community Centre
402. St Clare’s Hospice
403. St Davids Foundation
404. St Elizabeth Hospice Charity Shop
405. St Francis Hospice Shops Ltd
406. St Gemma’s Hospice
407. St Georges Crypt
408. St Giles
409. St Helens House
410. St Hughs Community Centre
411. St Lukes Hospice
412. St Margarets Hospice Scotland
413. St Oswald’s Hospice
414. St Peters Church
415. St Peters Hospice
416. St Raphaels hospice
417. St Vincents
418. St. Catherines Hospice
419. St.Theresa’s Charity Shop
420. Stages Café
421. Stannah Stair Lifts
422. Stef’s Farm (Education Farm)
423. Step Forward
424. Stocking Farm Healthy Living Centre ( Sure Start)
425. Stockton Council
426. Stone Pillow
427. STROKECARE
428. Strood Community Project
429. Strut Lincoln
430. Sudbury Town Council
431. Sue Ryder
432. Sunderland Community Furniture
433. Sunderland North Community Business Centre
434. Superdrug
435. Swindon 105.5
436. Sycamore Lodge
437. sydney bridge furniture shop
438. Sypha
439. T&M Kiddy’s Kingdom
440. Tara Handicrafts
441. Teamwork
442. Teesside Hospice
443. Tendring Furniture Scheme
444. Tendring Reuse & Employment Enterprise
445. Tenovus
446. Tesco
447. Thames Hospicecare
448. Thames Valley Hospice
449. Thanet District Council
450. The Ark Shop
451. The Art Organisation
452. The Charity Shop
453. The Childrens Society
454. The Childrens trust
455. The Crossing
456. The Good Neighbour Project
457. The Greenhouse
458. The Harrow Club
459. The Hinge Centre Ltd
460. The Isabella Community Centre
461. The Island Partnership
462. The Kiln Cafe
463. The learning community
464. The Linskill Centre
465. The Listening Company
466. The Octagon Centre Hull
467. The Old Manor House Riding Stables
468. The Princess Alice Hospice
469. The Range
470. The Reuse Centre
471. The Rising Sun Art Centre
472. The Rock Foundation Ice House
473. The Shores Centre
474. The Spurriergate Centre
475. The Undercliffe cemetary charity
476. The Vine Project
477. The Welcoming Project
478. The Woodworks (Genesis Trust)
479. Think 3E,
480. Thirsk Clock
481. Thurrock Council
482. Thurrock Reuse Partnership (TRUP)
483. TLC
484. TooGoodtoWaste
485. Top Draw
486. Traid
487. Trinity Furniture Store
488. Troed Y Rhiw Day Project
489. True Volunteer Foundation
490. Tukes
491. Twice as Nice Furniture Project
492. Twirls and Curls
493. Ty Hafan
494. Tylorstown Communities First
495. United Churches Healing Ministry
496. United Play Day Centre
497. Unity in the Community
498. UNMAH
499. Untapped Resource
500. Urban Recycling
501. Vale of Aylesbury Vineyard Church Project
502. Vista Blind
503. Walpole Water Gardens
504. Walsall Hospice
505. Wandsworth Oasis trading Company Limited
506. Wat Tyler Centre
507. WEC
508. Weldmar
509. Well Cafe
510. Wellgate Community Farm
511. Wellingborough District Hindu Centre
512. Western Mill Cemetary
513. WH Smith
514. Wheelbase
515. Whitby Council
516. Wildlife Trust
517. Wilkinsons
518. Willen Care Furniture Shop
519. Willington Community Resource Centre
520. Windhill Furniture Store Shipley
521. Woking Community Furniture Project
522. Womens Aid
523. Womens Centre
524. Woodlands Camp
525. Worsbrough Mill & County Park
526. Xgames
527. YMCA
528. York Archaeological Trust
529. York Bike Rescue
530. York Carers centre
531. Yorkshire Trust
532. Yozz Yard
533. Zest
534. Zues Gym
The Tory government has been forced to reveal a vast list of firms that hoovered up free labour from benefit claimants after spending four years trying to keep it a secret.
Poundstretcher, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons are among more than 500 companies, charities and councils named as having used Mandatory Work Activity.
Others on the list from 2011 included payday loans firm Cash Converters, chicken diner Nando’s, WH Smith, Superdrug and DHL.
More than 100,000 jobseekers were put on the hated ‘workfare’ scheme, which forced them to work 30-hour weeks unpaid for a month each or have their benefits docked.
Yet the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) mounted an astonishing and costly legal battle to keep the firms’ names a secret.
Officials claimed revealing those involved would hurt their “commercial interests” because protesters would boycott them.
The DWP stood its ground for nearly four years despite being overruled by the Information Commissioner (ICO) watchdog in August 2012.
The saga finally ended at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday – where a trio of top judges threw out the DWP’s argument by a 2-1 vote.
Campaigners and Labour condemned the vast cost of the cover-up – in which taxpayers had to fund lawyers for both the DWP and ICO.
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I’m astonished at some of the names on this list. I will immediately withdraw both contributory support and patronage from those I have previously supported. 17No.
Frank Zola left an annotation (29 July 2016)
Disclosure of info for FOI requests relates only to what existed at the time of the FOI request being lodged, for the list above that was 25 January 2012. Or as the DWP states “PROVIDERS FOR MWA DURING THE REQUESTED PERIOD”
A long list only it’s just part of a much much longer list.
There are a few charities that I no longer support after today. If they needed staff they should pay for staff. Appalling ?
It’s why many of us can not get the jobs we apply for.
“Now that the DWP has at last complied with the law and released the information that was requested in 2012, we should be able to get further details about where workfare it is taking place today.
“We encourage everyone who wants to see an end to workfare and punitive welfare policies to use and share this information, and to work together to press all the organisations involved in workfare to pull out immediately, as so many already have. ”
A spokesperson for Tesco – the only organisation out of more than a dozen on the list The Independent tried to contact that have actually provided a comment – said: “Prior to deciding the scheme wasn’t right for us, we had offered to pay those who were doing placements with us.- “As a business we remain committed to providing employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefits-department-for-work-and-pensions-mandatory-work-activity-government-major-companies-free-a7163646.html
The damage to these organisations is done, nothing they now say can repair that. They did not risk asses this workfare because something for nothing impresses their shareholders, so now they can wait for their FST results and consider their folly.
If these jobs need filling, which in many cases they do, why in all of hell are they not (at least) being filled by, at least, part-time, fully-paid staff?
Drives me bats, specifically thinking of the cleaner in (one of) the Pound shops who was made redundant and then went to the very same store, doing the very same job, but only for her benefits.
Workhouses, much?
That “charities” could take advantage of desperate people in such a way is disgusting.
I have supported charities with monthly d/D for many years. I also give to various other charities who are shaking collection boxes. Not any more, I will remember those I have no more respect for.
Until they acknowledge their part in the government’s cheap labour scam and make a full unreserved apology they will never see another penny from me.
Sue Ryder has a notice in their shops “Stealing is an offence, stealing from a charity is offensive” – what a shame they didn’t apply their own words to themselves, as in robbing people of their entitlement by taking advantage of their misfortune is offensive.
I am not averse to able bodied jobless being asked to earn the equivalent of their JSA by working for it. At 10 hours a week on £7.20, they have earned their JSA. At 20 hours a week, they have also paid their Housing Benefit, owing nobody anything. At 30 hours a week the companies and charities in the list have treated these desperate people as 2nd class citizens and p****d on them from a great height.
May they reap what they have sown.
Christ, it looks like it would be quicker to make a list of who hasn’t used workfare.
disgusting,especially some of the big names with millions,nay billions in turnover,and charities i shall no longer support.
it would be interesting to know how much the DWP operation over all has cost the taxpayer,in ALL court cases,failed computer systems,the escalating cost of rolling out universal credit,the cost of using firms like MAXIMUS and CAPITA to knock people off benefits which are rightfully theirs,by paying these people excessive bonus’s to do so.the fake doctors employed to decide who can have benefits or not,when one’s GP should have the final say.the whole DWP wants scrapping as not fit for purpose.
also more disgusting is the fact that taxpayers money can be used in this way.there should be some sort of mechanism in Parliament to prevent this abuse of taxpayers money since 2010.
i wouldn’t mind betting if all the DWP’s costs in everything from 2010 was added up it would have been billions cheaper to have paid out all the benefits they tried to stop.
there should be a national scandal over this,and the organisations that used workfare,should be forced to pay the people they used, wages for the time they were “employed” there.
cant anything be done Mike !!
Yes this was a total disgrace and once again in some areas done in the most under handed covert way. Maybe some of those involved might have liked the idea of contributing their time to some of these charities….if they were given a choice. Some of the DWP task foces did not like working with offenders who were carrying out the same community work as part of their punishment it made them feel like they were being viewed as offenders rather than persons down of their luck and out of work.. Many lost out financially as their travel expenses were not fully or properly reimbursed and they also sufferred having their benefits stopped for very minor issues whilst on these free duties. Even the Churches were using free labour with unemployed labour gangs in this area being deployed clearing up their church yards many without proper safety equipment and training……maybe they were working for third party gang masters utilising this source of free labour It is no wonder the DWP were reluctant to reveal their deeds because it goes deeper than just cheap labour. It smacks of the labour camps used by the Germans during the war for assisting commercial interests. Would be interesting to find out how many actual jobs were created using this free labour method. Another very dirty and dark Con trick on innocent victims…….so what’s new?
some of the companies i am not at all surprised about,in fact i did expect more, some of the charities in am not surprised about, however charities seem to forget one thing, they rely on volunteers and donations and if they entered into this scheme to get extra funding for there charity then they need to be honest amongst there volunteers, retrospectively they also have to show that if they entered into this , they employed people after a certain period, for the business on this list, welcome to my blacklist of companies that i will not do business with, as for the charities, well i shall have to look at this from a supporting point of view and have a detailed look, however i will say that if you did now is the time to say so and to say how many you gainfully employed or can show that you contributed to making a difference in there live, other than that if i have supported you in the past i shall think twice in the future of your on this list
I will certainly be boycotting the names I have supported. May I print off the list and send it to my family & freiends as I know they will do the same?
It’s a public list so feel free.
The more we learn about charities, the more we realise they are either scams or extensions of the corporate state. These dodgy schemes should all be scrapped and everyone given a living minimum income.
It is disgraceful but not entirely surprising, to see the Citizens Advice Bureau on this list – the very organisation to which many desperate individuals hounded by the DWP turn, under the illusion the CAB remains committed to offering impartial advice and advocacy for ALL citizens equally.
Unfortunately many local CABs are now largely funded and ‘owned’ by the same local councils that are in many cases also major workfare exploiters..
As increasing numbers in my local area are finding, if you are on benefits the CAB tends to be as harsh and draconian as the DWP and councils themselves – treating claimants like SECOND CLASS citizens, refusing to advocate on their behalf, and literally acting as enforcers for their oppressors (notably over Bedroom Tax) – agressively ordering vulnerable individuals to comply with DWP and council ‘rules’, even when such rules have been applied wrongly or unlawfully.
Limitations of (largely council-sponsored) CAB funding do not excuse this, and it seems to be the case that councils are now dictating how such funds are spent, and who the CABs are, or are not authorised to assist. Thus for example, at my local CAB, the sick and disabled are often bullied into attending workfare schemes without appeal (and now we know why!), while impoverished bedroom tax and council tax victims are informed they must pay money they can not afford and in many cases may not even lawfully owe.
Our local CAB has taken on the draconian arrogance and cruelty (I have seen evidence in writing) of Dickensian beadles and workhouse bosses, and their treatment of the poorest has degenerated into a thatcherite wet dream about reminding them of their ‘proper place’ and bullying them into accepting it.
Moreover, in the same council building that houses my local CAB branch is a workfare pimping company, and the two work closely together, with the CAB having been pressurising disabled clients for years to “volunteer” their spare time with this organisation.
The thinking behind all this seems to be that without Legal Aid, vulnerable citizens have been completely disenfranchised, with no means of enforcing complaints or seeking damages over the consequences of inaccurate or harmful ‘advice’. Therefore they have become fodder for the funding mill, and their interests no longer count.
As a former advice worker (non CAB), I used to recommend people go to the CAB, but no longer feel able to – in fact I now suggest they proceed with extreme caution and seek support (and ‘second opinions’ over any CAB advice) from relevent Facebook and other online communities.
From time to time the CAB still issues reports about the DWP’s treatment of the disabled and other vulnerable groups, but these statements tend to come from the ivory towers at the top, and not local, (often council funded) local offices. And what has been occurring at the CAB coalface since the demise of Legal Aid, is a very different matter.
Very little if anything has reached public awareness about the CAB’s increasing dubiousness – now fully confirmed by their exposed workfare involvement. Most people still believe the CAB are the good guys. This organisation urgently needs to to be publicly scrutinised and called to account – for exactly the same reasons as their masters in our local councils.
If I were you, I’d be very careful about that Citizens Advice listing.
I was concerned that people would react as you have when I saw Citizens Advice on the list.
Each individual Citizens Advice is an organisation in its own right, while being affiliated to the national network. This means that, while some offices may have participated in this activity, not all did. I know for a fact that Citizens Advice Powys didn’t, for example.
The commitment to provide impartial advice and advocacy for everybody is not an illusion.
From personal experience of my local Citizens Advice, I find it hard to believe your claims about advice on the Bedroom Tax. If rules are applied wrongly, Citizens Advice works to sort out the problem. My local Citizens Advice restores to claimants more than half a million pounds of benefits that were wrongly stopped, every three months.
Nobody is treated as second-class. All are treated equally.
I cannot discuss your own Citizens Advice, of course. I notice, though, that you support your comments with neither your own name nor that of the Citizens Advice office about which you are complaining.
None of the advice provided by Citizens Advice is inaccurate or harmful. The organisation has extremely strict rules regarding the quality of advice, enforced on a national level.
I see you say you were a former advice worker with another organisation. Could it be that you have an axe to grind against Citizens Advice and consider this an opportunity to poison people’s minds against an organisation that exists only to help them?
Citizens Advice reports about the DWP are issued at regional or national level – but use information from every local office.
So I cannot agree with your comment. Citizens Advice remains an excellent source of help for the people of the United Kingdom. The involvement with MWA in 2012 is worthy of investigation, but you should prepare yourself for a shock if you actually believe that the issue is nationwide. As for local councils being “masters” – they do provide funds, but they have no influence on the nature of the advice provided.
Mike, if what you say is correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, why have local CAB’s been allowed to enter politically sensitive territory without national policy. It seems that, perhaps in all good faith, local CAB’s are autonomous of national direction, and as a consequence, the ideals of individuals are allowed to prevail. This is hardly an acceptable framework for the administration of impartial advice.
I cannot comment on this without an example, and you haven’t given one.
Result, one example of local autonomy.
….”a small number of our shops have accepted mandatory work experience placements,………We have now taken the decision to withdraw from any programme (sic) where attendance is mandatory and all existing arrangements will be phased out over the coming few weeks”. Arthritis Research UK.
These may not be CAB, but are analogous with the political freedom off which many charitable organisations seem to operate.
Second example of local autonomy.
” after a brief involvement………At the British Red Cross we believe that voluntary placements should, by their nature, be voluntary and it is wrong to place people on mandatory volunteering schemes …. we do not feel that it is appropriate to participate in a programme where sanctions might be applied that could result in an individual losing their benefits.”
British Red Cross.
Disgraceful behaviour but what else would you expect from the nasty party and their cronies! No wonder IDS bailed out when he did, he knew this was coming and, as a usual politician, especially a right wing one, didn’t have the backbone to stay and take the much deserved brunt he would’ve gotten!
This has been happening for years. I remember being on jobseekers allowance (I was 18 at time, 32 now) and being forced to work for rct council for 6months, nearly 40hrs per week, pay all my travel and food costs, just to receive £38 a fortnight in allowance (which the jobcentre declare is a food budget only) I owed more money out to people who helped feed me and pay my travel during those 6months than I ever received in JA before I found work. I would rather sit in the street and beg than be taken advantage of like that again. The state doesn’t actually help you, they use and abuse you and hold you to ransom and it will never change
it’s the illegal fraudulent government that need boycotting everybody stop paying tax !