Report calls for urgent action on Jobcentre Plus problems
19 July 2007
Urgent action is needed to end the problems caused by the reorganisation of Jobcentre Plus - the government agency responsible for delivering welfare benefits to five million people who are unemployed or unable to work – says a new report from Citizens Advice.
Not getting through describes how a modernisation programme involving a shift from mainly face-to-face contact to telephone services has left families penniless for weeks on end. It says Jobcentre Plus has failed to safeguard the needs of its most vulnerable users, and risks building discrimination and disadvantage into the way benefits are delivered.
Despite improvements in the last six months, long delays in processing Jobseekers Allowance and income support claims are still causing serious disruption and hardship, and the telephone systems claimants must now rely on cannot always cope with the volume of calls, too often leaving people with no way of getting through to sort out problems or claim crisis loans.
Citizens Advice is calling for face-to-face services to be offered as standard to certain vulnerable groups of claimants including homeless and disabled people, and people with learning disabilities or mental health problems who find using the phone difficult. It says urgent priority must be given to increasing resources, improving training and guidance to staff, and monitoring service delivery.
Last year CAB enquiries about Jobcentre Plus benefits went up by 10% and the number of people seeking help with claiming crisis loans doubled. Bureaux report seeing thousands of people facing weeks without any money who have been unable to contact Jobcentre Plus to find out when payments will arrive. Others are sent away from Jobcentre Plus offices without help or made to wait in public phone boxes for hours trying to claim a crisis loan on a line unable to meet demand. There have even been instances of deaf people being told they have to make their claim by phone rather than in person or in writing.
In a survey of bureaux in May 2007, 80% said that Jobcentre Plus services were worse than before reorganisation. In an earlier survey in October 2006 81% reported clients experiencing serious delays in receiving benefit payments. In May 2007 more than two-thirds still reported serious delays. In May, around 95% of bureaux said their clients had problems claiming crisis loans. Almost nine out of ten bureaux said they could not get through on the phone. Half said they had seen clients who were refused any alternative to using the telephone to make a claim.
The telephone is now the main route for claiming income support, jobseeker’s allowance and incapacity benefit, as well as crisis loans. People who go into their local Jobcentre Plus office to make a claim are directed to use the customer phones in the office. People who need to apply for an emergency crisis loan – payable only where people’s health and safety is at risk and they have no resources whatever to call on - are not allowed to use these phones but must be sent outside to use a public callbox. They are then faced with an automated menu system with a series of complicated options, often resulting in people ringing off early without lodging a claim. Many people are going without food and shelter as a result.
Jobcentre Plus has an 0800 number for claimants to use, but one in five people on the lowest incomes have no access to a landline and rely on pay-as-you-go mobile phones, which often levy extra charges on otherwise free or low-cost calls. Guidance to staff says people should be offered alternatives to the phone, but CAB evidence suggests that in reality this often does not happen, even when it is clear that using the phone presents problems because of a disability, language difficulties or simply being unable to get through.
Citizens Advice Chief Executive David Harker said: “In introducing a telephone-based system that suits the majority of customers, Jobcentre Plus failed to ensure there was adequate alternative access to benefit services for claimants who are unable to use the phone, who don’t have access to a landline, or who simply can’t get through. The most disadvantaged and vulnerable people have suffered disproportionately as a result.
“Jobcentre Plus have started to respond to the problems experienced by our clients, but our evidence shows that many of the most vulnerable claimants still face enormous obstacles in dealing with Jobcentre Plus and getting the money they are entitled to when they need it. We now need to see adequate resources committed to ensuring that all their customers get a service that meets their needs, and we look forward to working with Jobcentre Plus to monitor their progress.”
Jobcentre Plus Chief Executive Lesley Strathie said: "Although we deliver a high quality service for the vast majority of our customers, clearly some people are still encountering difficulties. We are in the midst of a rapid change programme that should address the issues highlighted by this report and will look to involve Citizens Advice in monitoring our progress in doing so."
