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pandora1963
04 Aug 14 13:34
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Date Joined: 28 Aug 07
| Topic/replies: 26,165 | Blogger: pandora1963's blog
read it and weep

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/03/victims-britains-harsh-welfare-sanctions

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By:
lfc1971
When: 04 Aug 14 13:46
Too much immigration.
By:
xmoneyx
When: 04 Aug 14 13:53
A DWP spokesman says: "Our sympathies are with the family of Mr Clapson.


Load of shate
By:
Tony Broke
When: 04 Aug 14 14:17
the state of a broken society in need of compassionate repair
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 14:20
Big brave tories picking fights with the disabled and those with the audacity to have a spare room while 'Shareholder Value Maximization' runs the less well off into the ground.
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 14:21
Always makes me think of the weazle runt of the litter acting all brave in front of the small kids
By:
MisterBadger
When: 04 Aug 14 14:24
the Oakley report, commissioned by the DWP... acknowledged that... it was "clear that this is a system that can go wrong and, when that happens, individuals and families can suffer unfairly".

death and bereavement... yeah, I'd say that's pretty unfair.

The Spirit of Thatcher lives on... you can bet she didn't die on an empty stomach
By:
call me a taxi
When: 04 Aug 14 14:36
Go to work in Poundland for your JSA.

Where everything is worth £1, except you.
By:
ebulGery
When: 04 Aug 14 14:37
This is Tory policy since Thatcher onwards....we must have a brutal survival of the fittest economy

That means that anybody at the bottom does not count any more, they are just worthless, their only function is
to be exploited by the rich

The promise was it would make us all rich...sadly it has not

It has only made the better off richer...anybody who tells me our economy is in recovery is a liar
not with 2 million unemployed.....the only ones in recovery are the better off, who were well off to begin with

Still people vote the Tories, this is the price we pay
and appalling case which not happen in any civilised society

r.i.p
By:
ebulGery
When: 04 Aug 14 14:38
I have witnessed other out of work older people being treated like this, it is disgusting
By:
call me a taxi
When: 04 Aug 14 14:47
I bet they weren't black or asian.
By:
johnizere
When: 04 Aug 14 15:14
[   This image is no longer available.   ]
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 15:26
quiet man got quieter Silly
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 15:29
Food banks are part of tory policy now arnt they?
Listening to tebit in the house of commons you'd believe it was
By:
STUDYFORM
When: 04 Aug 14 16:04
Good article.

If only the sleazy side of journalism concentrated more on the majority of claimants - like this poor sod - and not just the 'entertaining' chavs.
By:
Ozymandius
When: 04 Aug 14 16:34
I don't hear any of you limp-wristed lefties coming up with any solutions other than bashing the Tories.
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 16:41
bring back unlimited liability....that'll make em think before risking other's cash then you'd not need to point the finger at others
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 16:56
have services at the very least with the state being the major shareholder, just like Germany did. Separating vital services and employing people fairly on decent pay benefits the economy more than cutting funding via slashing worker's rights and pay (income growth rates have actually fallen from 2.4% in the bad 70's to 1.7 in 2009) It doesnt help the economy to have a minority collect more of the money that then invest in energy where profits are protected on investment on the basis that energy is a necessity and therefore not a true laissez faire capitalist market that wont be allowed to fail.
By:
Howdi
When: 04 Aug 14 16:59
iain Duncan smith done a great job imo/.
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 17:00
control fraud was the very manifestation of the appeasing of malignant greed with CEOs and shareholder's alike hurting the long term economy and taking the wealth by making the workers pay with wages that were subsidised and suppliers that were crushed, its counter productive and has proven to be so.
Its not simply about blaming the tories since labour carried it on, but the seeds were sown by the tories making a whole generation of spivvy speculators
By:
scandanavian_haven
When: 04 Aug 14 17:22

Aug 4, 2014 -- 10:59AM, Howdi wrote:


iain Duncan smith done a great job imo/.


Iain Duncan Smith's universal credit scheme has been so badly managed it is about to to write-off up to £425 million, according to a devastating Commons report.

In a humiliating moment for the work and pensions secretary, the public accounts committee criticised almost every aspect of the project, from its management to the limitations of the pilot scheme.

"Its implementation has been extraordinarily poor," chair Margaret Hodge said.

"The failure to develop a comprehensive plan has led to extensive delay and the waste of a yet to be determined amount of public money.

Opinion Former News
CIOT: Campaigners call for urgent rethink on self-employed rules under universal credit

CIOT: Low income campaigners call for wider universal credit pilot

CPAG statement on NAO Universal Credit report

Opinion Former Video
People like you lose their jobs, become disa ...

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"£425 million has been spent so far on the programme. It is likely that much of this, including at least £140 million worth of IT assets, will now have to be written off.

"The management of the programme has been alarmingly weak. From the outset, the department has failed to grasp the nature and enormity of the task, failed to monitor and challenge progress regularly and, when problems arose, failed to intervene promptly."

The damning report could not come at a worse time for Duncan Smith, who has recently lost a legal appeal on his back-to-work programme and been accused of misusing statistics to paper over the cracks in his policy agenda.

It comes just weeks after a speech by John Major warned of the dangers of the project.

"It is enormously complicated and unless he is very lucky, which he may not be, or a genius, which the last time I looked was unproven, he may get some of it wrong," the former prime minister warned.

Universal credit is intended to consolidate six means-tested working-age benefits into a single system with the aim of encouraging claimants to start work or earn more.

The department estimated it would spend £2.4 billion on the project up to April 2023, but by April 2013 it had already spent £425 million, mostly on IT development which is now expected to be written off.

In February 2013 it reset the programme following a Major Projects Authority review which expressed serious concerns about the lack of detailed plans.

Today's report raised multiple concerns, including:

Failures of management

Those charged with oversight failed to understand the nature and enormity of the task, according to MPs.

They were also accused of failing to monitor processes and intervene when problems arose.

Defensiveness

The report found that the lack of oversight caused the universal credit team to become "isolated and defensive", developing a siege mentality in which only good news was allowed to be communicated and all problems were simply denied.

"Pressure to deliver a programme of this magnitude within such an ambitious timescale created a fortress culture where only good news was reported and problems were denied," Hodge said.

"Because they had no overall view of what was going on and no system to monitor progress, the department's universal credit team became isolated and defensive."

Secrecy

The report even suggests that official accounts of when problems became evident held up.

MPs on the committee were particularly concerned about whether a critical report last year really was the first moment officials became aware of how badly wrong the project was going.

"There are real doubts over when officials became aware of these problems and it is difficult to conceive, based on the evidence we were presented with, that officials within the department did not know of them before July 2012," the report found.

Lack of control over finances

MPs found evidence of purchase orders worth £8.7 million being made by a personal assistant to the programme director.

In another case, a purchase order for £22.6 million was made by the personal assistant of the programme director, whose delegated financial authority was only £10 million.

Some of the payments to suppliers could not be linked to particular pieces of work.

Some of the IT assets which were delivered cannot be used in the programme and must be written-off.

Initial estimates put the cost of the write-off at at least £140 million, but there are signs that the precise extent is not yet fully understood because the department has not completed an impairment review.

Failed pilot programme

MPs found the pilot project for the programme did not deal with the key challenges facing universal credit.

The pilot is restricted to only the simplest new claims of people who are single, have no dependants and would otherwise be seeking Jobseeker’s Allowance.

It does not address issues such as: the volume of claims, their complexity, change in claimants' circumstances, the need for claimants to meet conditions for continuing entitlement to benefit and the security of information to prevent fraud.

The Times piled even more pressure onto Duncan Smith this morning, with a report alleging that he or his allies put pressure on Tory members of the committee to pin the blame for the failings on Robert Devereux, the permanent secretary at the department.

"It was obvious there was some kind of coordinated effort going on," a source told the newspaper.

"Some of the Conservative members wanted us to be much tougher on the permanent secretary than the rest of us were comfortable with."

Peter Riddell, director of the Institute for Government, said: "This is a damning report by the public accounts committee and tells a sorry story about unclear management structures and responsibility for a major government project that affects the public in a very real way.

"Clearly the immediate responsibility for the oversight and management of universal credit lies squarely with the permanent secretary.

"However questions still need to be answered by both ministers and the civil service about how a project with such high risks was allowed to proceed without clarity of responsibility and accountability back in 2010."

Labour, which supports the universal credit programme, heaped the blame for the failings on David Cameron.

"Today's report from the public accounts committee is a shocking confirmation of David Cameron's failure and another nail in the coffin of his government's promise to deliver universal credit on time and on budget," shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "Universal credit is a vital reform that rewards work instead of trapping people on benefits. It will ultimately bring a £38 billion economic benefit to society."

"This report doesn’t take into account our new leadership team, or our progress on delivery. We have already taken comprehensive action including strengthening governance, supplier management and financial controls."

"Since we have last spoken to the PAC, we have also launched universal credit in Hammersmith, which will expand to further areas later this month and the claimant commitment is rolling out to job centres across the country."

"We don't recognise the write off figure quoted by the committee and expect this to be substantially less. The head of universal credit Howard Shiplee has been clear that there is real potential to use much of the existing IT. We will announce our plans for the next phase of universal credit delivery shortly."

By:
Ozymandius
When: 04 Aug 14 17:29
Unlimited liability?  yes that should help encourage entrepreneurs to take risks, grow the economy and create jobs.

State owned companies?  When did they ever work?  And you proposed that they pay employees at artificially high non-market rates.  Who is going to pay for that?

Controlling fraud is a laudable aim, as long as increased regulation doesn't end up crippling growth.
By:
STUDYFORM
When: 04 Aug 14 17:31

Aug 4, 2014 -- 10:34AM, Ozymandius wrote:


I don't hear any of you limp-wristed lefties coming up with any solutions other than bashing the Tories.


It is the job of government to come up with the solutions, not to kill people.
They're paid enough.

Oh, and I would have thought there were more 'limp wrists' among Tories then anyone else.

By:
STUDYFORM
When: 04 Aug 14 17:34
State owned companies worked fine. But the privatised, profit-keeping ones and their wealthy shareholders wouldn't want you to believe that.

Privatisation is at the root of most of this country's problems. As it happens.
By:
lfc1971
When: 04 Aug 14 17:34
Britain is overpopulated by about 40million people. It no longer produces great scientists, artists, engineers
inventors and has not done so for at least 30 years. There have been no new ideas, or books, or songs, or
industrialists for many decades.
The only way out is a rapid decline in the population of Europe and the US.
By:
guinness2dear
When: 04 Aug 14 17:36
Like a war?
By:
lfc1971
When: 04 Aug 14 17:40
China proved you don't need a war. But we benefited from WW2 for decades, time is up now.
By:
Ozymandius
When: 04 Aug 14 17:44
Unfortunately privatisation is a dirty word that carries with it connotations of greed and exploitation....mainly down to the failed railway and utility privatisations.

Privatisation without competition is no privatisation at all. Monopolies, whether public or private, reap inefficiency and consumer dissatisfaction.

Just because one has no choice but to use Southeastern Trains to get to work in the morning or get one's electricity from a sector dominated by six huge utility companies, it does not mean that privatization has not worked elsewhere or that it’s principles are suddenly flawed.
By:
TheChaser
When: 04 Aug 14 17:59
LIke it says in the article if you get sanctioned on JSA you are entitled to hardship which is about £90 a fort night , but for some reason the fckers in the job centre dont even tell you.
By:
dustybin
When: 04 Aug 14 19:19
ozy
Humans need regulation, if they are left to their own devices bad things happen....just look at the opportunism that occurred after reagan and thatcher told everyone to forget about society and look after self. If it wasn't for regulation we'd still have child labour to boost the greedy profits.
Entrepreneurs would have to cut risk down to a more feasible amount under unlimited liability, but all out risk comes from a select few who have no long term interest in the company they have shares in. They speculate and drive down costs and stifle innovation for short term profit. The work force is decentivised working longer shifts for worse pay meaning the products arnt as good or faulty.
The company loses competitive edge as technology passes them by due to lack of investment and the share holder simply sells the shares to find a new company to run down through Shareholder Value Maximization principles.
The government are saying they want to make work pay....no they don't, they want to make unemployment worse. If you stop the growing inequality by stopping opportunism short termism and return to pre-1920s capitalism (before the fallacy of laissez faire became established) then work really is encouraged, but they won't simply because the people with money want to keep taking out money which the workforce have to suffer to provide. The minority with huge amounts are actually bad for the economy. When they sit on fortunes and not spend as apposed to the impecunious who spend every penny of their wage cheque month in and month out.
Having the government as major shareholder keeps them with a vested interest towards employment. Privatisation on every single occasion has mean increased prices to customers, thats because they increase the margin of profit (like the recent advert for RAC who offer 50 quid of 'free fuel'-why not reduce the premium by 50 quid instead?, because the more areas to charge the greater the chance of economies of scale, areas to profit by breaking down the cost and making a margin)
By:
sideshowbob
When: 04 Aug 14 20:15
nobody should be left without any money to buy food, i dont care if theyre lazy and arent looking for work or not. its the people on stupidly large benefits for all their 7 kids and big houses that need clamping down on, not someone on the dole. nobody should lose their dole money for not "doing the right things", its disgusting. if you dont want to work, you shouldnt have to. the dole is a pittance anyway.
By:
Clarky9
When: 05 Aug 14 08:34
"if you don't want to work you shouldn't have to"

Are you for real? If you don't want to work then you should be prepared to live on the street and starve. Why should other people fund your lazy @rse life?
By:
Clarky9
When: 05 Aug 14 08:36
Though I do agree with the comment about people with 7 kids claiming fortunes. The kids should be taken into care and the parent(s) should be left to starve by themselves
By:
Facts
When: 05 Aug 14 08:49
lfc1971     04 Aug 14 13:46 

Too much immigration.



Your ignorance is staggering
By:
Facts
When: 05 Aug 14 09:19
Clarky9     05 Aug 14 08:34 
"if you don't want to work you shouldn't have to"

Are you for real? If you don't want to work then you should be prepared to live on the street and starve. Why should other people fund your lazy @rse life?


Are you for real ?

You're actually proposing that people should be forced to starve to death on the streets ?
Utterly insane.
By:
Tony Broke
When: 05 Aug 14 09:30
ozy and howdi - ignorant or uncaring, or both, people are suffering DIRECTLY because of tory policies, the rich are not. They are twuts.
By:
Facts
When: 05 Aug 14 09:32
^ absolutely correct
By:
The Knight
When: 05 Aug 14 10:30
A sad, sad case, for sure.

BUT, again, an extreme case should not be latched upon as an example of the norm.

The latter said, we are in a mess with many things in the UK and it was not only the Tories that did it. Blair and his mates gleefully carried on economic policies based on rising house prices and little else. Eventually, we will pay the price for too much debt and an economy based on mobile phone, coffees and 'apps'.

However, the point about state-owned industries being sold off shows how ignorant the majority are about economics in this country.

Do people really think that 'wealthy shareholders' make up the majority of the share owning public? Of course they don't.

By a long, long, long way the biggest shareholders in the UK - and anywhere else for that matter - are pension companies, banks, savings outfits etc etc. And whose money do they manage? It's the money of the general public via their pension pots, savings, insurance policies and the like.

Having companies privately owned instead of by the state makes those that run the outfits very wealthy - admittedly sometimes unfairly so - but that is better than having state run company where there is no motivation from the top down. Look at the appalling state all our state-owned companies got into during the 60's and 70's.

So, whilst I will admit that the economic recovery is largely smoke and mirrors, let's be honest about where we would have ended up without private enterprise - and that's much, much worse off.
By:
xmoneyx
When: 05 Aug 14 10:32
if you think there's full employment your deluded

the ones that don't want work are a tiny percentage
By:
MisterBadger
When: 05 Aug 14 10:55
an extreme case should not be latched upon as an example of the norm.

nobody's claiming it's the norm, but even one case like this is one too many
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