in touch – June 2010
Each month, in touch keeps you up to date with the latest news from Jobcentre Plus.
This month we have details of a number of new developments. These include Jobseekers Allowance Online, news about the Future Jobs Fund and Recruitment Subsidy and details of an initiative between Jobcentre Plus and Volunteering England.
In addition, we have included a number of updates since the last issue in March. These include the roll out of the 0845 number, the introduction of the fit note and One Strike.
If you have a suggestion for a future edition, or any feedback, please let us know.
Jobseeker’s Allowance Online
Jobseeker’s Allowance Online for contributions-based customers was launched in August 2009 and has since reached a milestone of over 120,000 online claims.
From the summer, this will be extended to income-based customers, giving people a 24-hour service seven days a week.
Our online Benefits Adviser Service has been providing immediate advice on benefits, pensions and credits since April 2008. It also gives customers estimates of amounts of benefits they may be entitled to.
They can also put in ‘what if’ scenarios to see if these would affect their benefits, for example if they start work or increase their hours at work.
Also from the summer, customers will be able to claim their State Pension online.
Providing online services forms part of a wider initiative to bring all Government services together on the Directgov website.
We are improving these services based on detailed research with customers, some of whom want to interact with us online as part of our Customer Charter.
Encouraging them to do that means our advisers can spend more of their time with customers who need most help or prefer not to use the internet.
Future Jobs Fund: Still creating jobs
As part of the Government’s efficiency measures, funding for the Future Jobs Fund was reduced by £290 million. However, the scheme will continue to create jobs until March 2011. This means that the number of jobs to be funded, has been capped at 111,000 and no new bids will be accepted.
The Government is committed to helping young people find jobs. It is working to develop a new single work programme that will offer support to young people from the 6 month point of their claim. Further details of this programme will be announced in due course.
Recruitment subsidy update
A £1000 Recruitment Subsidy was introduced in April 2009 as a temporary measure to support employers recruiting an eligible person who has been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for six months. This subsidy formed part of the response to the economic downturn and was due to end in March 2011.
On Monday 24 May the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced £6.2 billion public sector spending cuts to be made this year. One element of that is the early closure of the Recruitment Subsidy. Employers will still be able to claim a subsidy for people starting work by 30 June, and will have to submit their claim to Jobcentre Plus by 30 July.
We have updated information on the Business Link website and are no longer promoting the Recruitment Subsidy through our individual customers.
Jobcentre Plus and Volunteering England – working together to reduce barriers to volunteering
Jobcentre Plus and Volunteering England have signed an agreement to work together to promote volunteering to unemployed people and to improve the quality and consistency of information and advice available to them.
Volunteering can make an important contribution to helping people develop the skills, experience and confidence they need to move from unemployment into paid work.
Organisations which rely on volunteers benefit from a wider and more diverse pool of people prepared to give their time, as will the communities in which they are based.
Many thousands of unemployed people engage in volunteering with little or no difficulty but some face challenges and barriers which discourage them.
These barriers can include receiving out of date or inaccurate advice about volunteering on state benefits, or simply a lack of knowledge about the value of volunteering to jobseekers.
Jobcentre Plus and Volunteering England will draw up a joint Action Plan and meet regularly to take the work forward.
A copy of the agreement will soon be posted on the Jobcentre Plus and Volunteering England websites.
Single phone number for Jobcentres
The roll out of a national 0845 phone number for Jobcentres was successfully completed on 28 April with a separate Welsh language line for Wales.
When customers ring the 0845 numbers, operators place the call to the Jobcentre the customer wants.
If the customer has incorrectly asked for a Jobcentre, the operator will point them to the correct location (for example, to make a new claim or a benefit enquiry).
The 0845 numbers for Jobcentres don’t replace any direct dial numbers the customer may have been given, for example to contact their personal adviser.
Nor do they replace the 0845 numbers for other areas of Jobcentre Plus business which continue to be used.
The national Jobcentre numbers are:
0845 604 3719 for customer contact with Jobcentres
0845 604 4248 is the Welsh language line for customers who want to a conduct their business with the Jobcentre in Welsh.
From ‘sick’ to ‘fit’
The Statement of Fitness for Work, also known as the ‘fit note’, replaced the ‘sick note’ on 6 April 2010.
Now, when an employee is ill or injured, their doctor is able to advise whether, with support from their employer, they can return to work while they recover.
The aim of this change is twofold. It will reduce the cost of sickness absence as workers will spend less time off work. But it will also help employees as evidence shows that going back to work can actually aid recovery.
In short, it’s about giving employers more flexibility to manage sickness absence in a way that benefits the business and the people who work for it.
Detailed guidance for employers has been developed with help from:
- CBI
- Acas
- Federation of Small Businesses
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
- Association of British Insurers
- EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation.
This is available at www.dwp.gov.uk/fitnote
‘One Strike’ loss of benefit sanction
As part of its strategy to combat benefit fraud, DWP introduced a new loss of benefit or ‘One Strike’ sanction from 1 April 2010.
‘One Strike’ aims to deter more people from committing benefit fraud by making them aware that they could lose their right to ongoing benefit if they do so.
The new sanction enables DWP to reduce or withdraw payment of benefit for four weeks if someone is convicted of, or accepts an administrative penalty or caution, for a first benefit fraud offence. This is in addition to recovery of the overpayment.
It differs from the existing loss of benefit sanction known as ‘Two Strikes’, where payment of benefit is reduced or withdrawn for 13 weeks for repeat offenders if convicted in two separate proceedings within a five-year period.
Information for customers is available on Directgov.
For more information about the legislation, visit the Office of Public Sector Information website (OPSI).
