Jobcentre gaffes exposed as boss left 'disappointed'

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

The boss of Jobcentre Plus has been left embarrassed and “disappointed” after a Channel 4 dispatches programme revealed that over 100 jobs the agency was advertising at its branches weren’t even listed on its website for the unemployed.

It was one of a series of painful-to-watch moments for Ruth Owen, chief operating officer at Jobcentre Plus, who was also shown evidence that frontline Jobcentre staff are lacking a consistent and effective approach to getting people back into work - despite there being over 2.5 million people unemployed nationally.

In one instance, a jobseeker filled in his job diary sheet with his weekly shopping list; while another - who had to provide evidence he had applied for jobs – showed staff a covering letter which said he didn’t want the job and wanted to stay on benefits.

In both instances, staff failed to pick up on the intended errors and the claimants collected their Jobseekers' Allowance.

Owen said: “I’m disappointed we haven’t picked those silly mistakes up but at the end of the day I’m satisfied that it is not a regular occurrence. I believe Jobcentre Plus is successful in getting people into work and ensuring people meet their responsibilities.”

The programme added that the Jobseekers’ Agreement – which ensures claimants do their best to find work – will soon be replaced by a new Claimant Commitment, which will bring together all the requirements placed on the claimant, while the former covers only some of them.

The programme also uncovered evidence that frontline staff were not doing enough to uncover fraud and were crucially falling down when it came to supporting applicants with CVs and covering letters.

One exasperated employer on the hunt for candidates said she had more luck finding suitable applicants when advertising for jobs in local shops and cafes.

She said: "I don't get such a high number of applicants but the quality of applicant is better. It's definitely worth doing. I think the people that apply to my business and are successful are the kinds of people put off by using the Jobcentre to find jobs."

However, the most startling discovery was saved until the end of the programme where it was revealed that 127 Jobcentre jobs – being advertised by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in May – weren’t even being listed on the agency’s terminals for the unemployed to apply for.

Owen insisted all DWP jobs are advertised with Jobcentre Plus and although provided evidence that former Jobcentre jobs had been advertised on its websites, couldn’t find those listed in May.

The DWP later told the programme that more than 400 DWP jobs the programme had found on the civil service website were not on the Jobcentre Plus website but said Jobcentre advisors were aware of them and could pass the information on to claimants.