Hi,

I’ve had dealings with the employment and education services for some considerable time.

I’ve asked them for the ‘help you need’ which they say is available/provided. But they’ve never come good on it. I’ve asked them for offers of ‘The work I want’. But they offer anything but the work I want (in fact deliberately avoided and scuppered it and other opportunities).

Despite legal advice stating that I have a clear case against them I cannot pursue it as it is a ‘civil matter’ and there is no legal aid of ‘civil matters’. No solicitor will tackle the issues without money.

I would like your feedback on what actually happens with your experience at the Job-Centre and what they ‘promise’ and claim they do. And compare it with mine.

My experience is far from ‘the work you want. The help you need’.

Briefly; I became unemployed due to a medical condition, my doctors misdiagnosed it for several years during which time I was repeatedly severely ill and these required numerous emergency-doctor call outs. Finally I was properly diagnosed and told in no uncertain terms to leave the employment and avoid the same/similar conditions. ‘Avoid like the plague’ being the words used.

I was told to go to the ‘job-centre’ and ask for help finding a job. I explained the situation and the doctor’s advice. Instead of ‘help’, I was told that I had voluntarily made myself unemployed and a ‘sanction/delay’ was put on my claim that covered many months.

Eventually, having been unsuccessful in finding employment that avoided ‘the conditions’, I had to insist on their ‘help’. But instead of this I was given the run-around, until in desperation they told me that my biggest obstacle to employment was my ‘qualifications’, or their ascertained lack thereof. (Bear in mind that I left school with the third highest exam marks for that school/year). And with that they arranged to have me sent on a college course, in Art and Design. I have no idea how they came to this idea; my interests and skills lie elsewhere. But that was their insistence “are you refusing ‘training’? We will stop all your benefits if you refuse”. I asked for more appropriate ‘training’ but was ignored and given the Art and Design option as an ultimatum.

To cut it short, the course was a waste of time and effort, AND the qualification gained (a Merit, i.e. one level below a Distinction) was not recognised by anyone I subsequently approached.

While doing this ‘Art and Design’ farce I took some evening classes in the subjects/areas I DID want to pursue. This is where I discovered that I was to some degree ‘dyslexic’, and this seemed to gel with why I’d had such difficulties through my schooling with the formal Maths and English content.

I asked the college for help overcoming the problems posed by the dyslexia, but nothing was ever provided/allowed. I asked the job-centre for help overcoming the problems posed by the dyslexia, but nothing was ever provided/allowed.

Years passed, with me trying to get ‘help/allowance’ to “overcome any obstacles that a medical or ‘learning difficulty’ may pose”. Nothing but delay and deflections and false claims about ‘support’ resulted from my attempts.

Eventually the job-centre (and college) staff/management talked themselves into such a tight corner of lies and bull and false documentation (that I rightly asked be properly addressed) that they decided the best method of losing this embarrassment was to target my medical condition and ‘offer’ knowingly unsuitable ‘job-offers’ knowing that I couldn’t do them and would have to refuse going into the conditions. With that they made the excuse that I had ‘turned down an offer of gainful employment’ – claim terminated/sanctioned.

When presented with doctors letters explaining the condition and situation I should avoid, it was met with quote, “I Don’t give a **** what your doctor advises” unquote.

This sort of thing went on and on. I ask for help and ask that mistake be rectified, they make up stories and abuse their ‘position of power’ in attempts to punish and dissuade me from asking and making known their failures and lies and deliberation.

(I’ll Skip the performance with the Disabilities Employment Advisors for now, as far from help and provision as you could imagine, that is actually still an unresolved history of abuse and discrimination, lies and failures and false claims).

Eventually another ultimatum (A4e, this time). Where I was Ill (as expected) and sanctioned for being ill. I eventually recovered, doctors told me NOT to go into that exposure situation. JC+ ignore the doctor’s letters. Yet another ultimatum, back to A4e, Ill again, sanctioned again. I eventually recovered, doctors told me NOT to go into that exposure situation. JC+ ignore the doctor’s letters again. Doctor refuses to contact JC+, JC+ refuse to contact doctor. Yet another ultimatum, back to A4e, Ill again, sanctioned again. It becomes blatantly obvious that A4e have been lying all along about what they offer and what they ‘did’. AND I have unarguable proof of this. To get me out of their office, A4e put me on a knowingly unsuitable placement (even worse conditions than A A4e).

Then they made up a story that I was secretly seen working (at the placement) by a member of A4e staff. This resulted in court case of ‘benefits fraud’ bolstered by false documentation and false witnesses/statements (selected specifically from the people at A4e and JC+ that I had complained about). This procedure took YEARS to sort out. They falsely transcribed and misconstrued my ‘interview under oath’ and actually lied while under oath themselves. My solicitor in this case was an idle, careless, incompetent and did not bother to challenge them nor present my unarguable evidence. Though entirely innocent of the charges, a false ‘confession’ was read out, I was convicted. Under threat of several thousand pound, custodial sentence and a criminal record I appealed to the Crown Court. (Does this seem anything like “HELP and Work you want”? – NOT!

Crown Court:
The charges were read out. My new legal representative presented just the thin edge of my unarguable evidence, and the Judge listened for a while. My Legal rep assured the Judge that I/he had a great deal more unarguable evidence (much of it actually the prosecutions own evidence, twisted and arranged against me). The Judge was not best pleased. He demanded of the prosecution the Actual cost to the state for what I had ‘defrauded’. The prosecution tried to avoid this by saying ‘its not the amount, its the principle’ (they were claiming several thousand pounds). The judge said, ‘These recordings were available to you, have you not inspected them?” The prosecution said “…er…”. The judge said, “Your own evidence contradicts itself and your witnesses statements, have you not inspected it?” The prosecution said,”…er…” The judge said, “How much is the actual cost to the state?”. The prosecution said, “Er, er, er… its not the amount its the principle” The judge said, “Last time of asking. How much is the. actual. cost. to. the. state?”. The prosecution said, “Er, er, er… ” then whispered an amount less than two hundred pounds. AND I held up the cheque for exactly that amount, I had not even cashed the cheque they were disputing I had defrauded them of because they had stopped it immediately after issuing it.

To sum up: I was innocent, I had defrauded not one penny; there was (and never was) any real case against me. Officially I left with no blemish on my record.

Since that time its gotten worse not better. I am now a victim of a continuing and escalating cover-up and campaign to discredit and fail me. This has aspects of false records, feigned ignorance, destruction of evidence, inventing ‘laws’ to force compliance, public ridicule, assault, and numerous other tactics.

Having previously telling me that they “have been told by the government to not let you have copies of your records, because you will sue us”, they have now added lies that documents have been destroyed/lost, or even the documents never existed and the events never took place. A recent tactic has been to contact my doctor (in secret) and tell them that I have had a ‘fair hearing’ (that never actually happened) and that the findings of the hearing is that I am ‘mentally unstable’ because their is no evidence of any of my claims, and the concerned parties have an entirely different recollection of events.

You might think with all these people and records (missing-evidence) against me that I am a fantasist and ‘mentally unstable’ OK, try this on. I have recordings of the conversations proving what I say/claim. I have unarguable documents proving what I say/claim. I have witnesses of what I say/claim is true. I have a court result and a tribunal finding proving what I say/claim is true correct.

Does this stop them or give them pause? NO. Does this result in a proper investigation of the abuse etc? NO. Does it instead result in an increase of the abuse and campaign against me? YES.

I realise this is an ‘overview’. But if you want all the gory details just let me know and I’ll try and forward you some files.

Report abuse

Hi Joe

Thanks for reading my blog and for leaving your comments.

There were many reasons for me leaving my (admitedly very good) job in London, not all of them cited above, but I understand your point.

However, I certainly do not subscribe to the school of thought that “the world owes me a living”, good or otherwise. I firmly believe that we make our own luck. If I come across as complaining, then I apologise. This really wasn’t the intention.

Above all, my blog is meant to be a light-hearted take on the wild world of unemployment, but read into it what you will.

Thanks again

Henry

Report abuse