Can anyone help, where to complain about a Job Centre staff member?

MCGONIS

Loopy_Girl wrote: »

Having got a crisis loan many years ago, this is generally the norm.

A decision is not made there and then and you do have to hang around for ages waiting on a decision and then wait for the giro to be processed.

Not pleasant granted but at least you know you are getting money that day.

So I don't think that should form any part of your complaint but if you feel she spoke inappropriately then of course that should.

Hi it has changed a wee bit since when you applied. It's all done over the telephone now. If you have a mobile, you can call and there is no charge to you. The government is meeting the cost of the call. Also another handy thing to remember, Crisis Loans can help you if you need rent in advance, You just call the number and can get up to £1500 within 20 minutes. Even if you are employed, just phone up. Everybody seems to. If you can't get help from anywhere else, the government allow people to get assistance from the fund.

The operators on the line have to jump through so many pointless hoops and targets imposed by HM Government that you will get the loan just fine. It's all about following a script and keeping the call short. Not really about making a decision properly, just about stats.

You can't get any help with deposits though. But if you have the deposit, you can get the rent in advance. You need to remember though, that Crisis Loans are intended as a last resort. If thre is a serious risk to your health & safety, then the loan will be paid.

Hope that helps you or others a bit.

viktory

starlite wrote: »

This is an anonymous forum, and I posted so people could understand the situation and advise me as there was a little confusion that it appeared I was claiming incompatible benefits.

It is not that anonymous - give out enough information and people will recognise you. Your ex, for example....

starlite wrote: »

If you can't post anything useless, then do pop off.

Oh I can post useless. Let me see..useless piece of information; your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks, otherwise it will digest itself.

Edinburgh65

Mm, another post by the OP shows that she purchased a Hollywood teeth whitening kit for £17 on the 13th December, paying an extra £6.95 for next day delivery, so perhaps her views on what constitutes a financial crisis are a bit at odds with those of the JC.

atomicsheep

MCGONIS wrote: »

Because their training is appauling. They are put onto a telephone line and don't know what to expect.

the training from the IRS is appauling? How else was everyone trained, and by who?

krisskross

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

I don't like the idea that my taxes are paying state workers who are rude to their customers.

I don't like the idea that my taxes pay all the living expenses of people who have kids without being able to support them, people who decide they are better off on benefits than working, people who whinge and moan about job centre staff doing their job, but then I have no choice.

Please remember we have a very one sided view of the events from a disgruntled woman who didn't get what she wanted and who admits to having mental health problems.

dreamylittledream

:j

atomicsheep wrote: »

the training from the IRS is appauling? How else was everyone trained, and by who?

I'd ignore him if I were you, he kind of gave his prejudices away when made the band comment which he has now deleted.

He no doubt harkens back to the day when SF DM's did pretty much what they felt like on the basis that crisis loans were discretionary awards, regardless of what the law says. The QAF framework to actually check the quality of decisions has only been in place a few years, before that there was nothing.

In answer to your question at any rate, SF training used to be a local matter, without many central training products.

MCGONIS

atomicsheep wrote: »

the training from the IRS is appauling? How else was everyone trained, and by who?

Hi. I feel we have hijacked someones thread! LOL

I am talking about the training my employer provides. Not the Indepedent Review Service.

MCGONIS

dreamylittledream wrote: »

:j

I'd ignore him if I were you, he kind of gave his prejudices away when made the band comment which he has now deleted.

He no doubt harkens back to the day when SF DM's did pretty much what they felt like on the basis that crisis loans were discretionary awards,

They still are discetionary awards are they not? I harken back to the days when a caller telephoned to say they have spent their benefit paying SKY TELEVISION and wanted a Crisis Loan and they were refused, obviously.

Nowadays though, as I have may have said previously, it's not about making decisions, it's about reading a script and being timebound by targets set by my employer. To refuse someone takes too long.

I don't get taken away every 2 weeks at my one2one and spoken to about "you are paying too many people or refusing too many people" What I get spoken about now is "your calls average 18 minutes when it should be 17 and your after call work is 50 seconds, but it needs to be 30 seconds."

Protecting the public purse is the days I harken back to. Paying loans to people that actaully deserve them is also what I harken back to. Being monitored and measured on call handling times instead is what I am faced with. And it's the callers that suffer because of this.

Oh and by the way. Before QAF, there was and still is the National Audit Office who oversee the Social Fund and it's accounts.

Lastly, I do apologise to anyone reading this thread about the comment I made about grades. I did remove it once I had calmed down.

happy35

I can't see the problem with the Jobcentre employee reading a letter you had supplied as ID, commenting on it shouldn't have happened .

Anything I am supplied at work I read as there may be info on the letter that would raise questions etc and make any discrepancies in what you were being told more visible, these could then be answered rather than being returned for the quesitons to be asked causing a delay in the process

MissMoneypenny

krisskross wrote: »

I don't like the idea that my taxes pay all the living expenses of people who have kids without being able to support them, people who decide they are better off on benefits than working, people who whinge and moan about job centre staff doing their job, but then I have no choice.

Please remember we have a very one sided view of the events from a disgruntled woman who didn't get what she wanted and who admits to having mental health problems.

So someone who has had mental health problems should never be believed?

If the OP feels she was treated badly, then she should put in a complaint. The relevant person in authority can then decide if her complaint against a job centre staff member is likely to be true and act accordingly. A staff member who is known to be a really nice person, will not get a complaint like this stick.