Income Support; Work Focused Interview

NASA_2

For all they will expect you to do at the interview I would go ahead with it. You cannot be pushed into anything. And failure to take part leads to a possible benefit reduction:

Consequences of failing to take part in an interview

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]05555 Where an officer has made a relevant decision that a partner has failed without good cause to take part in an interview, the specified benefit payable to the claimant shall be reduced. This reduction is brought into effect by superseding the decision under which the current award was made1. The effective date of the supersession is either2

1. the first day of the next benefit week for the claimant following the day on which the relevant decision was made [/FONT][/FONT]or [FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]
   
2. if the date in DMG 05555 [/FONT][/FONT]1. [FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]arises 5 days or less after the date the relevant decision was made, the first day of the second benefit week following the date the relevant decision was made.
   

[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]1 SS CS (D&A) Regs, reg 6(2)(h)(i); 2 reg 7(25)(b), SS (JCIfP) Regs, reg 11(1)
[/FONT][/FONT]Example
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Chris has been in receipt of IB with an ADI for his wife Jane since January 2003. Benefit is paid fortnightly in arrears on a Tuesday. In May 2004 a DM decides that Jane is required to take part in a WfI. On 14.6.04 an officer decides that Jane has failed, without good cause, to take part in a WfI. A DM makes a supersession decision in order to reduce the amount of benefit. The first benefit week immediately following the relevant decision starts on 16.6.04. That is only 2 days after the date the relevant decision was made. The DM therefore decided that the supersession should take effect from 23.6.04.
05556 Benefit is reduced by an amount equal to 20% of the IS applicable amount for a single claimant aged 25 or over as at the date the reduction begins1. Benefit cannot be reduced to a sum that is less than 10 pence a week2. [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]1 reg 11(2); 2 reg 11(3)
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]05557 Where two or more specified benefits are in payment (in relation to each of which a requirement for a partner interview has arisen), the reduction should be applied to the benefits in the following order of priority1

1. JSA(IB)
2. ESA(IR)
3. IS
4. IB
5. SDA
6. CA.

[/FONT][/FONT]Note: [FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]CA is included in the list of benefits that can be reduced because a requirement to take part in an interview on account of entitlement to CA plus ADI can arise in the circumstances described in the note to DMG 05521.
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1 reg 11(4)

[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]Vol 1 Amendment 31 June 2009 Work-focused interviews for partners 05558 05569
05558 In some cases the amount of the first benefit on the list will be less than the amount of the reduction plus 10 pence. In these cases the reduction should be made from the next benefit on the list which is more than the reduction plus 10 pence1. [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]1 SS (JCIfP) Regs, reg 11(5), reg 11(6)
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Arial,Helvetica]05559 Where none of the benefits in payment is more than the amount of the reduction, the reduction should be applied to the first benefit on the list that is in payment and then to any other benefit in payment until the whole amount is deducted or benefit is exhausted. Benefit should not be reduced below 10 pence1.
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times][FONT=Times New Roman,Times]1 reg 11(7)
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sjc3

My brother in law attended one of these interviews when he was on IS. They are not a big deal at all, honestly. All the adviser will do is look at your circumstances and advise you of all the options available to you. There is NO pressure to force you back into work. They know your financial position now and can advise you how that could improve if work is found. Its very informal and more like a friendly chat, like the type you would have if seeing someone from CAB. Please dont get in a terrible state about it, you would be worrying for nothing.