job centre 'travel to interview' scheme stopped!

Ihatecameron

TIS has not been stopped, in fact I've authorised two applications today.

2 applications in 1 day, fantastic.

milfield

richpoortyke wrote: »

Not really surprised by this news. Each time i speak to the JC about this i get a different answer. The latest one was that it had to be over an hour in public transport travel before i would be considered. Even then they didnt seem sure whether it would be allowed.
I need the option as there is no work in my town, and the nearest city is 30 miles away (around £13 on the train).
How can the Government expect us to pay for these travel costs (20% of the income i get for one interview in my case) but still tell us to look for work that is 1-1.5 hours away from our homes?

Travelling to interviews can be difficult when on JSA because of the cost, and as you say can take a large percentage of benefit.

Under Travel to Interview Scheme, generally any interview within the local travel to work area would not normally qualify for assistance. It is normally where the interview is outside of this area. This obviously varies depending on where people live as it is more difficult for someone who lives in a rural area for example.

TIS does not include going to register with a recruitment agency either, but does include an interview with an agency for a specific job.

TIS always looks at the cheapest form of transport which enables somebody to get to the interview on time.

The 1 - 1 1/2 hours travel from home is based upon using public transport and is door to door so includes the time walking to a bus stop or train station, waiting around, the journey itself and then walking to your final destination. This is where the travel area is widened out the longer somebody is on JSA.

milfield

Ihatecameron wrote: »

2 applications in 1 day, fantastic.

2 more than none eh.

persa

dugdale wrote: »

TIS has not been stopped, in fact I've authorised two applications today. It's being reviewed as are many other things due to the introduction of the work programme. Instead of there being one large pot of money to be shared out nationally each region will have more control of it's own budget. If one particular region decides that it doesn't want to allow TIS anymore that might release extra funds for more training courses, or more into the ADF pot. There isn't a bottomless pot of money available and it is only correct that more thought is given to how tax payers money is spent.

Thank you for taking the time to post this - the link on the direct gov website makes the situation sound much worse than it actually is.

If the JC want to look at the merits of each request in more depth and limit the number of times they fund interviews in other cities, that's fair enough. I was terrified they would cut funding altogether, making it impossible for me to find work. Really appreciate you backing up what I was told earlier today.

Braintree

dugdale wrote: »

TIS has not been stopped, in fact I've authorised two applications today. It's being reviewed as are many other things due to the introduction of the work programme. Instead of there being one large pot of money to be shared out nationally each region will have more control of it's own budget. If one particular region decides that it doesn't want to allow TIS anymore that might release extra funds for more training courses, or more into the ADF pot. There isn't a bottomless pot of money available and it is only correct that more thought is given to how tax payers money is spent.

Interesting, thanks. So Southampton, who have confirmed over the phone that they have stopped it & ADF, won't be continuing with it but another JCP might decide to keep it but get rid of something else.

Does it depend on the size of the JCP and how many people they see per day or are some just making more allowances with what little they have?

Ihatecameron

Braintree wrote: »

Interesting, thanks. So Southampton, who have confirmed over the phone that they have stopped it & ADF, won't be continuing with it but another JCP might decide to keep it but get rid of something else.

Does it depend on the size of the JCP and how many people they see per day or are some just making more allowances with what little they have?

I suppose it depends on where you live and what local employment prospects are. If you live in a large city they might scrap TIS, if you live in an area with very few jobs they may keep it.

Braintree

Ihatecameron wrote: »

I suppose it depends on where you live and what local employment prospects are. If you live in a large city they might scrap TIS, if you live in an area with very few jobs they may keep it.

That makes sense, thought it is debatable how good Southampton's job prospects are but that's another thread for another day, if the local area has x amount of jobs a claimant can apply for then they can argue there is no need for the claimant to look beyond a 15 miles radius.

dugdale_2

The Jobcentre in which I'm employed will receive a budget for the next 12 months out of which we will have to fund training courses, ADF, TIS etc. Currently we're looking at our criteria for ADF and TIS but have no plans to cease either of these two schemes. We're trying to identify training providers who can offer more cost effective courses as the providers we were previously forced to use were very expensive (they had the contract so didn't need to lower their prices to win business). Hopefully we'll be able to provide more in the way of training than before, training that is relevant to the local labour market.
I for one welcome this move.

Braintree

dugdale wrote: »

The Jobcentre in which I'm employed will receive a budget for the next 12 months out of which we will have to fund training courses, ADF, TIS etc. Currently we're looking at our criteria for ADF and TIS but have no plans to cease either of these two schemes. We're trying to identify training providers who can offer more cost effective courses as the providers we were previously forced to use were very expensive (they had the contract so didn't need to lower their prices to win business). Hopefully we'll be able to provide more in the way of training than before, training that is relevant to the local labour market.
I for one welcome this move.

Have you(or anyone) heard of any schemes(TIS, ADF, training etc) ceasing from other jobcentres? I can't help but feel I've been mislead by the directgov and Southampton Jobcentre and they are trying to avoid paying out unless you push it?

Sorry to sound so distrustful of DWP but I have my reasons.

dugdale_2

I don't have any contacts outside my region so couldn't comment for any other Jobcentre. I would find it hard to believe that any region would call an end to training, TIS or ADF however they might have changed the eligibility criteria. Both TIS and ADF are down to adviser discretion, they aren't automatically given, perhaps a visit to your jobcentre is called for - ask to speak to the adviser manager if you don't make any progress with your adviser.