Universal Credit

[JagLover]

edh said:

..These are advances that are then reclaimed from future payments. Not publicised or encouraged.

.

Well yes as people are receiving the UC to which they are entitled a month in arrears, as with a salary.

If you have an advance on such a payment you would need to pay it back. It doesn't reduce the amount to which you are entitled for a set period.

[edh]

TooMany2cvs said:

edh said:

Calls to DWP lines are not optional they are, for many, the only way of communicating.

I thought UC queries could be dealt with at job centres? The web is, of course, accessible for free through local libraries (yes, yes, I know...).

AFAIK jobcentres are appointment only. If you just show up you will be turned away. There's also a closure programme for jobcentres. Not to mention transport costs.. (bear in mind how little money many of these people have)

I think there's been far too much faith put in moving these benefits online. Many of the most vulnerable and needy just can't hack it. If you phone to initiate a claim, they will try very hard to push you online - "haven't you got a friend with a computer?" "what about the library?" All sounds very reasonable from a solid middle class perspective.

[SantaBarbara]

Job centres are now like night clubs, they have Bouncers on the doors.

[JagLover]

SantaBarbara said:

Job centres are now like night clubs, they have Bouncers on the doors.

Have done for the last decade as far as I am aware.

Certainly back in the last recession, when I was turning up to collect JSA it was like visiting a prison.

[Eric Mc]

"And landlords have been putting "No DHSS" in ads ever since there was a DHSS..."


No point in doing it now as there is no DHSS (and there hasn't been one for about 20 years).

[Zod]

The basic idea is good and necessary - the benefits system is ludicrously complex, but its implementation is a mess. Hardly surprising given that IDS was in charge of it for so long. He is an arrogant, stupid man unfit to be in charge of a lemonade stand.

[SantaBarbara]

Under the flag or banner of getting people back to work they caused a lot more hardship, in my humble opinion.

[JagLover]

Socially good but implementation politically inept. Too few ministers have both proper control over their departments and realize the political impact of how policies can be presented by opponents.

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/10/the-governme...

[Eric Mc]

There's also the problem of unintended consequences. These always occur when ministers tinker with what are already labyrinthine and complicated rules and regulations.

[TooMany2cvs]

Eric Mc said:

"And landlords have been putting "No DHSS" in ads ever since there was a DHSS..."

No point in doing it now as there is no DHSS (and there hasn't been one for about 20 years).

Congratulations in understanding what I meant with the last few words there.

[SantaBarbara]

Eric Mc said:

There's also the problem of unintended consequences. These always occur when ministers tinker with what are already labyrinthine and complicated rules and regulations.

Very true.

Often Progress is a retrograde step, when it comes to service to the public.

[Eric Mc]

TooMany2cvs said:

Congratulations in understanding what I meant with the last few words there.

I was thinking of other readers. Talking about defunct organisations is not very helpful to others.

[Digger]

Eric Mc said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Congratulations in understanding what I meant with the last few words there.

I was thinking of other readers. Talking about defunct organisations is not very helpful to others.

I agree. I think we should ban all teaching of History and be done with it.

[SantaBarbara]

TooMany2cvs said:

Eric Mc said:

"And landlords have been putting "No DHSS" in ads ever since there was a DHSS..."

No point in doing it now as there is no DHSS (and there hasn't been one for about 20 years).

Congratulations in understanding what I meant with the last few words there.

The full list of excluded was No DHSS No pets. And no non whites

[Eric Mc]

Digger said:

I agree. I think we should ban all teaching of History and be done with it.

I love history so I would never block any discussion on a historical subject. However, this thread is about dealing with a current mess up - which is nothing to do with the DHSS. The organisation that currently administers benefits, pensions etc is called The Department of Work and Pensions or the DWP.

The actual history is that, over the decades, it has gone through multiple reorganisations and name changes with its remit chopping and changing on the apparent whim of ministers and civil servants.

Here's a timeline for those who might be interested -

Until 1968 the social security responsibilities had been split between the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, and the health responsibilities by the Ministry of Health.

In 1988 the department was split again into a separate Department of Health and the Department of Social Security It had been known as the DSS from 1968. With the addition of the "Health" briefing it became the "DHSS".

In 2001 the Department for Work and Pensions was formed from the Department of Social Security, absorbing the employment functions which had previously been the responsibility of the Department for Education and Employment since the dissolution of the Department of Employment in 1995.

[TooMany2cvs]

Eric Mc said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Eric Mc said:

"And landlords have been putting "No DHSS" in ads ever since there was a DHSS..."

No point in doing it now as there is no DHSS (and there hasn't been one for about 20 years).

Congratulations in understanding what I meant with the last few words there.

Talking about defunct organisations is not very helpful to others.

My apologies for being too subtle. Let me rephrase - "...ever since the DHSS still actually existed, which it hasn't for a long while..."

[Eric Mc]

In fact, the DSS/DHSS ceased to exist almost 30 years ago. It just shows how expressions get embedded in language and culture, even if they are no longer really relevant.

[drainbrain]

In it's turn, "The DSS" replaced the previous term for the agency which was "the burroo". Which, presumably, was how the uneducated pronounced "bureau".

One term for the mess that seems to have survived since it ever was first created is "the dole".

[Scotty2]

As HMHB released in 1985
Back in the DHSS...

[anonymous-user]

TooMany2cvs said:

...
"Up to 55p/min" - well, yes... IF you have a spectacularly expensive PAYG tariff that charges you 55p for calling any landline. ..
....

You may be viewing life through the viewfinder of the reasonably well to do. Poverty brings with it many forms of practical disadvantage. An expensive PAYG phone may be all that a poor person can get, as he or she may lack the credit profile to get a good deal.

When you are poor, many aspects of life can become difficult. I live in an affluent area and have every civilised amenity within minutes walk from my front door. I also have easy access to online and phone services as I want them, and I can use my car or a taxi or public transport with ease if I need to go and get or do something. If you live in, say, a tenement in a slummy part of Glasgow, your access to goods and services tends to be pretty rubbish and you may not be well placed to afford transport.