Andy Mitchell and Brett Sparkes
with increasing cuts to Job Centre Plus, and the closure of centres, claimants are travelling further and further to get an appointment.”
As anyone living and working in the countryside knows, rural public transport has been decimated over recent years. So getting to an appointment will be increasingly difficult and more time consuming.
In fact this year alone the DWP announced the closure of 20 job centres in February, another 19 in May and a further 36 in late June, and bus routes have decreased from over 17,000 in 2010/11 to under 9,000 by 2022/23, with the government’s national strategy for buses, Bus Back Better, described as “failing” by the Campaign for Better Transport.
Workers falling foul of the new threshold will have to visit their appointed Work Coach no matter how difficult it is to access a Job Centre, or when the appointment might be. This raises the very real concern that workers will have to ask an employer
for time off work for appointments, or be sanctioned. Something that could result in a fine of £85 and payments being stopped for 12 weeks. A situation Andy feels many employers are not fully aware of either.
This will lead to an increase in stress among workers on low incomes and part-time hours and just add to poor mental health issues already reported among claimants on UC, a concern mental health charities have been raising for some time.
Andy summed up saying that he hopes that the campaign will raise awareness of the changes to Universal amongst reps so they can fully support any members who are impacted as a result.
He added, “I’d really like to thank Brett and the whole of the Unite South West team for all the support they have shown. Brett and I are really working together as a team on this campaign and we’ve seen how important it is by the reaction from reps when they find out about the changes.”
15 uniteLANDWORKER Autumn 2023 CAN YOU HELP?
Andy and Brett are keen to hear examples from members and reps about how workers are being sanctioned so they can build up more evidence and a bank of case studies.
Please contact Brett Sparkes
Brett.Sparkes@Unitetheunion.
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