Jobs sessions failure is costly
Thousands of West Midlanders are failing to turn up for job interviews at a cost of millions of pounds to taxpayers, says a report out today. Thousands of West Midlanders are failing to turn up for job interviews at a cost of millions of pounds to taxpayers, says a report out today. JobCentre Plus staff were stood up by about 16,860 people in the region last year - one of the highest figures in the country - an investigation by the Commons Public Accounts Committee revealed. Of these, some 13,710 were punished. New claimants who fail to show up for interviews and actively seek work risk being disallowed from claiming Jobseekers Allowance or Income Support. Read the full story in today's Express & Star.
Thousands of West Midlanders are failing to turn up for job interviews at a cost of millions of pounds to taxpayers, says a report out today.
JobCentre Plus staff were stood up by about 16,860 people in the region last year - one of the highest figures in the country - an investigation by the Commons Public Accounts Committee revealed. Of these, some 13,710 were punished.
New claimants who fail to show up for interviews and actively seek work risk being disallowed from claiming Jobseekers Allowance or Income Support.
Existing claimants risk a formal warning if they fail to provide a valid reason for missing an appointment - and face losing 20 per cent of their benefits for each missed interview.
Nationally, 1.8 million jobseekers failed to show up for interviews, costing the taxpayer £16m.
The committee, a cross-party panel of MPs, said more should be done to remind people of their responsibilities.
They suggested staff take steps to avoid scheduling interviews at inconvenient times such as during the school-runs.
Committee member, Bridgnorth Tory MP Philip Dunne, said there was a lack of joined-up thinking in closing offices all over the country and requiring benefit recipients to have face-to-face meetings.
