Category: anti social behaviour,

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Shoplifting Offences In England and Wales At Highest Level In 20 years

According to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shoplifting offences in England and Wales in 2023 have risen to the highest level since records began in 2003.

According to the data there has been more than 430,000 recorded cases last year which had increased by 37% in the year ending 2023 when compared to 2022. This makes it the highest levels recorded since records started being kept in 2003.

James Cleverly responded by saying that although the police record it as a ‘sub threshold crime’ and it has a so called ‘corrosive effect’ on peoples confidence in the police. Its not surprising that he appeared to have zero sympathy for those effectively forced to shoplift due to various circumstances.

Julian Heyes, criminal defence lawyer and partner at Berris Law LLP went on to say ” The release of the recent shoplifting figures simply demonstrate that the years of austerity and cuts in policing have meant that the investigation of these so called minor offences have long since been neglected and ignored”

“The police cannot be blamed for this as they, much like the rest of the criminal justice system are on their knees. The cost to the high street is immeasurable and causing shops and businesses to close or restrict access to customers, not to mention the horrendous risks that members of staff have to take when challenging shoplifters”

The truth is that shop lifting is rising for various reasons including and not excluding others: The increasing cost of living, high energy bills, low wages, less than adequate social security payments, increases in mortgage repayments, social security payments being too low and badly paid employment.

Whilst many people with addictions shoplift to fund their habits there’s very little support given to them to conquer their addictions thus the circle of offending continues.

Let’s be clear, very few people actually want to shoplift its a situation they find themselves in through desperation and is usually the last option that they can take after exhausting other avenues, they’re desperate and see this as a last resort.

We all appreciate and acknowledge that there are foodbanks that help people but not everyone can access them or can wait until the next time they’re open. People are driven by hunger and distress and we live in desperate times which is entirely the governments creation.

The UK has a government hell bent on lining their own pockets and their business and personal friends with money that has been taken from the public purse. There’s been a sharp decline in the physical and mental wellbeing of the working class and mortality levels are rising. The constant stripping of funding to local councils has also paid a huge part in this and town centres aren’t being cared for like they should be because theres no longer the financial means to do so. This has a direct impact upon the high street.

The solution to this is quite simple and to be honest basic economics. For a society to succeed and thrive there has to be financial investment into the public, the more money they have to spend undoubtably benefits their general health it also helps to transform the areas that they live.

It’s easy to blame a shoplifter for shoplifting, and I don’t condone violence towards retail staff. The blame lies totally at the governments feet. Society as we knew it has been broken by the current government, the amount of desperate and hungry people are at their highest in modern times, desperate people are forced to take measures that they would previously have never dreamt of doing.

Hurl your anger at the government and not Joe Public.

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anti social behaviour,, Army recruiting, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

DWP Intent On Creating Own Anti-fraud Police Force

As we know the DWP are pushing a bill which will give them access to approximately nine million claimants bank accounts through parliament.

They are already pushing for additional powers of arrest, search and seizure additional to having access to bank accounts and it’s a scary thought.

If they are successful with their aims the DWP will therefore have its own anti-fraud police force. With this they could also be able to impose huge fines without going to court.

This is extremely worrying considering if they are successful they won’t have any real accountability by anyone but themselves and we know what that means.

By default the accountability given to their actions will be very low if any at all. Yes they make claimants follow their rules when they often don’t follow them themselves.


Whilst this  legislation hasn’t been given to  the DWP yet it’s vital to be aware that this could happen and to prepare for it if it happens.

Keeping good records of everything that you do and have done. Double check everything and keep everything safe.

Please note this hasn’t happened yet so don’t worry and I will be sharing more about this and what you can do as and when more information comes out.such immense powers does appear,

Please don’t panic this hasn’t happened yet and it might not go through parliament yet and I’ll keep you updated.

To be forewarned is to be forewarned.

Keep safe and warm and  love to everyone

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anti social behaviour,, Army recruiting, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, Myra Hindley, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,

No Blog This Week

Hi folks sadly they won’t be a blog this week I’ve had a really stressful busy week

I don’t like doing this but I do need a clear head because I don’t want to write a rubbish blog post.

I’m struggling to pay my home internet bill which is essential for blogging, researching and helping people which I’ve been busy with this week.

Thanks to all of my supporters every share helps to raise huge public awareness of how life is for so many of us. Believe it or not some people aren’t aware of how people are suffering under this Tory government.

If you like my blog and can afford to there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

Thank you so much

Charlotte x

anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, loose women, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Benefit Sanctions Cause Poverty And Destitution

I’ve been writing about benefit sanctions for years but I thought that I’d write a timely reminder of the harmful affects that imposed sanctions cause.

Here’s a list including and not excluding others:

Harm to mental health
Harm to relationships
Increased debt and reliance on credit cards and loans
Food poverty and fuel poverty
Survival crime
Increased risk of domestic violence

Also increased risk of homelessness, suicide and harm to physical health.

Not to mention that being sanctioned has a large detrimental effect on actually being able to actively look for work.

When a person is cold and hungry their priority becomes keeping warm and survival which doesn’t leave much time for job searching.

Combined with the cost of living and energy crisis it’s a complete nightmare. Already people are struggling financially with the ever increasing cost of living and energy costs. Combine this with being financially sanctioned will push even more into destitution and poverty.

Benefit sanctions have been and will continue to be one of the main reasons why there’s been a huge increase of foodbanks and people that are reliant upon them. Whilst they do help Foodbanks often offer short term support only whilst sanctions can last for months.

Where do they get food from if they’ve already had their allowed amount from a foodbank? Thankfully many do offer continued support but many don’t.

This unfortunately leads to survival crime, shoplifting food and other essentials.

We also can’t forget the distress that living with the constant threat of sanctions has upon claimants. Being forced to live with extreme levels of anxiety and stress causes a huge increase of people having mental illnesses of which it’s hard to get professional support for.

Sadly as sanctions are yet again on the increase all the above will be exasperated by the constant attack upon working class people by the government, and demonized in theright wing press.

The only way to hopefully stop this is to have a change of government and the future government listening to and acting upon these issues.

We need to continue to talk about benefit sanctions and the damage that they do. No one should have their very means of survival taken away from them by those that have plenty.

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anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Seasons Greetings To All…. Except The Tories.

I hope you all enjoy the festive period even though I know it’s tough for so many of us.

Here over at The Poor Side Of Life HQ it’s going to be a quiet one, to be honest I’m not really celebrating it.

Of course I’ll make sure that my daughter enjoys Christmas but as a single parent and having no family etc to celebrate with it’ll be quiet.

I’m going to take the time to reflect and maybe get some rest, it’ll be a welcome change.

Don’t feel pressured into celebrating Christmas if you don’t want to. Christmas is a tough time for so many of us, remembering times past and people long gone.

I’m here if you’re on your own and want to chat.

A huge thanks to everyone that reads and shares my blog posts it really does mean the world to me.

And as for the Tories they can get to feck. I have zero time for them.

Lots of love

Charlotte xx

anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, loose women, love island, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

3.8 Million People And One Million Children Living In Destitution New Report Reveals

3.8 Million people in the UK have experienced destitution In 2022 including One Million Children new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds.

This is almost two and a half times the number of people in 2017, and nearly triple the number of children. There is a desperately urgent need for action to tackle destitution in the UK.

 The legal definition of destitution is ‘the inability to afford the absolute basics required to maintain a healthy life: food, shelter and warmth’. Let this sink in… 3.8 million people and 1 million children are forced to live like this through no fault of their own and I expect these figures to rise every year until a politician, maybe even a future prime minister is actually brave enough and committed to tackle this and do something about it.

I say brave because from where I’m sitting save but a few opposition politicians that are brave and committed enough to challenge and to stand up and speak about it, many of the others continue to drone on about ‘working people’ whilst ignoring those most in need.


It’s totally shameful, a true reflection of how the government regard the people living in the UK, you know the ones that don’t have huge trust funds, have friends in high places and the ability to avoid paying tax. Instead theres an ever increasing number of people struggling to afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed.

Not only does this have deep and profound impacts on health, mental health and people’s prospects, indeed mortality, it also puts strain on already overstretched services.
Nearly three-quarters of people experiencing destitution are in receipt of social security payments, further evidence of benefit inadequacy. Ad-hoc and totally unrealistic support from the Government, first during the pandemic and now to help with the cost of living, hasn’t halted the rising level of destitution, namely because this help doesn’t even touch the sides. What is needed is to actually admit that this is happening and an outstanding ambitious programme of action to address destitution and its corrosive impacts that doesn’t pander to those that have caused these increasing figures.
It comes as no surprise that Rishi Sunack has decided to give bankers another a massive windfall for Bankers.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation that conducted this report have several recommendations that would help to take people out of destitution and they are as follows;

Universal Credit should have an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ to ensure everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford essentials such as food and household bills. An independent process should determine the Essentials Guarantee level, based on the cost of essentials. Universal Credit’s basic rate would need to at least meet this minimum amount, and deductions would not be allowed to reduce support below that level.


Undertake wider reforms to social security, including: lowering the limit on deductions from benefits to repay debts; reforming sanctions so people are not left with zero or extremely low income; and ensure people can access disability benefits they are entitled to.


Ensuring cash-first emergency financial assistance is available in all areas, along with free and impartial advice services to address the crushing debt, benefits and housing issues that keep people destitute.


Enable everyone in our communities to access help in an emergency whether they have ‘no recourse to public funds’ or not – and resource local authorities to meet this additional need. Local authorities, charities, independent funders and housing providers should also work together to prevent destitution and homelessness for people with restricted entitlement.

Of course more than this is needed but it’s a start, sad to say that unless theres a change of government and the future labour government actually putting those in most need first because at the moment people aren’t living they’re existing until they die.

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anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, Uncategorized

Government Plans to Impose Stricter Sanctions For Benefits Claimants

The government is planning to impose stricter sanctions for benefits claimants, the chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed

As this year’s Conservative Party conference ends Jeremy Hunt revealed plans to impose tougher benefit sanctions. Saying that it will encourage people to look for work.

However research has shown that sanctions cause destitution and worse for already financially vulnerable people.

Punishing people even more because they can’t find work doesn’t help people find work and combined with the cost of living crisis it will push thousands of people into even more poverty causing extreme distress and harm.

When speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that 100,00 people are leaving the labour market every year for a “life on benefits”. He also said that this is why the government is replacing work capability assessments and examining the sanctions regime.

Hunt neglects to tell his audience that one of the reasons why unemployment is rising is because business such as Wilkos and small businesses are being forced to close. They find themselves unable to trade anymore because of the financial crisis.

Hunt went on to say “It isn’t fair that someone who refuses to look for a job gets the same as someone trying their best.”

This isn’t true though, people claiming universal credit working or not working have to adhere to strict job searching rules as stated in their claimant commitments.

Pitching claimant against claimant isn’t a new trick by the Tory party. They’ve been doing it for years under their ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor ideology.

Their remit has however changed as it’s clear to see that they regard everyone as not deserving of help especially disabled people who always bear the brunt of the government’s cruel policy changes.

Instead further punishments will undoubtedly force vulnerable people to look for unsuitable low paid work which could damage their health and plunge them into even more poverty than they’re already in.

Anela Anwar, Chief Executive of the anti-poverty charity Z2K, said: “The government needs to stop scapegoating people in poverty. More people are claiming disability benefits because more people are seriously ill or disabled – not because people have suddenly become lazier.

“The punitive and trigger-happy benefit sanctions system already leaves hundreds of thousands of people without the money they need to survive every year. And it doesn’t work: evidence tells us that sanctions leave people sicker and even further from the labour market.

“Further tightening the screw will only cause more destitution, prevent people re-engaging with DWP, and no matter the safeguards in place, will inevitably affect some of the most vulnerable.”

Indeed it will and life is going to become a great deal harder for vulnerable people that need help and support rather than even more punishment from a cruel uncaring government.

Personally I’d like to see them all live as we have to, with no access to funds and forced to live in damp, substandard housing. I’d like to see if they could survive this for over a year, but it won’t happen.

One thing they’ve managed to excel at is totally destroying the UK, its foundation, reputation, people, industry, businesses.

The current state of the stock market proves this, when big businesses and major players from around the world stop investing in the UK there really is no future for it. No one wants to invest in a country that’s failing everything and everyone.

We need a general election asap because the Tory government will stop at nothing to continue to feather their own nests, even when they put the future of the UK at great risk.

My photo.
It totally reflects the state of the UK at the moment.

If you like my blog please can you share it. It makes a massive difference and raises much needed awareness.

I don’t get paid anything for the work that I do and it’s a huge struggle for me.

If you’d like to contribute towards keeping it going there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

Any donations made will be used to pay my internet bill and make it possible for me to continue blogging these important issues.

anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Life in a northern town.

Hi there I hope you are all ok and are trying to cope in these godforsaken awful times. Just when you think it’s got as bad as it can be the government comes up with something else to torment us.

I’ve decided to write a blog similar to the ones that I used to do when I started out all those years ago. Back in the day things were bad but it’s a whole lot worse now.

Life has certainly changed beyond recognition, services that we had to support people and communities are long gone, working class labour controlled local  authorities have had their funding stripped and it’s now virtually impossible to heat and eat.

I often find myself walking around my local town remembering how lovely it used to look compared to now.

It’s run down in parts mainly because the funding that used to be available isn’t available any longer. The government has provided some funding but it can only be spent on designated projects and not urgently needed ones. 

It’s the same in most working class towns. Shops are shutting because people no longer have any spare money and have to concentrate on essential things.

A good economy can’t be created by not investing in communities something the government fails to realise

It’s easy to be quick to blame local authorities for the decline of our town centres whilst forgetting that it’s essentially the governments fault for denying much needed funding. If they don’t have the money it can’t be done can it.

Anger should be directed towards the government for their part in the destruction of local communities.

It’s a class war for sure.

Back in the day myself and fellow campaigners DPAC and Black Triangle predicted that things would get bad and we weren’t kidding. I remember being called an extremist and I was making it up.

We weren’t wrong were we.

One thing I do know is that we’re all struggling at the moment and with autumn quickly approaching the worry of keeping warm is upon us.

How will we manage? God knows but I predict there’ll be many casualties this year. It’s soul destroying but I fear that this too is becoming normalised just like foodbank usage has been.

Despite all of the above I like the town that I live in, I can escape to the countryside by walking up the road and I appreciate it now that I’m able to do this.

Keep strong everyone we can get through this because we’ve got each other and they can’t take that away from us.

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anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, loose women, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

DWP Cut off Nearly One Million Callers To Future Pension Centre Hotline

t wasn’t that long ago when I published a blog about the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) deliberately cutting off calls.

You can find it here https://thepoorsideof.life/2023/05/11/dwp-deliberately-disconnects-calls-to-pip-and-dla-helplines/

It appears that the DWP have extended their total disregard and lack of care to their Future Pension Center helpline.


DWP minister Laura Trott disclosed in a written answer to parliament that between the 27 January and 26 March 2023, 1,007,868 calls were made to the Future Pension Centre helpline.

Of these, 47,345 were answered.

18,006 calls were abandoned.

It also revealed that a massive 942,517 calls were cut-off by the DWP before the callers got through to an operative.

That means a shameful 94% of all calls were deliberately disconnected.

This once again proves that the DWP and the government are totally ‘incompetent’ and are totally failing those that are desperately in need.

Personally I think that it’s deliberate and not down to incompetence after all they save money because people give up trying to contact them. They like to save money especially off the backs of vulnerable people.

Their systems aren’t fit for purpose and this proves this to be the case.

Will the government invest in their call systems and make them fit for purpose?

Don’t hold your breath. It’s beneficial for them not to do so. Meanwhile vulnerable people will continue to get distressed whilst trying to contact the DWP and many will give up altogether.

This isn’t acceptable but don’t expect the government to care enough to do anything about it.

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Many thanks to Benefits And Work for their original reporting of this.

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Thank you!

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DWP Deliberately Disconnects Calls To PIP And DLA Helplines


DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) minister Tom Pursglove admitted that claimants are waiting over half an hour on average for PIP and DLA helpline calls to be answered.

He also claimed that he is going to recruit extra staff to cope with the volume of calls on the helplines but gave absolutely no indication of how many are being employed and for how long they’ll be employed.

Nor has he confirmed if the extra staff he plans to employ are qualified to do so.



At the time of writing the average wait for a PIP enquiry to be answered is 37 minutes and for DLA enquiries it is 33.5 minutes.



However it is imperative that Tom Pursglove reveals the amount of callers that don’t get an answer at all because their calls are disconnected.



Earlier this year the DWP revealed that in March almost 90% of half a million callers to the Future Pensions Centre were faced with being call-blocked because they couldn’t cope with the rising call demand.

Implementing Call-blocking results in calls not being allowed to go on the call waiting queue because the queue is too long and they get cut off.

This is also happening to callers contacting the PIP helpline as reported to Benefits And Work by claimants trying to contact the said helpline.

We cannot ignore the fact that the claimants trying to contact these helplines are all vulnerable and are in great need of getting their enquiries answered.

The question also needs to be answered as to how many of these vulnerable people have given up trying to contact the departments. This could in some circumstances result in their payments being stopped leaving them more vulnerable than they already were. .

There’s no excuse for the DWP’s lax attitude towards the whole situation.

It’s clear that they don’t care about how this can impact upon the claimants lives and it is totally unacceptable.

Photo by Alex Green on Pexels.com

Thanks to Benefits And Work for disclosing this information.

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