@1806 Do you want to bow to these people? will it help you get a job? do you need their help? If the answer is yes, go ahead and use them to your advantage, if the answer is no, you do not have to sign action plans, data waivers/CV's etc etc. Head to xxxxxxxxxxx which has specific guidance on your rights and obligations and advocates purely for people who are unemployed.I also have standard data waiver/action plan letters available through that site. I personally only attend every 2 months and cancel at whim with no detrimental effect, no courses attended etc etc. Best of luck.

I would like to add a very salient point - the people best placed to help you get back into work were JCPlus - before big business decided to earn big money out of the unemployed. We at JCPlus didn't get kickbacks for people going into work, myself and a number of people I worked with at JCPlus lost our jobs purely because big business decided they could do it better, and the fact is, they can't AND advisers for these WP Providers earn lots more than we did at JCPlus - cost effective - NO!! Its basic economics - supply and demand - if the demand for workers isn't there you are stuffed - 2.67 million out of work, 400,000 vacancies mainly part-time) do the maths! I advocate anyone on WP to make sure they know their rights, if you don't know - find out because you aren't a number and you can't be bullied.

JSA regs are irrelevant - we are talking about Data Protection which means you can opt out of sharing any details with anyone. No Govt dept or provider will be able to alter Statute to allow Providers to circumnavigate basic rights as that can then be challenged under Human Rights legislation. What Govt is going to risk that as they know they will get shot straight down for trying to place different criteria on the unemployed than would apply to workers. What is said in an office and what is actually law are two very different things and I am trying to state what the law, the rights and regulations actually are, not what they are perceived to be. I was also under the impression that we all still have freedom of speech, everyone is entitled to make their point, the general populace will then garner the information which they feel is legitimate.

Point of clarification - removing consent for data sharing DOES NOT IN ANY WAY STOP YOUR CLAIM or put you at risk of sanctions. There seems to be a lot of heavy weight action and bullying by these providers going on - I was with Ingeus, I am now with A4E - I have never been threatened, I removed all my personal details off JCPlus and got all my data under FOI, A4E have none of my details other than my address. It strikes me that many claimants don't know their rights, just because we lost our jobs doesn't mean we don't have the same rights as everyone else. If anyone needs good honest assistance with any WP issue please join us on unemploymentmovement.com. I have my own thread - My Battle with WP - I have no action plan, I didn't sign any docs and I see an adviser once a month if I am really unlucky. Knowledge is power and you do not have to bow down to these people. By refusing to share my details my pimp provider gets NO MONEY when I eventually find work (they don't deserve it). I should also add that I am ex JCPlus - so I know what I'm talking about. DWP guidance is there to protect you too!! not just give WP Providers big sticks to beat you with!

Ingeus attended in Notts - I, like a number of contributors on here, am over 40, have a really good and high level work background. But, the job situtation out there at present is horrific. I have repeatedly asked Ingeus if they will help me gather other skills say my First Aid, Basic Hygiene Cert - they are only interested in getting you into work - so although I argue that these would expand my work base (I am a financial, admin person by career) I keep getting a NO! Initially I was attending fortnightly, then monthly, I am now back to fortnightly as they obviously are under pressure to get me into work. I want to work, I need to work, but they are not able to offer anything I can't do myself with regards to jobsearch, CV,s and applications. Ingeus get £400 for every 25+ that is placed onto their programme, so it isn't as if they don't have funds (my funding allowance is apparently £100 and I know I have decimated that by going to interviews in London 150 miles away and claiming back my travel from them). The other annoyance is that they get up to £14,700 if you get work whilst with them (needless to say I won't be allowing that to happen - I will put that when I get a job I am actually going travelling or something). I find the staff at Ingeus young and patronising and totally out of their depth with the intelligent, work hard, highly qualified and experienced claimants that they are now seeing. I have an appointment today - I will be pushing again for course attendance - if I get a 3rd no (and JCPlus have confirmed they are the ones to ask) I am going to do my nut!