Interesting that you received the letter without the correct wording. Ingeus computer system generates the letters from pre-store definitions. Who ever generated the letter may have selected the wrong type of letter from their pre-set list. The name of the person who generated the letter is the one on the last page of the letter (it wouldnt necessarily be the name of the person you are booked to see). Someone making a mistake in WP. Whatever next.

very true

If they dont ask dont tell,sanctions are raised on non compliance grounds or sometimes on a 'raising a doubt' grounds (they would do this one if they had reason to suspect you were working but were denying it)Iif they know of something and it gets you in work you will be hounded for the details so they can claim the outcome....regardless of it was all your own work or not. WP providers are supposed to maintain contact with you when you go into work as well...these contacts get logged on the system as part of your record...so expect continued attempts to get hold of you once you go into work-its in their contract to do this-although in practice this seems patchy. They will contact employer to confirm details of your job and again 6 months later to enable them to continue getting monies from you being in work. Exact contact points to employer can vary as it can be different for different PG ratings( everyone going into WP gets assigned a payment group rating..PG1, PG6 etc etc and yes some ratings are 'worth more' than others to the provider in cold hard cash terms) Some employers are starting to get pretty annoyed with the constant calls....if you havent given your permission for them to contact your employer then they should not do so. Some employers have started asking for these contacts to be made in email form. A common wording for the reply to these emails seems to have begun surfacing.....'replying to this request in good faith and confidentiality' etc etc with the original request email contained within.

Absolutely

Having CVs for clients is part of the internal requirements for a WP provider. Paper copies are destroyed after it is uploaded and attached to the customers record.Offices can get audited and CVs left lying around the office can lead to a failure of audit- such breaches of PID (Personally Identifiable Data) are the most common reasons offices failed such visits. Advisors are required to ensure any clients on their caseload will have a CV on file. Even if the CV only has their name and address on it then its counted as a CV. Used to prove activity with clients or at least that an attempt to do so was made. Reports can be generated to identify clients who do not have a CV on file and advisors given directives to rectify the situation within a timescale.

Sorry i wasnt clear enough, the complaint was made to the JCP as an employee of the WP provider the complainent is attached too had made the claim re £250 per head. As far as I am aware JCP are not incentivised in this manner. They have targets and if they miss them then they are placed on 'performance improvement plans'. I cant imagine the DWP agreeing a bonus payout scheme in the same manner as is common in commercial recruitment sector!

bonus is interesting. complaint has been made by client at our local JCP that a member of staff boasted that they got £250 for each placement. Think its appalling but unbelievably unprofessional to boast in front of people struggling to find work of getting such a bonus.

They will catch up with you, especially as you are nearing the end of your two years, if you are still signing on when you hit the end of your two years the WP provider is required to produce an exit plan for you for the JCP. Basically a document that proves they tried to work with you helping you blah de blah. If your still signing and the WP realises that your about to be a completer (what JCP calls people finishing 2 years on WP) they will be desparate to show they tried to help you. The whole completer thing is unclear...unlikely any kind of penalty to the WP provider but they dont want lots of stats showing they failed people do they.......

Short answer is YES. If the WP office and the JCP office has a reasonable relationship then they can call them to check signing details direct but something called provider direct has come into play where the WP provider can call up and use a log in to access info. The operators are strict tho and if the caller cannot EXACTLY match data as is held by DWP then the call will be declined. They dont tell you why but you can just guess and call again tomorrow. These calls would occur because of a suspicion on the part of the WP provider, they may think you are lying when they talk to you or word of mouth may suggest your change , but the JCP generate a Change of Circs document that is sent to providers, it would list you resigning. but it works the other way too....if you started work and WP provider caught wind of it and they had your consent to share they would phone the employer also a change of circs document would also detail if you signed off...either as claim closed as you failed to sign or because you had secured employment. Many WP providers learn to not just rely on these Change of circs documents as given the number of times you see details on them of people not assigned to your office is very high so you can assume clients you should have seen CoC for has gone to another office maybe even a different provider!

I have been asked about the security of the data held on clients by Work Programme. This is my experience. WP software is accessed via the internet via web browser, no data is stored on a local system as far as youre official WP record goes. The computers to access the custom website and entry portal have a boot stage encryption on them. Every WP employee has a unique log in id, and are instructed that there log in details are not to be shared. I have seen sharing of these details occur as without it you may not be able to log in to do your own work if say your own PC broke. But if someone next to you was off that day and not using their machine....... You have a log in to get your PC up and runnning, you then have a unique user log in to access the internet portal site. As part of this log in process the site you are logging into does a quick inspection of the machine checking the encryption presence and valid ID tags and correct anti virus configuration. Pass this an your in. Runs through the web browser, IE only, and quite specific about certain add ons being in place, particularly Java. And not the latest Java versions either. Tech heads will be familiar with Java and will know the problems/vulnerabilities it has. From there in your running access to WP through a web browser, and you can tell that as occasionally it fouls up and you get to see bits of the HTML code on screen. Upon which you usually have to reboot. Policies are in place that prohibit the use of USB drives. You can guess that goes out the window if theres a deadline and using one means something gets finished. Information, statistics reports, including reports on work that needs doing can be generated by the software and exported to excel files. Staff encouraged to use this facility to track their daily activities and ensure that they do what needs doing that day. Any problems with regards a stable internet connection and the software becomes unreliable and effectively unusable. benefits of this system always sold as all data is retained on a secure remote server but hey im sure Citibank, NASDAQ and Sony all thought that too at one point. And even microsoft was alleged to be hacked due to a java vulnerability. And no, your average person could not do it, but you never know who thinks hacking a system that holds the name, address, DOB, NI, contact phone numbers, email address etc etc till next decade might have some value. Any company that holds such large databases is at risk of such a hack.

Ever considered going public with this info? Or at least contacting a journalist anonymously. I know I have regarding private providers. Contact this site: watchingA4e.blogspot.co.u k The owner of this blog has links with the media. You can contact them in confidence. For what you state on the one hand is utterly disgusting and nothing short of a national scandal. On the other, it is hardly surprising considering who is Work and Pensions secretary and the nature of the W2W sector.

whatdotheyknow.com/request/names_of_work_programme_subcontr This is interesting. The response seems to suggest sanctions raised data is uncollated or would be too expensive to get too. Funny that. Ingeusworks is the software used by ingeus a prime contractor to run their work programme. Managers can run all kinds of stat reports from it including attendance rates of clients, bookings by advisors, missing documentation, and sanctions raised. These reports ARE generated by the prime contractors. Its how centers would be informed that there sanction levels were too low. Usually in the context of poor attendance rates not being matched with sanction submissions. And yes these reports were cascaded to subcontractors. In fact some subcontractor managers had been shown how to mine the data for themselves.

Work Programme and consent to share forms Another little nuggett for you.....WP providers require your consent to share. This comes in two distinct forms though they will have been presented to you as a single entity. One is the consent to share your information ie allowing them to hold your CV and speak to employers on your behalf....putting you forward for things etc...actually quite useful although they should contact you if they have something that is right for you and just check its ok for them to move it forward. The second form is the more interesting one. Its the one that lets them get paid. Its the form that gives them permission to contact your employer. They need this to verify the details of your job start, the log on the system requires job title, employer, employer contact name and usual details of the position. If they dont have the details of your job start then they wont get paid. I have witnessed small panics when its realised that these details are missing. These forms are required to be signed and stored. Your WP provider should have signs clearly on display that tell you how long they keep your details for, if not then i would ask. And yes clients have been 'incentivised' to provide the necessary details. I have witnessed clients removing this consent by putting it in writing to the centre they attend and to the head office. I do not know the legal stance around this, but if they do not have a consent to contact your employer and they do so then judging by the panic i have seen on this issue i assume it has serious consequences. Probably around data protection act and im sure the information commisioners office would not be impressed. These forms should be completed as part of a clients entry into WP. I know of one gentlemen who was sharp enough to spot it. He said he would sign the employer share consent if it was because of the WP that he got a job. Good on him

The JCP has a date for you, which is the date THEY referred you to the WP provider. Your WP provider will have the date you started with them. They will not match. In some cases there can be a substantial difference, discovery of which I have seen cause distress to clients as they had no idea until they attend a JCP appointment and get told they are to have nothing more to do with the WP provider. The discrepancy arises as once referred the provider is supposed to engage with them within a time period (usually 3 weeks) if this doesnt happen then the client needs to be re-referred. Poor management at WP providers means there are people who will find they are being pulled out of WP weeks, even potentially months, early than they think through no fault of their own. Your WP advisor can tell you the date you started on programme WITH THEM but remember it may not match the date JCP holds for you. It was not uncommon for JCP to be on the phone complaining about lack of contact once someone was referred, you would look them up and if no record of them....well they need to be rerefered. You can understand the occasional slip, mistakes happen, but many mistakes is negligence. I hope someone somewhere has the stats on WP providers failure to engage at referal stage.

Just as a follow on with regard exiting the Work Programme (JCP will refer to you as a completer) and Universal Jobmatch Be prepared for a bit of a change if you leave WP and go back to JCP...even if you have worked for most of the 2years you were associated with WP it will count for nothing. There seems to be a MASSIVE disparity between JCP idea of how to use Universal Jobmatch and how the WP thinks it is used. I dont think theyve talked to each other about what was expected and how UJ could be used. Now its use is heading mandatory* it will cause massive problems for a lot of people. My experience working on WP is there are a lot of people who struggle with IT. And UJ certainly needs a bit of work, not least the issue with scams and people being made to apply for vacancies through it when links are unsecure etc etc etc. I would urge people to ask JCP with regard safety of data using this site. Personally i think it should be for jobs. Like in the old days of the jobcentre, when , you know, that was it was there for...JOBS....(just a signing centre now with no help for people.There are people in WP providers who are hoping signing is the next bit that will come there way) ...cards on the walls....basic but at least you knew they were real jobs, not scams, not market research, not asking for money for training courses to get you in the right job for you! * come universal credit you wont be allowed to make a claim unless you have a UJ account. I hope this gets changed....not everyone has computer access!!! yes most do....but its MASSIVELY DISCRIMINATORY to those who dont. I gather UJ is provided by Monster. Well if they cant be arsed to monitor incorrect info, [problem] proliferation, constant duplication, dead links etc etc etc on there own site, then UJ doesnt have a chance does it??