On Wednesday, 4th Nov 15, a JobCentre Workcoach at Seven Kings Jobcentre, instigated a full scale row with me about my apparent job search failure, even though I applied for 33 vacancies for period 21/10/15 – 4/11/15 - so she's clearly insane and her judgement is off at best and worst she doesn't listen to reason nor pay attention to months of evidence. (This is my 2nd complaint against this particular Work Coach for bullying – the first complaint being the 10th September 2014) She battered me about why I hadn't secured interviews for the amount of jobs applied for, I explained that many job sites sold advert slots to recruitment agencies, and that many jobs aren't offered to me due to me being over qualified, and too old for entry-level posts. At precisely 12:40pm, she aggressively challenged me and said “If I'm so experienced, then I should be in work” - and she didnt mean it as a compliment either, she was goading me, doing her absolute best to wind me up, and she's clearly a lunatic of the highest order and unprofessional to boot. I mean, does she really think that repeatedly bashing out the same questions really helps motivate jobseekers or changes a job-market fluctuation situation that's completely out of my control – it doesn't. The 'Work Coach' also kept banging on about her 'job coach' credentials, she told me she was a qualified job coach (seems the majority of DWP staff do this too, but from what I've seen they don't have the skills/knowledge required to coach anyone) . Is the DWP sure they should be using self-appointed titles, as I thought their titles were Compliance/Customer/Client Advisor?? although the Work Coaches seems to think its fine to promote themselves and bully others.... (It seems the title of 'Work Coach' is an official title according to the DWP). She then turned to giving low-level CV tips, 'advising' that I should change it so its 'targeted'. Well, I've removed 4 positions to make it so – but this has now left a huge gap of 4 years employment that is tough to explain to interviewers, hmmm, great advice She then threatened to repeat the same pathetic questioning every time I attend my signing day, and I'm not being spoken to like that, nor will I stand for her ridiculous threats and told the Jobcentre, I will take this to the highest complaints level as this is the 2nd time these pathetic power games has occurred and the 3rd advisor complaint put forward by myself, although I couldn't be bothered to take it to the maximum complaints stage last time, but I will now.

This is f....g rediculous. They mess up my calculation...let it run for years and then give me a 2 year backdated attachment of earnings. for over 800 pcm. (for one child). I had to leave my job....I got a much lower paid job and they were taking 350 for maintenance and arrears. I get another low paid job...they then accepted 250 for arrears only as the regular payments had stopped. I get another job and try to contact via email and web enquiry. No reply. Suddenly...without warning. £425 per month out of my bank account. I cant even afford my rent or electricity. And this is without travel to work costs or food. What the hell do I do.

F-Secure is warning computer users about a significant increase in sightings of the Locky ransomware, typically spammed out posing as invoices or profiles for positions at your company. Here is how researcher Päivi Tynninen described the scale of the malware campaign: Yesterday, Tuesday, we saw two new campaigns with a totally different magnitude: more than 120,000 spam hits per hour. In other words, over 200 times more than on normal days, and 4 times more than on last week’s campaigns. If you make the mistake of opening one of the ZIP files attached to the spammed out messages, you will find a JavaScript file inside. Clicking on it would be a big mistake and lead to your computer being hit by the notorious Locky ransomware. Before you know it, you may have lost access to your files and find yourself being blackmailed for their safe return. Stay safe folks. Always be suspicious of unsolicited attachments.

I just found this - very clever. The body artist who did the colouring is very clever. http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsother/vanishing-veterans-lead-campaign-to-supernumbercountthemin/ar-BBtcmYV

Govan Law Centre has launched a campaign which it hopes will give a voice to people in the private rent sector and lead to reforms. Staff from the service which provides free legal support are holding street stalls throughout the city as part of the lottery funded research project. They hope tenants who have had problems with landlords will come forward and tell their story. READ MORE HERE: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/law-centre-campaign-to-help-tenants-203848n.123407248 More info Here from GLC: http://govanlc.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/govan-law-centre-endorses-living-rent.html

The two biggest forums on CAG are Banks and Debt, with over a million posts each. Clearly money is a big issue in the UK. What is the root cause? The answer is that money is created by private companies (banks) simply by typing figures into a computer. It’s a great business model, isn’t it? You apply for a mortgage, the bank types numbers into your account and then charges you interest on them, many thousands of pounds over many years. This was not some pensioner's savings: it was new money created out of nothing by the bank. But don't take my word for it: here it is explained by the Bank of England: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/news/2014/051.aspx "​Where does money come from? In the modern economy, most money takes the form of bank deposits. But how those bank deposits are created is often misunderstood. The principal way in which they are created is through commercial banks making loans: whenever a bank makes a loan, it creates a deposit in the borrower’s bank account, thereby creating new money." The effects are huge and widespread: · * If you are wondering why you are in debt, the answer is that these companies are incentivised to create as much debt as possible so they can charge interest on it. Moreover, we can never get out of debt, because then 97% of the money in the economy would disappear. · * Why are houses so expensive? New money could be put into productive use - for example a business that employs people and makes widgets: but that's risky, so the biggest destination of new money is housing, and that's why houses are so expensive. · * Pensioners on the breadline. £1 saved in the 1950s has been deflated down to 4p today by the creation of masses of new money. · * The most profitable activity on the planet is now playing with numbers in computers. The brightest minds go not into industries that benefit society but into finance. This is not the first time such a situation existed. In the 1800s the promissory notes issued by private banks had become money, the banks figured out they could just print more, and a property bubble was caused. So Parliament stepped in with the Bank Charter Act of 1844 and said that only the Bank of England could print money. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Charter_Act_1844 Unfortunately there was a get-out clause, which was Demand Deposits, i.e. your bank balance. With the advent of computers it became possible to multiply BoE currency massively, 48x at the time of the crash. Money is not a natural phenomenon, it is manmade and we make the rules. Yet a few years after they needed to be saved, banks are in the position to pay £billions in bonuses. I think that the rules should have money serve society, not private, unaccountable, profit seeking enterprises. If you agree, please post your support so I can organise the campaign. I have also set up an e-petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/64050 If you don’t agree, please say why, cite your evidence, and we can have a sensible debate about it. Thank you. Mike Garrard

A housing association has sent letters to over 600 of its tenants who have been identified as potentially having grounds to appeal against the government's controversial bedroom tax. Read More Here: http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2014-09-25-Bedroom-tax-campaign-heats-up-as-600-tenants-face-appeal Just hope its successful and more HA do this.

A housing association has sent letters to over 600 of its tenants who have been identified as potentially having grounds to appeal against the government's controversial bedroom tax. Read More Here: http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2014-09-25-Bedroom-tax-campaign-heats-up-as-600-tenants-face-appeal Just hope this is successful and that more HA get onboard. You could consider writing to your own HA and pointing to the above link and asking if they are going to do the same.

http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/energy-prices/british-gas-price-rise-energy-bills-sse-17102013/?utm_campaign=171013_campaigns_energy_prices_non_supporters&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email_campaigns&cmp=171013_campaigns_energy_prices_non_supporters http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/energy-prices/know-the-issue/ http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/energy-prices/

article provided by funforus The Which campaign against unwanted calls (this includes harassment as well as spamming) moves onto its next stage today. I've been helping and have the release below: Last month we called on the Government to step in to strengthen the law on consent and the use of personal data, and to give regulators more powers to enforce the law. Over 76,000 people have so far signed up to pledge their support for our “Calling Time on Nuisance Calls and Texts” campaign. Consumers can pledge their support at: http://www.which.co.uk/callingtime Notes to Editors 1. Populus, on behalf of Which?, interviewed 2,070 UK adults online between 19th and 21st April 2013 and 2,101 UK adults online between 3rd and 6th May 2013. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all UK adults. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. 2. The new Which? complaints tool will direct complaints about live marketing calls and texts to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or the Telephone Preference Service. Complaints about silent or abandoned calls will be directed to Ofcom and complaints about premium rate services will go through to Phonepay Plus. 3. We are calling on the Government to strengthen the law on consent and the use of personal data, to give regulators more powers to enforce the law, and to work with industry to provide technical fixes to filter out unwanted calls and texts. 4. Which? is also supporting Mike Crockart MP's Private Members Bill on nuisance calls and texts which is due to have a second reading in the House of Commons in the Autumn.

Hello All! A 'living wage' is the term used to describe how much someone needs to earn per hour to afford the basic essentials in life, not luxuries, essentials. The campaign for a living wage is growing in strength with Labour now throwing its support behind the idea and London mayor Boris Johnson saying it has his wholehearted support. The recommended living wage was recently set at £8.55 an hour in London and £7.45 an hour for the rest of the UK. The minimum wage is £6.19. Please sign the petition in favour of raising the national minimum wage to match the living wage needed for people to be able to support themselves. find the petition by clicking here- http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/41273

CONSUMER ACTION GROUP - BEDROOM TAX CAMPAIGN The Welfare reform Act is due to come into force in April 2013 which includes the Housing Benefit reforms (commonly known as the ‘BedroomTax’) that will have a dramatic impact on numerous citizens throughout the UK. The Government claims pensioners will not be affected are misleading. From October 2013 if a pensioner’s spouse is not of pensionable age, they will be required to claim the new Universal Credit and be subject to this loss of benefit as well as their pensions. It has been designed to reduce the Housing Benefit expenditure, promote increased mobility and improve work incentives but the under occupation deductions or the‘bedroom tax’ as this change has been dubbed will affect around 660,000 households throughout the UK who will be under-occupying social rented housing based on Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) definitions. Those affected tenants could lose up to £20 a week from their Housing Benefit: 14% of the full HB-eligible rent for one bedroom ‘too many’, and 25% for two or more bedrooms. Who is going to be affected? Any claimant who is deemed to have one spare bedroom or more will be affected. This includes: Ø Children under 16 of same gender expected to share. Ø Children under 10 expected to share regardless of gender. Ø Disabled tenant or partner who needs non-resident overnight carer will be allowed an extra bedroom. Ø A quarter of the people affected are Single Parents. Ø Separated parents who share the care of their children and who may have been allocated an extra bedroom to reflect this. Benefit rules mean that there must be a designated‘ main carer’ for children (who receives the extra benefit). Ø Parents whose children visit but are not part of the household. Ø Those on a Low Income/Unemployed/Vulnerable will be affected. Ø Couples who use their ‘spare’ bedroom when recovering from an illness or operation. Ø Disabled people including people living in adapted or specially designed properties. Ø Disabled people who require a spare room for medical equipment, rehabilitation equipment, need for an overnight carer occasionally will be affected. Ø Anyone that was moved to their present property under Medical Advisement and/or requested by a Medical Professional will be affected. Does the Governments Regulations define a bedroom? NO The Government’s view is that it is for landlords to specify the size of the property and that this will match what is on any Tenancy Agreement and reflect the level of Rent Charged. The bedroom tax will not take account of whether a room is a single or a double bedroom. A room either is a bedroom or is not a bedroom. What else need to be taken into consideration? Ø The Government introduced the ‘Right to Buy’ some years ago in Social Housing but didn’t put in place the required investment into replacing that social housing, now there is a shortage of Social Housing. Ø Lack of available social housing properties for those affected to move too. Ø Social Housing rents are rising more due to the change from Retail Price Index (RPI) to Consumer PriceIndex (CPI). Ø More people losing their jobs and now they will be in fear of losing their home. Ø Cost of living constantly rising. How can we Fight the Bedroom Tax Set up a local campaign group in your area. Ø To meet to discuss the Government’s Bedroom Tax with your family, friends and neighbours remember you don’t need many people to organise a first local campaign meeting. You can even get a few people together in your own front room or find out if there are free meeting spaces in a local community centre or library. Lobby your Local Councillor and MPs Ø Write to them with your reasons why you are against this bedroom tax and asking how the Government and Local Authorities have carried out their Public Sector Equality Duties. OR Ø Visit your Local Councillor or MP at their local Surgery held in your area. AWAITING SAMPLE LETTERS Lobby your Local Council Housing Association / Housing Association. Ø To ask that they consider reclassify those properties affected. AWAITING SAMPLE LETTERS What do I do when I receive a ‘Decision Notice’ of the Bedroom Tax reduction on my Housing Benefit? When you receive the Housing Benefit Decision Notice the paperwork should contain that Local Councils Appeal process so always Appeal the Decision following the Councils procedure.

Could you take the time to read and sign this E-Petition on safer Cycling.. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/41324 Thank you

Dont know if anyone else has spotted this,maybe they will be calling on Cameroons hate department http://www.westmercia.police.uk/news/news-articles/disability-hate-crime-we-won-t-tolerate-it.html

[16 Sept 2012] From 1 October 2012, a new code of practice will govern the activities of private parking companies that belong to the British Parking Association (BPA). For the first time, the code will require members to put a large sign at car-park entrances stating the main type of parking available, eg ‘pay and display’, in lettering 60mm (2.4in) high. This is a success for our campaign to get private car-park signs improved, but there remain doubts about whether it will lead to generally beneficial change for motorists because the rest of the code remains highly ambiguous and weighted strongly in favour of the companies, which chase drivers for more than £160million a year in phoney (ie, non-official) fines. (See our other recent new stories, and our Articles page under ‘Parking’.) Both the BPA and the government’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) avoided consulting Plain Language Commission on the draft of the new code, despite (or because of) our frequent contacts with them about mislewading signage. Martin Cutts of Plain Language Commission wrote to BPA president Anjna Patel giving our reaction to the new code. ‘I... am pleased it has adopted some of the points I and others have raised with your officials over the past two years. On signage, for example, the new draft will require a clear sign at the entrance saying, eg, ‘pay and display’ in lettering 60mm high. The new draft also references the DfT signs manual, which my article ‘Phoney fines and dodgy signs take drivers for a ride’ suggested should be the model for private parking signs. The BPA had previously insisted that signs were perfectly clear when the words ‘pay and display’ were only 13mm high, eg about five times smaller than you now require, and had resolutely supported member companies that had imposed thousands of PCNs [parking charge notices] on motorists who had omitted to pay and display because of such signs. ‘Of course it remains disappointing that while the BPA wants sign wordings to be clear, it sets no standards whatever for clarity. This means that its current bankrupt inspection regime will continue to find ungrammatical and nonsensical signs absolutely clear, to the detriment of motorists. ‘I’m pleased the expected contravention charge has been cut to a maximum of £100, tacitly accepting that charges of up to £150, fully approved by the BPA for more than five years, have been immoral and unjust. I’m also pleased that the BPA has made clear that the charges levied by many private members have been unlawful as they have been penalty charges: this is the only possible interpretation of draft code para 19.5, which says the charge must now reflect the “genuine pre-estimate of loss that [the landowner] suffer”. This crucial phrase was absent from the previous code.’ We’ve now written to the DVLA, the government agency (in partnership with the BPA) that provides its government-accredited trade association status, to ask for its interpretation of the word ‘loss’: ‘Please provide us with the DVLA’s/BPA’s agreed and accepted interpretation of the phrase ‘genuine pre estimate of “loss”. What legal precedents have the DVLA/BPA relied on in support of their interpretation of the phrase “genuine pre estimate of loss”? What elements [of parking company expenses] have the DVLA/BPA agreed will be interpreted as “loss”? Please provide examples of what the DVLA/BPA will consider acceptable and unacceptable as “loss”.’ The draft code requires charges not to be ‘punitive or unreasonable’ but does not say how this phrase is to be interpreted. We have asked the DVLA for clarification. The BPA has produced a code that allows it wriggle-room for interpretations that will favour its members, to the detriment of motorists. While we await the DVLA’s answers to our questions with interest, all the indications are that this duplicitous agency will continue to collude in the BPA’s efforts to take as much money from drivers as possible. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 allows private parking companies to chase registered keepers, not just drivers, for their unpaid phoney fines. It also requires a supposedly independent appeals service to be introduced. We have asked the Department for Transport to explain how the service will be independent when it will not operate to ombudsman rules, is under contract to the BPA, and is paid for by the BPA's private members. We have pointed out that it will be forever looking over its shoulder at its paymasters, the BPA. The BPA has said it will get its new, ambiguous code accredited for plain language by the Plain English Campaign Ltd. Now there’s a marriage made in hell if ever there was one: a trade body that pretends to be the motorist’s friend while enabling its members to extract increasing amounts from drivers, teamed up with an firm that gives prizes to its own customers in a supposedly public competition without revealing its commercial tie-ups with them (click here for ‘The Plain English Awards Scandal’). http://clearest.co.uk/news/2012/9/16/small_signs_of_success_in_parking_campaign?page=1

Has anyone else come accross the following campaign that pops up while on CAG forum? Does anyone know who can be credited for the campaign? Vodafone, ICO or CAG ''Vodafone and your credit file We are getting a disproportionatenumber of complaints that Vodafone is damaging people's credit files throughcarelessness and poor systems. If you have suffered as a result of inaccurate data being entered onto your creditfile then you are not alone. You should make an immediate written complaint to the:- Information Commissioner'sOffice Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF or call the Information Commissioner on 01625 545745 The more official pressure which is put on Vodafone, the more likely they areto sort their systems out.''

Fed up with littering and with politicians and statutory bodies who seem incapable of doing anything about it? If so it's time for you to sign up to Zilch.org.uk - the people-powered initiative that's going to bring about the social unacceptability of littering. Zilch is a technology enabled network of individuals in the UK working to eliminate littering and is currently in an embryonic form but has big plans and is growing rapidly. Its emphasis is on things that you can do and action you can take to help make this happen. The more of us who come on board, the greater our credibility and clout. Tell someone about us today. And if you want to get involved or help fund the endeavour, just say so when you sign up. My contact details are on the temporary home page if you have any questions or just want to find out more. Quentin