Doing Community Service - Means no Benefit is it True

[Daniel182]

Hello

 

 

My neighbour's son tried to retrieve is dole money, he was told, because he is doing community service at the moment, his money will be stopped until he finishes his time doing CS.

 

 

Is this right?

 

 

Thanks

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Do you mean the sort of community service that replaces a prison sentence please or volunteering? Sorry if I've misunderstood, they both seem to be called the same thing.

 

HB

Edited December 29, 2014 by honeybee13
Clarification.

[think about it]

I'm sure someone will come along with an exact answer but from memory if his claim says he must be available for work and he is not due to being committed to his community service then there's every chance he's not meeting the conditions of his claim.

[Daniel182]

Thanks for replies

 

 

Hi Honeybee.

 

 

Replacing a prison sentence.

 

 

Cheers!

[honeybee13]

Thank you for that, I hope it helps the guys to advise.

 

HB

[honeybee13]

I haven't found specific information yet, but I do wonder if the benefits office have confused being in prison serving a sentence and having a community sentence.

 

Have they confirmed this in writing and has he asked them to quote the DWP rule that says he can't be paid?

 

HB

[honeybee13]

I found this.

 

Benefits

 

If you're serving a prison sentence in the community, you have the right to claim benefits. For example, you could claim Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support or Pension Credit. Make your claim as soon as possible. You can get help to claim benefits.

 

The only thing I don't understand is if there is a difference between serving the rest of a sentence in the community and doing the whole of the sentence in the community.

 

The website has links for further advice and if this young man has a probation officer, it might be worth asking them.

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/search.htm?query=early+release

 

HB

[antone]

As Honeybee says, we really need to know why, specifically, he's being told he is not entitled to benefits. I'm not aware of any rule that says people doing CS cannot receive JSA, ESA or whatever other benefit may be appropriate. Apart from anything else, leaving people destitute in these circumstances seems like a poor way to prevent re-offending.

[Shoelover]

Has he told the jobcevtre his CS restricts his availability? Might be they have misconstrued something

[tfp]

Hello

 

 

My neighbour's son tried to retrieve is dole money, he was told, because he is doing community service at the moment, his money will be stopped until he finishes his time doing CS.

 

 

Is this right?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

This is probably going to be the daftest thing I'll hear today! As antone says, this is a completely screwed up way of keeping someone away from criminal behaviour. This is in effect this lad being punished twice. Not only is he having his time taken from him by doing CS, he is having his main source of income denied him as well!

 

 

Besides, CS is not 23.5 hrs a day for the duration of the sentence. The DWP may as well suggest hobbies are not allowed for jobseekers either as this interferes with their job seeking efforts.

[SabreSheep]

He needs to do a mandatroy reconsideration request in writing and then lodge an appeal

[Shoelover]

I have never heard of this happening and have worked in benefits for 22 years. Wondering if theres more to this...

[antone]

I have never heard of this happening and have worked in benefits for 22 years. Wondering if theres more to this...

 

That's why I suggested that it would be helpful to know the specific reason why the person in question is being told he's not entitled. Because like you, I've never heard of this happening.

[id6052]

Daniel182

 

The information you have provided does not make a lot of sense as it is not unusual for people to receive JSA whilst doing CS.

The only scenario I can think of would be if the community service was in relation to a benefit fraud offence and his JSA has been sanctioned.

 

Best advice would be for your neighbour's son to request a written explanation of the decision. If he needs further advice from CAG members, he should create his own profile on here, as it is likely that some members may require a bit of background information to be able to advise appropriately.

[tfp]

Daniel182, just a thought. Why does JC+ need to know if your neighbour's son is doing CS at all? Just who has informed them? As long as he is fulfilling his job search quota, why should litter picking for a few hours a day be even on their radar?

 

 

But as others have said, it does sound totally odd for someone on CS to be denied their basic benefits.

[Shoelover]

If there has been a loss of benefit provision because its a conviction for benefit fraud, he would have been informed.

[tommy456]

This goes to show how inept some staff at JC's really are, I too doubt that this decision is actually law ,

lets look at at logically for one moment shall we, a convicted offender is given the option of an alternative to a custodial sentence , example ( x amount of hrs Community service + 12mths probation ) this costs the tax payer/ Government a pittance

 

the alternative 6-9mths or more incarceration in Prison costs a dam sight more

 

If it was enshrined in law that those who where subject to community service orders by the courts were not entitled to benefits such as JSA as a direct result of this i'm sure many convinced people would elect to go to prison instead,

 

Sounds like some JC staff are in need of being properly trained, as they don't have a clue

 

I could say what happened to common sense , but Government and it's minions don't seem to do that any more

[antone]

Without more information about what's actually happening here, I'm unwilling to start laying the blame at the feet of "inept" DWP staff. Of course it's true that mistakes do get made, something which seems inevitable when the rules are changed regularly and capriciously to suit the prevailing political sensibilities, but we're not exactly working with full details here.

[Shoelover]

Without more information about what's actually happening here, I'm unwilling to start laying the blame at the feet of "inept" DWP staff. Of course it's true that mistakes do get made, something which seems inevitable when the rules are changed regularly and capriciously to suit the prevailing political sensibilities, but we're not exactly working with full details here.

Couldn't agree more..

 

Making sweeping judgements without the full facts is unhelpful - on both sides of the fence

[tommy456]

Well i cannot see why they wouldn't be paid JSA whilst they carried out community payback as per the agreement made by the court as it is no more than unpaid work just like voluntary work is, and those unpaid work schemes dished out from those 3rd parties with government approval it's not like it wasn't declared

As long as the person is still actively seeking work and satisfies the current criteria for entitlement for JSA then they should continue to be paid,

[id6052]

Hi Tommy

 

We all agree that it doesn't make any sense.

 

There are a number of possibilities which might include mistakes by DWP, but could just as easily be that the son's money was stopped for some other reason, which he has misunderstood. That is the difficulty when you get only part of a story thirdhand.

[tommy456]

Whilst i except what you and others are saying, yes it's possible someone got their wires crossed so to speak, My answer was aimed more to the question in general,

[Daniel182]

Many thanks to all. It's been sorted Thanks again for all the advice?

[caro]

Can you tell us the outcome as it may help others.