Flexible New Deal Scandal:
Flexible New Deal

So… the Government sticks the unemployed who are out of work more than 6 months on to an intensive course called New Deal which is contracted out to organisations such as faith organisation YMCA Training who are supposedly meant to stick New Deal participants in work placements to gain experience and help them find employment.

Enter Andrew Coates, someone who has protested peacefully on an online blog of a newly formed group called Ipswich Unemployed Action about the mistreatment of New Deal participants on the course at YMCA Training’s Dencora House (who were providing such courses without planning consent) – with the group’s other members.

After 30 minutes, an YMCA Training manager and another member of staff removes Andrew from the room and summons him to a meeting with copies of the blog on the table in front of him.

It is apparent that the Freedom of Thought (known in there as “Freedom of Conscience”) mentioned in the Induction Pack wasn’t applicable.  Not only now has he been rejected for thinking different (it might be best also to state that he wasn’t exercising his Freedom of Expression, he didn’t disclose his views with anyone else in the room) he is now without benefits and pending a 26 week sanction.

A lot of the disputed content wasn’t even posted from himself, none of the content was slanderous or libel in nature and he also got the blame for people accessing the blog via their computer systems before he actually was on the course.

Numerous bloggers have picked up on this story – so this may not have been the first you have heard of it.

I ask YMCA Training: why was Andrew rejected from this course? Why have you gone against your principles??

YMCA Training who has dismissed a New Deal participant in just little over 30 minutes of the New Deal course Induction Week due to conflict of personal opinion (breach of the “Freedom of Expression”/”Freedom of Speech” and “Freedom of Thought”/”Freedom of Conscience” Human Rights) has justified their reason as such views were a “Health and Safety concern“.

This is obviously complete nonsense.  The Jobcentre however warranted their request for dismissal even though staff were said to be against their reasons.  The participant therefore is likely to be pending 26 week sanctions

It has been discovered that Dencora House in Ipswich, a training centre run and rented by YMCA Training didn’t have planning permission for over 6 months.  To run a training centre you require D1 planning consent. Dencora House and it’s 10 units all had B1 Offices planning consent.  When YMCA Training, one of the largest training providers with 31 years experience and over 40 locations, rented units  it was unaware of the law and therefore traded without permission.

Ipswich Borough Council took enforcement action when they discovered that they were illegally trading when they only had consent for offices. The council forced them to apply for planning permission.  After YMCA Training were responsible for a long list of problems including damage to cars, litter and noise disturbances – the neighbouring businesses downstairs of Dencora House and in the local area appealed against their application.

It wasn’t until July that year where they were granted full planning permission to change use from B1 offices to D1 non-residential training centre for a year trial period. It will expire July 31st 2009.

It is not known why DWP and Jobcentre Plus didn’t notice that they did not have planning permission when they did their checks to see if the training centre was up to a required standard to be used for New Deal.

Feel free to view the below posts about each attempt:

• YMCA Training’s first attempt for planning permission (appealed)
• YMCA Training’s second and successful attempt for planning permission (only granted for 1 year though)

YMCA Training has, without their New Deal participants consent, sent their contact details to some statistics company who has contacted them asking to complete an anonymous survey on the YMCA Training New Deal courses.

This company, however, uses a unique tracking code to check up on who said what – not anonymous – and the letter contained details advising the person taking the survey that they wouldn’t be able to be traced. View the rest on Flexible New Deal Scandal

We recently reported that YMCA Training is disclosing past New Deal participants personal and confidential details which they should no longer hold, to a company called QDP Services, without the New Deal participants permission.

I thought it would be best to follow up this by quoting Q D P Services‘ pledge regarding handling confidential information.

It is best to point out that QDP Services are not to blame for the data disclosure – it is YMCA Training who kept the confidential data longer than required, a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and then disclosed it without permission.

QDP Services, however, are accountable for the” anonymous” survey which is tracked.

View the rest on Flexible New Deal Scandal

Call it another scandal if you wish, it seems that New Deal providers are exempt from planning legislation.

Banbury based YMCA Training, who have recently viewed this site today (leave a comment and say hello)  manages to deliver New Deal training courses without first acquiring the required D1 planning consent.

• YMCA Training     Ipswich      Wolsey House
• YMCA Training     Ipswich      517 London Road
• YMCA Training     Ipswich      Dencora House
• YMCA Training     Southend   Baryta House
• YMCA Training     Romford    Lambourne House

If you know of any others let me know.

Update: Added “Lambourne House” – Havering has responded to me stating they don’t have D1 consent and they should apply for retrospective planning permission costing around £335 for an application if they still use the building.

If you have been on New Deal the chances are you had £4 unlawfully deducted weekly from travel reimbursements and expected to cover that from your training allowance.

New Deal Scandal and Ipswich Unemployed Action has confirmed this is in fact unlawful and New Deal participants may take action to recover the £52 deduction for the 13 weeks they attended. If participants have attended New Deal in the past they can still claim £52 for each 13 weeks they completed on New Deal. This could be £156 for some people.

Under 13 weeks? You can claim £4 per week for each deduction that occured.

You can also claim interest on outstanding amounts.

YMCA Training had been using 517 London Road since April 2003. Ipswich Unemployed Action has reported that over 6 years later they have submitted a retrospective planning application to gain D1 consent.

This came long after a year when they had enforcement action taken against them for not having D1 consent for Dencora House.  They are also applying for permanent consent after receiving a year trial of D1 consent lasting a year had expired.

Use of Building for D1 purposes, 517 London Road, Ipswich

1. This statement relates to a retrospective planning application for the change of use of a former business premises involving elements of warehousing, manufacturing and office use, at 517 London Road. The site forms part of a small cluster of employment and commercial uses. To the east of the site are extensive residential areas.

2. Planning permission is sought for the use of the premises to a non-residential training centre (Use Class D1) operated by YMCA Training, a major training provided in the town, providing variety of training programmes for the state sector, public sector and private companies. The use has been operating from the site since April 2003.

Documents to download from New Deal Scandal for inspection:

• Application Form for YMCA Training 517 London Road (D1 consent)
• Statement for YMCA Training 517 London Road (D1 consent)

Ipswich Unemployed Action and New Deal Scandal has confirmed that Ipswich Borough Council has granted YMCA Training full planning consent for Dencora House.

Dencora House is a detention centre located on Whitehouse Industrial Estate – isolating New Deal participants from society. Even in an industrial estate, the property has a perimeter fence, the entrance is a vast distance from the main road and towards the opposite side the place is shielded from an even busier road by trees – it is good to see trees but I can’t help thinking that this place was chosen to keep the unemployed away from the town centre where most of the towns jobs actually are: funny that …and also where all the recruitment agencies are and the Jobcentre. They think the unemployed goes around creating crime such as stealing so sticking a large group of them in an industrial estate seems a way of solving that problem.

View the rest on Flexible New Deal Scandal