Warm Handover (Restart Scheme)

Is the Flexible Support Fund still a thing? If so, will the WC buy Catwoman a phone?

Keep up being a thorn in WC's side Catwoman.

Yes, the flexible support fund is still a thing,but the wc never once mentioned it because they are not there to help anyone. They just want to dump as many people on to restart..
WC can do a cold handover if their that desperate.
Why make any thing easy for a work coach.

All of them are snakes and I knew this one was pretending to be nice,as when it didn't get its own way it clearly went in a mood 🤭

bizarrely my jcp tells people to have phones silenced when attending the premises and they also state they don't count signing day for anything else than signing so i never actually seek on those days!

is warm handover based on jobcentre closed for pandemic reasons on UC and not applicable for jsa i wonder.

Spot on Mandi Tori. The Restart guidelines had stuff in it about using digital/telephone contact, including handovers, due to COVID restrictions. An acquaintance of mine who is on UC and was referred to Restart back when it was first rolled out had all his contact over the phone (would have been Teams based had he not lied about not having internet at home).

jobberpw wrote:

mandy tori wrote:

i haven't been asked to do one single thing almost 6 months in..

Good to see, these clowns are still delivering outstanding value for money. Totally concentrated on the small task ahead Could this be that someone hasnt signed any provider documents ?

they have switched the action plan signing since new year, apparently it can be done via their portal (which isn't mandatory to use) and they are using a laminated action plan and signing is with a non permanent marker pen with a fat tip which they then "scan"

whomever dreamed this new method up clearly needs to read the guidence methinks

mandy tori wrote:they have switched the action plan signing since new year, apparently it can be done via their portal (which isn't mandatory to use) and they are using a laminated action plan and signing is with a non permanent marker pen with a fat tip which they then "scan"

whomever dreamed this new method up clearly needs to read the guidence methinks

Laminating an Action Plan indicates that every "participant" is directed to sign exactly the same document.

the laminated action plan is empty, they just scan the signature and wipe it clean.


im assuming the agreed action plan is in their portal but wouldn't know as i refuse to engage in its use

Absolutely, Absolut. So much for personalised support if everyone gets the same wipe clean Action Plan. Sounds like some sort of greasy spoon cafe. Do they give you a big mug of tea while you're there to complete the experience ?

WC still ask me how my Restart experience is going, despite them "sacking" me in September. I am getting very good at bluffing my way through it .

Work coach asked me today how restart is aswell, even though she hasn't even sent me on it yet.

The Catwoman wrote:Work coach asked me today how restart is aswell, even though she hasn't even sent me on it yet.

hahaha what did you reply to her with?

please say you said "its fine"

mandy tori wrote:the laminated action plan is empty, they just scan the signature and wipe it clean.


im assuming the agreed action plan is in their portal but wouldn't know as i refuse to engage in its use

Bunch of crooks and fraudsters.

I've now been "referred" to Restart.

Mr Absolut has also been "referred" to Restart, separately.

The location is inaccessible to me, but is accessible to Mr Absolut.

What did surprise me after the 2 separate calls was the 2 work coaches didn't give us both a JSA598 at the end. Instead we each got a letter with this in it:

You have been referred to the following Opportunity: RESTART

If you cannot attend for any reason please contact the Jobcentre immediately.

I've already told the work coach and the call centre worker I can't attend the address they gave me.

The opportunity should start on <<StartDate>> and end on <<EndDate>>

They appear to have forgotten to fill these bits in.

Once you have started provision, you should contact the provider immediately if you will not be able to attend for any reason.

At the end of the letter it says:

If you would like details of other jobs please ring Jobseeker direct on 0845 6060 234

The Restart Scheme is a job? What sort of job? No idea.

Under JSA rules Mr Absolut can't be referred to a scheme as an individual. When it's a "scheme" under JSA I'm referred and Mr Absolut has to tag along as my partner. It's 1 start, 1 job outcome payment, not 2 starts and 2 job outcome payments. If I don't start Restart then there can't be a start for Mr Absolut either. I've to now wait and see what the next move by the provider is going to be, the provider who hid their 2nd floor location from me during the warm handover call.

What did they ask in handover call?

The Catwoman wrote:What did they ask in handover call?

Don't believe a word in the provider guidance. They don't read it and take no notice of it. The work coach gave the provider my NI before handing his mobile to me. I wish I'd "accidentally" dropped it.

The roaches conducted the calls before our separate WSRs, implying that if we didn't take the calls (we didn't say we wouldn't) that our payment wouldn't be put through. We were not mandated to take the call via a JSA596. We did get 2 x JSA594 letters through the post (with separate NI numbers on them) that has no mention of the call on them, mixing a WSR with a "you will talk with your work coach about the Restart Scheme", which of course did not happen as the 2 roaches lie for a living.

The provider asks for address, email address, what type of benefit is being claimed but not if it's a joint or single claim, telephone number, disability, if reasonable adjustments are needed, what sort of work is being looked for, if there are any restrictions on hours, which are all fields that appear in the PRaP screen the DWP is supposed to have filled in already, but clearly haven't. They then move onto guff they read out from a sheet about Restart and the portal before turning to the diary of the local provider to book a meeting. They might or might not give the name of the employee booked. I got a name but Mr Absolut did not. I was also not told where I was to meet them other than the address on the letter at the end, which I can't access.

The only redeeming part of the call was when the Maximus worker on my call said to the roach that they'd need to speak to him about the referral. I call him a roach and not a work coach as this insect thought it was perfectly fine to refer me to an inaccessible location even though he knew it was inaccessible. Him and his "mate" were the ones who tried to foist NS JSA CCs onto us last May to make it look as if we were subject to UC rules which would be to job search for 35 hours each in return for, at the time, less than £120 per week JSA.

Maximus will not proceed without a home address now, whereas in the past they wouldn't proceed without an email or phone number. I stated to the provider that it says in the guidance they are not to ask for an address. The call centre worker indicated that she could not proceed without one. Mr Absolut was told the same thing. He was put on hold. My call was over by then. I'd angrily told the call centre worker my address which she clearly did not have as I heard her do a look up after I gave her the postcode. Mr Absolut's roach (who I've barred from talking to me) threatened to make Mr Absolut go back in and take the call again until he gave the provider his address. When Mr Absolut couldn't remember the postcode the roach gave it to Maximus and also told them the number, also indicating a look up. If a roach can talk for you and give Maximus your details what's the point of the call??

The letters we were given have no mandation on them, but they could be construed by a DM to be individual JSDs. The letters we got have an address for Maximus on them was used for a total of 11 days as their head office address back in 2014 when Maximus ran the Work Programme. They crossed that address out and wrote a partial address in our town that leaves off the fact that Maximus themselves advertised it on their own website as being on the 2nd floor. They then removed that address from their website, but not before I took a screenshot of it

We weren't given any Restart marketing material as outlined in the original contract. We have no contact for Maximus on the letters either. They can have my phone number, but I can't have theirs.

That confirms that they have no mention of joint claims in their guidence as they treat every participant as a single. just curious have they booked your initial face to face on same day and time?

did you have 2 emails with their portal link? (im not sure how joint claims work excuse my ignorance) not that you should ever log into the portal ;-)

mandy tori wrote:That confirms that they have no mention of joint claims in their guidence as they treat every participant as a single.

They didn't bother to ask if that's what you mean. They think it doesn't make any difference. It does. With UC it doesn't matter if there are 2 referrals. UC is based on a household . Joint JSA is assessed as a single unit. The JCP knows it's supposed to be a single referral under joint names and it's why they've been fudging paperwork since last year to make it look as if we are UC claimants, including getting us to sign CCs for NS JSA.

just curious have they booked your initial face to face on same day and time?

Same day, wildly different times.

did you have 2 emails with their portal link? (im not sure how joint claims work excuse my ignorance) not that you should ever log into the portal ;-)

I refused to give them my email address. They have Mr Absout's email address as he doesn't have a phone (partially deaf), but they've not sent anything yet. I've asked him to ignore all emails from the provider. He knows not to login to their portal.

thanks for replying Absolut.

have mr Absolut check the spam folder in his email as most of their emails are bounced via a third party webhost and they get flagged as unverified email (they told me on referral to add their address to my contacts so this wouldn't happen, no chance me doing that haha) so his portal link might be hiding there - i had the email from them before i got home after the 3 way last june

And I thought the point of a 'Spam' filters, where to prevent Junk Mail from entering your inbox....

Sounds like a barrel of laughs..no one is following guidance and they think jobseekers are strange if we know our rights.

mandy tori wrote:thanks for replying Absolut.

have mr Absolut check the spam folder in his email as most of their emails are bounced via a third party webhost and they get flagged as unverified email (they told me on referral to add their address to my contacts so this wouldn't happen, no chance me doing that haha) so his portal link might be hiding there - i had the email from them before i got home after the 3 way last june

Yeah, he'll probably look there when he feels like it. I've advised him to look at the underlying code of the email before opening it. It's likely got a tracker in it, but I don't know that for sure. I've used a tracker myself in the past to prove where an abusive email was coming from. The sender had no idea that could happen.

If they have sent a link to their portal he's under no obligation to use it. He's not going to use it. It's third party software that gets around the snooping that the DWP was barred from when it was UJ.

The Catwoman wrote:Sounds like a barrel of laughs..no one is following guidance and they think jobseekers are strange if we know our rights.

Oh they know it's not strange for us to know our rights, they just don't like that we do.