rural benefits

I have to say with this sort of chicanery what is the chance of any real rural proofing of the unintended consequences of the last 5 years worth of benefit changes. The bedroom tax and the proposed selling off housing association homes are prime examples of the need for urgent action.  Those on low incomes in rural areas need a voice and irrespective of the stance of any political parties no-one is seeking to think about that at the moment. The article tells us:

The two fake characters who were used by the Department for Work and Pensions in leaflets promoting its benefits sanctions regime were also deployed in other Government literature, it has emerged.

One of the supposed “benefit claimaints” – named as ‘Sarah’ – was quoted praising the DWP for threatening to withdraw benefits if she refused to complete her CV. The DWP admitted that her comments were among a series of quotes on leaflets that were fabricated for “illustrative purposes”.

The woman posing as ‘Sarah’ was also pictured in another government blog, called The Daily Job Seeker, which offers practical advice on interview tips and techniques and information about Universal Credit.

Advice under her picture includes ‘her’ top 10 tips “to help get your dream job”:

As with the leaflet about benefit sanctions, the post from ‘Sarah’ on the Job Seeker advice website has been removed, with a link to the post simply containing the message “not found” and her picture and quote vanished

The DWP said it was not commenting further on the story and refused to confirm whether it had pulled the posts in response to the widespread outrage expressed against the DWP yesterday.

Another character, named as ‘Zac’, also praised the new benefit rules, explaining how his benefits had continued because he had offered proof of a hospital appointment