Workfare: Supreme Court to give verdict on “Back to Work” schemes #workfare #jsa #poundland #ids

From Public Interest Lawyers:

PRESS RELEASE 29 October 2013

On Wednesday 30 October 2013 at 9:45am, the Supreme Court, with five judges sitting, will deliver its verdict on the appeal brought by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions against a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal.

In February 2013, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Regulations (1) under which most of the Government’s “Back to Work” schemes were created were unlawful and must be quashed. The immediate effect of the judgment was that all those people who had been sanctioned by having their jobseeker’s allowance withdrawn for non-compliance with the Back to Work Schemes were entitled to reclaim their allowance.

Iain Duncan Smith appealed the judgment to the Supreme Court but at the same time he also fast-tracked retrospective legislation, the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act, through Parliament. The legislation sought to retrospectively make lawful what the Court of Appeal had declared unlawful in an effort to ensure that the DWP would not be required to pay back millions of pounds to individuals who had been unlawfully sanctioned. That legislation is subject to separate judicial review proceedings which have been stayed pending determination of this appeal.

Our clients who brought this case are:

Cait Reilly: In November 2011, Cait was forced to leave her voluntary work at a local museum and work unpaid at a branch of Poundland under a scheme known as the “sector based work academy”. She was told that if she didn’t carry out the work placement she would lose her jobseeker’s allowance. For two weeks she was made to stack shelves and clean floors. Poundland got free labour whilst she gained nothing and received no training. She was not given a job interview at the end of the two weeks and the museum where she volunteered was left short staffed.

Jamie Wilson: In November 2011, Jamie, a qualified mechanic, was told that he had to work unpaid, cleaning furniture for 30 hours a week for six months under a scheme known as the Community Action Programme. Whilst he desperately wanted to find a job he objected to doing unpaid work that was completely unrelated to his qualifications and would not help him re-enter the job market. He refused to participate and as a result was stripped of his jobseeker’s allowance for six months.

(1) Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011