Claimant Commitment
Introduction
1. For the purposes of section 1(2)(b) of the Jobseeker’s Act 1995, the Claimant
Commitment is the Jobseeker’s Agreement.
Purpose
2. The Claimant Commitment (CC) is the primary document for agreeing and
recording key information about the claimant’s availability for work; the types
of work they are most suited to do and the high level regular work search
activities that the claimant will undertake.
3. The CC is a key source of information used to make sure that claimants
remain available for and are actively seeking work.
4. Failure to comply with the CC could result in the claimant’s benefit being
stopped and a benefit sanction being imposed.
5. The CC should be used with the My Work Plan booklet and the My Jobseeker
Profile which together form a Commitment pack. The Commitment pack
should be used with other information provided by the claimant and any
Jobseeker’s Directions, to agree, develop and monitor a personalised plan
that, when followed, will give the claimant the best chance of finding and
keeping a job.
6. The CC:
is agreed between the claimant and Work Coach at the Initial Work Search
Interview;
must be a helpful and practical aid to work search, containing;
reasonable and achievable type(s) of work a claimant can do
details of the claimant’s availability for work, and
actions for getting into work that offers the best chance of securing
employment
must be reviewed and updated by a Work Coach at appropriate points like
a change in the claimant’s circumstances, to make sure it remains
relevant
must clearly detail the consequences of not complying with any of the
activities set out within the CC, and
must be signed and dated by both the claimant and the Work Coach
Note: If a clerical CC is being created, this must also be signed and date by the
Work Coach.
7. The CC must accurately reflect the claimants work related circumstances, if
this changes at any time, the CC must be amended accordingly
8. The CC also provides important information about the claimant’s rights and
responsibilities and what they must do to remain entitled to Jobseeker’s
Allowance/National Insurance Credits.
Work Programme Claimant Commitments
Note: The last date for referrals to the Work Programme is 31 March 2017.
However, it is recommended that last referrals take place by 29 March 2017 to
allow time to rectify incorrect referrals before opportunities are removed. All
claimants referred up to this date will remain on the Work Programme for 2 years
(all other aspects of the service will continue as usual).
9. Claimants who are due to be referred to the Work Programme need to have a
Work Programme Claimant Commitment (WPCC).
10. Claimant’s who already have a CC in place must have this reviewed and
turned in to a WPCC during the Work Programme referral interview.
11. t is important that it is a WPCC being completed as the wording on the
template will change to help make sure claimants fully understand their
responsibilities to both the WP Provider and also Jobcentre Plus.
12. The WPCC allows selection of 3 new options in the ‘My Actions for Getting
Work’ part of the CC. All three options must be selected for all claimant’s
being referred to the Work Programme.
Changes required to Claimant Commitments for Work Programme
participants
13. JSA Work Programme participants may ask for their CC to be changed at any
time during their time on the Work Programme. In these cases, immediately
refer the Claimant to a Work Coach.
14. The proposed changes must be discussed with the claimant and where
helpful to do so the Work Programme Provider contacted to seek clarification
about the changes the participant wants making to their CC.
15. As Providers are not contractually obliged to share this information, there
might be instances where a provider is not able to enter in to a discussion
about the activities they have asked the participant to carry out. If this occurs,
then what is believed to be reasonable based on information provided by the
claimant must be agreed. The important thing is to make sure that the CC
remains relevant and helpful and not at odds with what the provider wants the
claimant to do.
16. Ordinarily, changes requested by claimants are few and far between and
where requested should generally be agreed.
17. However, if we cannot agree that these changes are reasonable – even after
speaking with the provider, and the claimant is unhappy with our decision not
to take the changes into account, follow the usual processes for disputed
Claimant Commitments.
16/17 year old Claimant Commitments
18. As the discussion and the agreed activities to be undertaken will reflect the
requirement for the claimant to look for training as well as work, a Claimant
Commitment (CC) must be created by selecting the ‘New Jobseekers Status’
tick box.
19. These instructions are still to be used when agreeing a CC with 16/17 year
old claimants.
20. References to ‘work’ must be treated as ‘work and/or training’ when using this
guidance to agree a 16/17 year old CC.
Agreeing and Completing the Claimant Commitment
21. At the Initial Work Search Interview, an in depth conversation must be had
with the claimant to build an understanding of their capability and
circumstances relating to work. Information gathered must be used to
complete the Claimant Commitment.
22. It is important that the CC is completed at the end of the discussion and not
during the discussion itself. This demonstrates to the claimant that:
the claimant has been actively listened to
the claimant has been given full attention
the claimant’s circumstances have been taken into account when
developing the CC, so it is personal to them, and
the CC is reasonable and achievable.
23. Once the CC has been signed by the Claimant, they must be given a printed
copy to keep.
Note: If a clerical CC is being created, this must also be signed and dated by the
Work Coach.
24. You must always create a Claimant Commitment (CC) for
every new
claimant in the Signature Capture Service (SCS).
25. However, there will be some claimants, in exceptional circumstances, who
can’t have a CC created in SCS, for example, they do not have a National
Insurance Number (NINo), there was an Information Technology (IT) failure or
local situation (power cut), which means a clerical CC must be created.
Consequences
26. Not creating a CC means:
• you are not complying with Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP’s)
legal requirement for a CC to be issued
• you will not be providing the claimant with the specific support so they
can take the right steps to put themselves in the best position to find work
• the award may be in doubt
• will lead to requests from Quality Assurance causing additional work and
resource to respond
• the claimant won’t have all the information they should have
• DWP reported error statistics will be incorrect
Completing the ‘My Jobseeker Profile’
27. At the end of the work focused discussion the ‘My Jobseeker Profile’ may be
completed before going on to complete the Claimant Commitment (CC).
There is no requirement for the claimant to complete the ‘My Jobseeker
Profile’. However, if the claimant appears reluctant to do so, the Work Coach
should explain that it is a summary of the key information discussed in the
Work Search Interview about the claimant’s capabilities and circumstances
relating to work. This will help determine an appropriate and reasonable level
of regular work actions for getting work.
28. It is crucial to make sure that the information is described in a positive light
and states what the claimant can do. This can help the claimant’s self- belief
and motivation and can be used by them in applications and interviews.
Type of Work/Training
29. Both you and the claimant must agree the types of work most suited to the
claimant’s skills, capabilities and experience and you must record these in the
‘Type of Work/Training’ field. This will help the claimant focus and prioritise
their jobsearch and move into work more quickly.
30. However, the claimant is still expected to look and apply for any work they are
capable of doing.
31. The Type(s) of Work the claimant considers suitable must be realistic and
achievable. When agreeing the Types of Work, the following must be
explored:
Capability for work. Does the claimant have the relevant qualifications,
experience, skills etc. required for the job?
Capacity for work. For example, is there any health or social issues, or
caring responsibilities that might make it difficult to find, obtain and keep
the job in question?
Restrictions. Is the claimant placing restrictions on the Type(s) of Work
they aspire to? For example, wages, travel or others because of disability
or caring responsibilities
Wage expectations. For example, do the Type(s) of Work pay the wages
that the claimant expects?, and
The local labour market. The type of work the claimant is looking for must
be available within the area they are prepared to travel to. If this type of
work is unavailable then the goal would be unrealistic.
My Qualifications
32. The ‘My Qualifications’ field must include details of any educational,
vocational or professional qualifications. It is also important to include other
information such as licences / certificates that are required in certain
occupations. For example, Driving Licences, food hygiene certificates etc.
My Employment Strengths/Skills
33. The ‘Employment Strengths/Skills’ field must include any skills the claimant
has gained, without having a formal qualification and must include
transferable skills. For example, the skills a claimant may have gained in their
own home. For example, managing the household expenses and ensuring
utility bills are paid on time are all skills required for budget management.
My Experience
34. The ‘My Experience’ field allows the claimant to record details of the different
type of work experience they have gained; including any voluntary activities.
For example;
2 years general household plumbing on a self-employed basis until
February 2016, or
1 year local authority work, as a teaching assistant, between January 2015
and February 2016
My Circumstances
35. The ‘My Circumstances’ field must be used to record information about the
claimant and their circumstances that are relevant to work and must be
described in a positive way. It describes the circumstances which determine
what is reasonable. Example:
36. During her Initial Work Search Interview Sarah tells her coach that she cannot
work full-time because she has young children and has to do the school run.
This must be reflected back to Sarah positively and recorded as “I have
caring responsibilities for two children and I can work part-time between the
hours of 9am and 3pm”.
General principles of the fields within the ‘My Claimant
Commitment’ section
37. The general principal is that a claimant must take all reasonable activities to
give them the best chances of finding employment. The ‘My Claimant
Commitment’ section will outline what that is and will also provide further
specific detail about whether a claimant has a permitted period or any other
agreed restriction on their availability.
You should consider 10 factors for effective jobseeking
38. The 10 factors for effective jobseeking are that there is good evidence that:
Self Perception - the jobseeker believes that they can work, find specific
jobs, has the capability to do that job, and is confident of being able to
gain and keep employment in that job
Specific Job Goal - the jobseeker has a specific and realistic job goal and
specific alternatives
Local Labour Market - those specific goals are available in the local
market
Knowledge Skills and Experience - the jobseeker has the knowledge,
skills and experience to do that job
Willingness to do Jobsearch - the jobseeker is willing to carry out
effective and sustained jobsearch
Resources for Jobsearch - the jobseeker has resources for sustained
jobsearch
Demonstrating Capability for a Specific Job - the jobseeker is able to
demonstrate their capability effectively to employers
Presenting themselves to an Employer - the jobseeker is able to present
themselves effectively to potential employers
Managing Personal Circumstances - the jobseeker is successfully
managing, or has not got, any barriers to sustained employment
Keeping a job – the jobseeker could keep a job offered by an employer
Work Training Restrictions
39. This field allows the Claimant Commitment (CC) to be personalised and
record any restrictions on the type of work the claimant is expected to look
for. They are recorded under the following drop down entries:
No Restrictions agreed; and
Permitted Period agreed
No restrictions agreed
40. Unless restrictions apply, this should be used for most claimants. Once
selected the following text will be displayed on the CC:
41. I have agreed with my Coach that:
I will be available for all types of work, and
I will seek and apply for all types of work that give me the best prospects of
securing employment
Permitted Period agreed
42. From the start of a claim, if appropriate a Permitted Period of between 1 & 13
weeks can be agreed. Providing this gives claimants a reasonable chance of
finding work the Permitted Period allows a restriction of the Type of Work they
are looking for to:
employment in their usual occupation, OR
the usual rate of pay a claimant is willing to accept, OR
both employment in their usual occupation and at the same level of pay
they were used to receiving.
43. In addition claimants can also restrict their jobsearch to jobs at their usual rate
of pay for a maximum of 6 months.
44. Where appropriate, the Permitted Period is agreed at the Initial Work Search
Interview and a Follow-Up Work Search Interview is arranged for the end of
the agreed period, to broaden the types of work the claimant is required to
look for and not unreasonably restrict the level of wages that they are willing
to accept.
45. The ‘Permitted Period Agreed’ option is selected to reflect that a Permitted
Period has been agreed. Both the dates and the type of work/salary are
recorded in the rows below. The form allows for rows to be added and deleted
as necessary.
46. At the end of the Permitted Period, the CC will need to be updated to reflect
that the claimant no longer has any restrictions on the type(s) of work they are
expected to look for.
Other Restrictions agreed
47. This field must be selected to record the type of work the claimant is looking
for, taking into account any agreed restrictions they may have. For example,
for claimants:
with sincerely held religious or conscientious beliefs
with a physical or mental condition, OR
who want to restrict the type of work they are looking for and they have
been deemed to have reasonable prospects
Acceptable restrictions examples
48. I have agreed with my Coach that I can restrict the type of work I am looking
for to:
Work not involving handling of meat products as I am a vegetarian
Office based work as I have a bad back, OR
Teaching as I am newly qualified
Work/Training Travel Time
49. Unless a restriction is agreed due to a health condition or disability, claimants
must be willing to travel:
90 minutes to work in each direction, and
by a route and means appropriate to their circumstances
50. The entry in the ‘Work/Training Travel Time’ field will default to 90 minutes.
However, the number of minutes can be reduced to reflect any agreed
restrictions for those with a health condition or disability.
Note: Even if a claimant is willing to travel for longer than 90 minutes, the default
setting must not be increased above 90 minutes.
51. The 90 minute travelling time is in addition to the period of time that the
claimant is available for work.
52. However, when assessing if a vacancy is suitable, everything about the
claimant’s circumstances must be taken into account to find out if it is
reasonable to expect the claimant to travel that length of time.
Work/Training Travel Time examples
Sarah [redacted under exemption 40] drops her children off at school at 8.45am
and picks them back up again at 3pm. As a lone parent, she has restricted her
availability for work to 6 ¼ hours each week day.
Example 2
Sarah’s [redacted under exemption 40] coach finds her a part-time job in a café
just down the road from school. The hours are 9am until 2:30pm. As these hours
fit in with Sarah’s [redacted under exemption 40] availability and there is no
additional travelling required, it would be reasonable to expect her to apply for
the job.
Example 3
Sarah [redacted under exemption 40] finds a job in a Café in Leeds. Sarah
[redacted under exemption 40] lives in Sheffield so this means she will need to
commute to work. It takes Sarah [redacted under exemption 40] 15 minutes each
way from the school to the railway station and from Leeds station to the café and
the train journey is 40 minutes. Altogether, Sarah [redacted under exemption 40]
would be expected to travel to and from work for 70 minutes each way. The
hours of the job are 10am – 1:30pm. It would therefore be reasonable to still
expect Sarah [redacted under exemption 40] to apply for this job. If the hours of
the job were 9am – 1:30pm it would be unreasonable to expect Sarah [redacted
under exemption 40] to apply based on her circumstances.
Work Training, Availability, Availability Restrictions and
Work/Train Hours each week’ fields
53. The following paragraphs will help you to complete these fields.
Restrictions on availability for work
54. Claimants must be available to work a minimum of 40 hours a week,
unless
their personal circumstances make these requirements unreasonable.
55. A claimant may reasonably restrict their availability for work due to:
caring for a child or other caring responsibilities
being a lone parent with care of a child aged 12 or under
a physical or mental health condition, OR
engagement in treatment for drug and/or alcohol dependency
56. Following a detailed review of the claimant’s situation, consideration must be
given to identify if any agreed restrictions on the claimant’s availability can be
applied.
Availability for a job interview
57. Claimants must be willing and able to attend a job interview immediately,
unless they have an agreed restriction in place.
58. How quickly the claimant is expected to attend a job interview, taking into
account their circumstances, is recorded by selecting the appropriate drop
down entry:
immediately
within 48 hours, OR
within 1 week
Availability to start work
59. Claimants must be willing and able to start work immediately, unless they
have an agreed restriction in place:
60. How quickly the claimant is expected to start work, taking into account their
circumstances, is recorded by selecting the appropriate drop down entry:
immediately
within 24 hours
immediately after the end of my notice period
after giving one week’s notice, OR
within 28 days
Hours of availability
61. Claimants are required to be available for a minimum of 40 hours a week but
this can be limited to less than 40 hours in certain circumstances.
62. If the claimant has no restrictions on the days and hours they are available for
work then ‘No Restrictions on availability’ must be selected on the CC. Once
completed, the appropriate information will be displayed in the CC.
63. If it is agreed that the claimant can restrict the days and/or hours they are
available for work, ‘Restricted Availability’ must be selected from the drop
down menu. This will enable the coach to record details of the claimant’s
availability in the table provided.
Hours of availability example
Jenny [redacted under exemption 40] has caring responsibilities for a child of
school age. She has the use of a breakfast club on two days a week and an after
school club on one. Her partner also doesn’t work on Wednesdays. She has
agreed the following hours of availability .
Day
Earliest start time Latest finish time Most hours I can work
Monday
9:00am
15:00pm
6
Tuesday
8:00am
15:00pm
7
Wednesday 7:00am
18:00pm
8
Thursday
8:00am
15:00pm
7
Friday
9:00am
18:00pm
8
Saturday
9:00am
17:00pm
8
Sunday
Most hours I can work each week:
40
64. It must be noted that the number of hours recorded against each day, is the
total number they are
available to work on that day.
65. It must also be noted that the most hours a claimant can work each week
is
not simply a total of the number of daily hours multiplied by the number of
days.
66. For example, claimants can be available to work 6 hours each weekday but
only able to work a total of 25 hours a week.
Selecting Generic Actions for getting into work
67. To make sure that it is reasonable for the claimant to undertake each ‘Generic
Action’, they must be personalised and specifically tailored to each claimant’s
circumstances.
68. Therefore, the following must be considered when assessing the activities it is
reasonable for each claimant to undertake:
The type(s) of work the claimant is capable of doing
The skills of the claimant
The means required to undertake the activity, and
Any restrictions to the claimant’s period of availability, either because of a
health condition, or caring responsibilities
69. Once the actions have been agreed, each one is recorded on the Claimant
Commitment (CC) by selecting the appropriate options from the ‘Generic
Action’ list.
70. To meet the entitlement condition for actively seeking employment each
week, claimants must take all reasonable actions to give themselves the best
chance of securing employment.
71. During the Initial Work Search Interview, the claimant will agree a set of
activities that they can reasonably be expected to undertake. It is not intended
to be a detailed plan, but rather high level categories of work search. When
deciding what activities a claimant must do and how frequently they must do
something the claimant’s individual circumstances must be taken into
account.
72. If set properly, these activities will cover the full span of effective work search
activities which, when taken, give the claimant the best possible chance of
getting paid work quickly.
73. When selecting the appropriate actions from the ‘Generic Action’ list, you
must also select the frequency of the ‘Generic Actions’ from the ‘How Often’
drop down menu.
74. You will need to set more specific actions where claimants are not using the
‘My Work Plan’ document to set more specific actions for getting work.
75. If you are considering whether to include the generic activity for a claimant to
log in to and use their UJ account. You first need to establish if the claimant
already has a UJ account and if not, whether it is reasonable to expect them
to have an account.
Note: Any activities in relation to the creation of a profile and public CV and / or
the use of Universal Jobmatch must not be recorded on the CC until the claimant
has created their profile and public CV in Universal Jobmatch.
76. Claimants must not be set a minimum number of jobs to apply for each week
as such a requirement is unenforceable.
77. If a claimant is unable to find enough jobs to apply for this may be through no
fault of their jobsearch, whilst if a claimant were to find more than the
minimum number, specifying a lower number to apply for is actually unhelpful.
It is reasonable to state ‘I will apply for all jobs that I find that I am capable of
doing’
78. Chapter 3 of the Universal Jobmatch Toolkit includes further information
about the considerations that need to be taken into account before requiring
any claimants to create a profile and public CV in Universal Jobmatch (UJ).
79. For claimants who do have an account, before agreeing how often the
claimant needs to log in to their account, it must be established if the claimant
has regular access to a computer and is willing to use their own computer to
look for work. If they do, then they could reasonably be expected to log in
every day. However, if the claimant is using a DWP Internet Access Device to
do this, it may only be reasonable to expect them to use this method to look
for work once or twice a week.
80. When agreeing the actions for getting work, it must be explained that meeting
this requirement is challenging and requires detailed planning and by
undertaking this detailed level of activity using the ‘My Work Plan’ booklet
they will be able to demonstrate that they are meeting the requirement to take
all reasonable steps to find work. Claimants not using the ‘My Work Plan’
booklet are still required to do the same level of planning.
81. ‘Generic Actions’ must be reviewed regularly, to make sure that they remain
appropriate to each claimant, in light of the claimant’s experience of job
search and any enhancement of their work search skills.
82. Once a ‘Generic Action’ has been completed, or it is no longer appropriate, it
must be deleted from the CC by selecting the ‘+’ symbol in the ‘Action’
column.
83. On agreeing the regular work search activities, you must explain how the
claimant needs to turn these into realistic and challenging commitments in
their My Work Plan booklet.
Personal Actions List
84. There is also the facility to include other personal actions on the CC that
would be appropriate for a claimant to do.
85. The ‘Personal Action List’ fields must be used to enter details of any specific
actions or steps to be taken by the claimant.
Note: Each field has a maximum limit of 450 characters.
86. A personalised action is not a Jobseeker’s Direction and must not be treated
as such. If a Jobseeker’s Direction is issued for an action that is recorded as
a personalised action it must be removed from the CC.
Type(s) of work
87. Each ‘Generic or Personal Action’ must reflect the type(s) of work each
claimant is capable of doing.
88. For example, expecting a claimant who is looking for work as a bricklayer to
look and apply for hairdressing jobs would be unreasonable.
Claimant skills
89. Claimants must have the skills to be able to undertake the ‘Generic or
Personal Actions’ expected of them, for those actions to be reasonable.
90. For example, it is unreasonable to expect a claimant with no IT skills to
browse employment-related websites or contact employers by email.
91. However, accessing local newspapers and contacting employers by
telephone, in writing or face to face would be reasonable.
92. Any lack of skills must be addressed before a claimant is expected to
undertake a particular activity.
Means to undertake the activity
93. The ‘Generic or Personal Actions’ must reflect the availability of the
tools/equipment required to undertake an activity, giving regard to the
claimant’s circumstances.
94. For example, expecting a claimant without immediate access to the Internet
to use that means as regularly as someone with access at home would be
unreasonable.
Restrictions
95. Claimants are only required to look for work during their hours of availability.
Once any restrictions are agreed, claimants must not be expected to
undertake any ‘Generic or Personal Actions’ outside of these, as it is
unreasonable for them to do so.
96. For example, it is unreasonable to expect a claimant to attend an ESOL
training course between the hours of 9am and 5pm if they have exercised
their right to restrict their availability for work to their child’s school hours of
between 9am and 3pm.
97. However, it may be reasonable for that same person to attend an event to up-
skill their CV knowledge, between 10am and 1pm on a day their child is at
school.
My Rights
98. This makes it clear to the claimant that if there is a disagreement about their
Claimant Commitment (CC), they can ask for it to be referred to a Decision
Maker. It also makes clear that if there is a dispute about the claimant’s
benefit, their benefit could be removed. However, all claimants have the right
to ask for an explanation or revision of their decision. If they are still not happy
with the outcome, they can then appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.
Changes in my circumstances
99. Claimants are required by law to inform Jobcentre Plus of any change in their
circumstances which could affect their entitlement to Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Failure to report a change in circumstances could result in prosecution.
The Claimant Declaration
100. When the Claimant Commitment (CC) has been agreed by both the
claimant and Work Coach, it must be signed by the claimant and they must
be given a printed copy to keep.
Note: If a clerical CC is being created, this must also be signed and dated by the
Work Coach.
101. Make sure the Treat as Made date is accurately recorded. This must
either be the claimant’s date of claim for new claims or the date the CC is
revised in an on-going claim.
Note: The TAM date on the initial Claimant Commitment will not change as a
result of a backdated claim being allowed as the LM conditions will have been
considered for any backdated period at the point the claim was made.
Claimants with problems that may affect their understanding of
the Claimant Commitment
102. Claimants with problems that may affect their understanding of the
Claimant Commitment (CC), for example those with learning difficulties and/or
literacy problems must fully understand both their obligations in the CC and
the consequences of not doing something outlined in their CC before
agreeing to it. They must understand the actions they will be required to take
in order to find a job and what they must do to remain entitled to Jobseeker’s
Allowance.
103. Asking the claimant if they understand, does not guarantee that the
claimant has understood their CC.
104. The claimant must be asked to explain what they are going to do to
confirm they have understood. For example, ‘Which agency are you going to
register with?’ or ‘Which website are you going to look at daily?’ before asking
them to sign the Claimant Commitment. It may also be beneficial to ask the
claimant if they understand what will happen if they do not undertake the
actions.
Claimant Commitment DMA Referrals
105. Where a realistic Claimant Commitment (CC) cannot be agreed between
the claimant and the Work Coach, every effort must be made to resolve any
issues locally, before making a referral to the Labour Market Decision Maker.
Security, Storage and Retention
Signature Capture Service (SCS) and Claimant Commitments (CCs)
106. Paragraphs 9 and 10 and paragraph 55 in the SCS CC user instructions
for jobcentres contain information on how CCs created in SCS are stored and
retained.
107. Therefore, it isn’t necessary to store or retain a signed copy of a SCS CC
in the Labour Market Unit (LMU).
108. The Quality and Assurance and Performance Measurement teams will use
the Document Repository System (DRS) to look at the relevant CC for the
period they are checking.
Claimant Commitments (CCs) created Clerically
109. All signed copies of CCs created clerically must be filed in the LMU and
retained in line with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) records
management policy. This means they must be retained in the LMU for 1
month after the last date of claim. The three exceptions to this rule are where
the LMU must be retained for 14 months after the last date of the claim if it
contains:
documents supporting a decision to disallow entitlement or apply a
sanction; or
a fraud, appeal or overpayment marker; or
selected by Performance Management for checks.
110. It’s important that you do this because the Quality and Assurance and
Performance Management teams need to see the relevant CC for the period
thay are checking. If a CC can’t be supplied to the checking teams, errors will
be raised.
Claimant Commitments (CCs) created using the tactical desktop
solution
111. The tactical desktop solution must no longer be used to create a CC under
any circumstances.
112. However, claimants who started on the Work Programme (WP) before
their office went live with SCS CCs, could be on the tactical desktop solution
until July 2017, at which point a new SCS CC must be completed if they
return to JSA.
113. Only the latest version of the CC should have been saved in the shared
folder, replacing the previous version.
114. All signed copies of CCs created in this way must also be filed in the LMU
and retained accordingly as per the Records Management Policy.
115. This means they must be retained in the LMU for 1 month after the last
date of claim. The three exceptions to this rule are where the LMU must be
retained for 14 months after the last date of the claim if it contains:
documents supporting a decision to disallow entitlement or apply a
sanction; or
a fraud, appeal or overpayment marker; or
selected by Performance Management for checks.
116. It’s important that you do this because the Quality and Assurance and
Performance Management teams need to see the relevant CC for the period
they are checking. If a CC can’t be supplied to the checking teams, errors will
be raised.
117. The CC shared folders, must continue to be securely managed.
118. On going actions for the Information Asset Manager and the Work Service
Manager can be found in the Managing in Jobcentre Handbook: Chapter 13 -
Security
Handling Special Customer Records
Pre-interview action
119. Before conducting interviews for claimants who have been given Special
Customer Record status you will need to consult the Nominated Officer prior
to the interview, who will:
release the LMU for the period of the intervention; and
advise on any special arrangements required for the intervention to take
place
Claimant transfers to a different Local Office
120. In instances where a claimant transfers to a different location, you will
need to contact the previous owning office to get the claimant’s Labour
Market Unit (LMU). When transferring restricted personal data, DWP Security
standards must be followed.
Homeless claimants
121. If a claimant has nowhere to live, or is living in temporary accommodation,
it may be difficult for them to be contacted by employers, employment
agencies or those who may be able to help them find work. They may also
have to spend much of their time in the week looking for accommodation
rather than in job search. These factors must be taken into account when
deciding what actions are reasonable for the claimant to take in any week.
122. Being homeless may limit the actions a claimant can take but they could
still search for work by, for example:
reading newspaper advertisements
making personal calls on employers and employment agencies
using Jobcentre IADs/WADs, OR
if available, using the internet in local libraries
Note: The above list is not exhaustive.
123. In setting the CC, the claimant’s homelessness situation must be
considered, their need to find accommodation and any other issues will affect
the steps that are reasonable for a homeless claimant to take in any week.
124. As homelessness should be a temporary situation, the CC must be
reviewed regularly to make sure that the steps set are still relevant and
applicable.
125. Please also see the Homelessness Guide for more information
Prison Leavers
New claim made before release
126. Prisoners have the option of making a claim to JSA before they leave
prison and will agree a Claimant Commitment (CC) with the Employment and
Benefit Work Coach. Further information about the content of the interview
can be found in the Employment and Benefit Advisers in Prisons guidance.
New claim made after release
127. Prison leavers who make their new JSA claim after release will agree a
CC at their Initial Work Search Interview.
Action Plans
128. It is not necessary to use Action Plans for claimants who have a Claimant
Commitment (CC) as all the planning is done in the My Work Plan booklet,
except where the claimant is being referred to:
The Work Programme, or
Other contracted provision via PRaP
Work Programme referrals for claimants who have a Claimant
Commitment in place
129. The Work Programme referral guidance details the steps that must be
taken to refer a claimant to the Work Programme where they have a Claimant
Commitment (CC) in place.
Referrals to contracted provision via PRaP for claimants who
have a Claimant Commitment in place
130. As a Jobseeker’s Agreement will not be created on LMS for these cases,
in order to transfer the relevant information to providers through PRaP the
following steps must be taken on LMS:
review and update the ‘More Box’ and ‘Quals/Assmt’ section, if appropriate;
create an ‘Action Plan’ and within the ‘Aims’ box record:
the Types of Work from the Claimant Commitment My Jobseeker Profile
any availability or work restrictions agreed on the Claimant Commitment
a reference stating ‘JSA Claimant Commitment Case’ as this will signal
the difference to providers
Clerical Claimant Commitment
Completion
131. A clerical version of the Claimant Commitment (CC) must be used in
exceptional circumstances, for claimants who can’t have a CC created in
SCS, for example, they don’t have a National Insurance Number (NINo),
there was an Information Technology (IT) failure or local situation (power cut).
132. The reason why a clerical claimant commitment is being used must be
recorded in the ‘Additional Notes’ field within the ‘More’ box on LMS. If there
is insufficient room to record the reason in this field, the reason must be
recorded in LMS ‘Conversations’ instead.
133. Offices must print and retain a copy, or a stock, of the clerical CC to
duplicate, or use, in the event of the above circumstances.
134. However, when the claimant has obtained a NINo or the IT failure has
been resolved, a CC must be created in SCS at the next intervention.