DWP Central Freedom of Information Team
e-mail
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: FOI2019/24310
28 June 2019
Dear James Spencer-Gray,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) request received on 28 June. You asked:
I quote from your own departmental public domain documentation, please see: -
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
file/49884/the-work-programme.pdf
On page 5 of this document it clearly sates, and I quote; -" Participants must all be receiving an
out-of-work income-replacement benefit at the time they are referred. Work Programme
providers are able to require participants to undertake work related activity, depending on the
conditions of the benefit they are receiving.
Therefore can you confirm that no indicduals could be forcible mandated onto the Work
programme if they were not IN RECEIPT OF AN OUT-OF-WORK INCOME REPLACEMENT
BENEFIT and forcible made to remain on it regardless of the terms outlined in THE LIVE
WORK PROGRAMMEMEMO 069 OF THE 3RD SEPTEMBER 2012.
Furthermore can you confirm that any such individual i.e. not in in receipt of an income
replacement benefit was ever punished for not undertaking a mandated work placement as per
your departments defence, (and quoted by your selves under an earlier FoI response.
As the above questions quote official documentation available on the governments own
dedicated web site to try and avoid answering the questions under the pretence that they are
vexatious would be absurd as it would suggest that any Government public domain
documentation can only be viewed as being of questionable value.
DWP Response:
As previously advised, Section 17(6) of the Act provides that there is no need for us to issue a
refusal notice if we have already given you a refusal notice for a previous vexatious request
and it would be unreasonable to issue another one. We consider both of those conditions to
have been met and therefore we will not be responding to this request, or any further requests
of the same nature. As you have now exhausted the Department’s internal processes for
Freedom of Information requests, we again draw your attention to your right to complain
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is set out below.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting the reference number
above.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act
You may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. General y, the Commissioner
cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
We
b: ico.org.uk/Global/contact_us or telephone 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745