Job Centre Account Access

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please can you clarify whether or not a person claiming Jobseekers' Allowance is obliged to provide evidence of their job search activity by logging into their Universal Job Match account at their designated Job Centre and letting a member of staff see this online record?

Or, are claimants of JSA they allowed to use their Job Centre paper booklet to record job search activity instead?

And, if the claimant has specified a preferred method, are the Job Centre staff allowed to keep asking the claimant to change this method?

I am being told that if I do not log in to my UJM account at my 'group portal' sign on and show my job search activity recorded on my UJM account then the advisor will not sign my papers and I will not get my JSA as a handwritten record is not sufficient. Yet every time I ask if this means I am not allowed to use the paper booklet to keep records instead, I am told it is ultimately the candidate's preference. I then choose the paper method and then at each appointment I am challenged again and coerced to use the online method.

I understand the long-term goal to get everyone doing this online but what are the facts now, as of October 2015?

Is a handwritten record in the Job Centre booklet of job search activity sufficient for a 'group portal' signing appointment or not? If so, are advisors allowed to keep telling you that you must make records online instead?

Yours faithfully,
G. Moore

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G Moore
 
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