Church and State blog: April 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

Declan's complaint against Jobcentre Plus goes to the Independent Case Examiner

Jobcentre Plus (JCP) is an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions. Declan has gone through all three stages of JCP's complaints procedure, having been threatened by Freddy Brooks of Highgate Jobcentre Plus with the termination of our benefits if he does not undertake a “training course” of the Jobcentre's choosing. He now has been ignored by both the district manager and the chief executive of JCP. The only response he has received is from the manager of the jobcentre, stating that the matter will be investigated by the London Regional office (archived here)!

This afternoon Declan sent his complaint against JCP to the Independent Case Examiner, John Hanlon. What initially started out as a straightforward complaint against Brooks, has now become a full blown complaint against JCP for refusing Declan access to a Starting a Business course that would enable him turn NAC into a registered company limited by guarantee. It will be the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in four weeks time. Then our local Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Independent Case Examiner (click to enlarge)

This is Declan's registered letter to Hanlon, copied to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper:

Dear Mr Hanlon

Jobcentre Plus

I am writing to you as the Independent Case Examiner on account of the unsatisfactory manner my complaint against Highgate Jobcentre Plus has been dealt with by Jobcentre Plus (JCP), an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Please find enclosed a copy of my Stage 3 (JCP Chief Executive) complaint, dated 9 April 2010, to which I have not received a reply. Kindly note that JCP refuses me access to a Starting a Business course, without explanation.

My wife suspects, as I believe, that my abuse at the hands of JCP is almost certainly related to the Network of those Abused by Church (NAC) website we maintain at religionandmorality.net. I would be delighted to have a Starting a Business course, which would enable me to turn NAC into a registered company limited by guarantee, but JCP won't allow me to do that. I beg to point out that NAC is a world network organisation for exposing the public to the scientific perspective on public policy issues. It has a distinguished list of agreed Trustees pending the registration of the enterprise as a limited company as well as a distinguished and growing list of Honorary Associates, which includes two Nobel laureates. NAC's petition to the United Nations regarding therapeutic cloning is especially noteworthy; it has already been signed by no less than 28 Nobel laureates as well as hundreds of other distinguished scholars.

I can confirm that I am currently looking for a solicitor or counsel to represent me pro bono, who might be able to tell whether Highgate Jobcentre Plus has been acting lawfully (a) by directing me to apply for specific jobs on threat of termination of my benefits, (b) by insisting on my taking a "training course" of the choosing of the Jobcentre, and (c) what can be done to prevent recurrence of this form of unfair treatment. Notice, in particular:

• My joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE I was due to do so on 29 September 2006.

• My wife and I were forced to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years, from 3 November 2006 to 13 July 2009.

• I exhausted the appeals process from the street, where my case was dismissed by Mr Justice Walker of the High Court (Judicial Review), Lord Justice Scott Baker of the Court of Appeal and three judges of the European Court of Human Rights in spite of the fact that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority (the DWP).

• My joint claim JSA was not even reinstated until 9 October 2009 – almost three months after we gained access to a roof over our heads – because my wife’s National Insurance number was “lost” from the Department’s computer system.

Please kindly note that this complaint relates to JCP refusing me access to a Starting a Business course. I understand that my MP may be able to refer my complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if I am not happy with the reply or not that I have received to this letter within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

cc Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Lord Mandelson unable to see Declan's complaint!

Declan only has to wait another 5 working days before his case against Jobcentre Plus of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) goes to the Independent Case Examiner on account of his complaint against our jobcentre, Highgate Jobcentre Plus, having been dealt with in an unsatisfactory manner – the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus in England and Wales has yet to respond to his complaint at stage 3 of the Jobcentre Plus complaints procedure (see blog of blog of 9 April “Declan's formal complaint against Highgate Jobcentre Plus – Stage 3”); his stage 2 complaint to the district manager was just ignored by her!

In a nutshell, the DWP (through the Jobcentre) has threatened Declan with the termination of our benefits if he doesn't agree to a “training course” of the Department's choosing! This morning he received a response from Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson of the Department for Business Innovation & Skills dismissing his parallel complaint against London Development Agency and Business Link in London for refusing him access to a Starting a Business course that would enable him to turn NAC into a registered company limited by guarantee (click to enlarge):

Having none of it, he sent the following to Prime Minister Gordon Brown by registered post this afternoon:

Dear Prime Minister

My complaint against London Development Agency and Business Link in London

I am writing to you as the head of the UK Government ultimately responsible for business. Please find attached a copy of the response I have received from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills regarding my complaint against London Development Agency (LDA) and Business Link in London that I addressed to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. Kindly note that I have been refused access to a Starting a Business course (as opposed to a “workshop”) by the LDA and Business Link in London because such a course is not deemed suitable to meet my needs.

My wife suspects, as I believe, that my abuse at the hands of the Department for Business Innovation & Skills is almost certainly related to the Network of those Abused by Church (NAC) website we maintain at religionandmorality.net. I would be delighted to have a Starting a Business course, which would enable me to turn NAC into a registered company limited by guarantee, but the Department for Business Innovation & Skills won't allow me to do that. I beg to point out that NAC is a world network organisation for exposing the public to the scientific perspective on public policy issues. It has a distinguished list of agreed Trustees pending the registration of the enterprise as a limited company as well as a distinguished and growing list of Honorary Associates, which includes two Nobel laureates. For example, my petition to the United Nations regarding therapeutic cloning has already been signed by no less than 28 Nobel laureates as well as hundreds of other distinguished scholars.

I can confirm that I am currently looking for a solicitor or counsel to represent me pro bono, who might be able to tell whether the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been acting lawfully (a) by directing me to apply for specific jobs on threat of termination of my benefits, (b) by insisting on my taking a "training course" of the choosing of the Department, and (c) what can be done to prevent recurrence of this form of unfair treatment. Notice, in particular:

• My joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE I was due to do so on 29 September 2006.

• My wife and I were forced to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years, from 3 November 2006 to 13 July 2009.

• I exhausted the appeals process from the street, where my case was dismissed by Mr Justice Walker of the High Court (Judicial Review), Lord Justice Scott Baker of the Court of Appeal and three judges of the European Court of Human Rights in spite of the fact that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority (the DWP).

• My joint claim JSA was not even reinstated until 9 October 2009 – almost three months after we gained access to a roof over our heads – because my wife’s National Insurance number was “lost” from the Department’s computer system.

Please kindly note that this complaint relates to the Department for Business Innovation & Skills refusing me access to a Starting a Business course. If there is an objective agency to which I can appeal, I would be obliged to be so advised.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

Friday, April 09, 2010

Declan's formal complaint against Highgate Jobcentre Plus – Stage 3

Almost a month ago, on 13 March, Declan lodged a formal complaint against our jobcentre, Highgate Jobcentre Plus (of the Department for Work and Pensions), for threatening him with the termination of our benefits if he did not agree to a “training course” of the Jobcentre's choosing. Well, this afternoon he had to lodge a Stage 3 complaint against the Jobcentre as both his Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints have been effectively ignored by the Jobcentre Manager and District Manager respectively. The only response he has received is archived here, stating that the matter will be investigated by the London Regional office.

Having none of it, Declan lodged his complaint this afternoon with Jobcentre Plus Chief Executive Darra Singh (presented below) at Stage 3 of the Jobcentre Plus complaints procedure. And he has no intention of resting his case there. In three weeks, it is the Independent Case Examiner followed by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

This is Declan's registered letter to Singh, copied to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper:

Dear Mr Darra Singh

My Formal Complaint against Highgate Jobcentre Plus - Stage 3

I am writing to you as the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus in England and Wales. Please find enclosed a copy of the only response I have received to the attached copies of my formal complaint against Highgate Jobcentre Plus at Stage 1 (Jobcentre Manager) and Stage 2 (District Manager) of the Jobcentre Plus complaints procedure. Kindly note that neither Highgate Jobcentre Plus nor the Central London District Office refutes that the former (JCP) refused and continues to refuse to refer me to a Starting a Business course. Accordingly, as my complaint has not been settled at Stage 1 or Stage 2, I hereby respectfully request a Stage 3 (Jobcentre Plus Chief Executive) review of the part of my complaint that relates to Mr Freddy Brooks of Highgate Jobcentre Plus, who threatened me on 11 March with the termination of my benefits if I did not undertake a "training course" of the choosing of the Jobcentre.

My wife suspects, as I believe, that our ongoing abuse at the hands of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is almost certainly related to the Network of those Abused by Church (NAC) website we maintain at religionandmorality.net. I would be delighted to have a Starting a Business course, which would enable me to turn NAC into a registered company limited by guarantee, but Highgate Jobcentre Plus won't allow me to do that. I beg to point out that NAC is a world network organisation for exposing the public to the scientific perspective on public policy issues. It has a distinguished list of agreed Trustees pending the registration of the enterprise as a limited company as well as a distinguished and growing list of Honorary Associates, which includes two Nobel Prize winners. Among other activities, NAC has been running a petition to the United Nations on Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (Therapeutic Cloning) that has gathered 656 signatures to date; the petition's backers include recognised authorities from the world's leading universities and research institutes, as well as 26 Nobel Prize winners.

I can confirm that I am currently looking for a solicitor or counsel to represent me pro bono, who might be able to tell whether Highgate Jobcentre Plus has been acting lawfully (a) by directing me to apply for specific jobs on threat of termination of my benefits, (b) by insisting on my taking a "training course" of the choosing of the Jobcentre, and (c) what can be done to prevent recurrence of this form of unfair treatment. Notice, in particular:

• My joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE I was due to do so on 29 September 2006.

• My wife and I were forced to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years, from 3 November 2006 to 13 July 2009.

• I exhausted the appeals process from the street, where my case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights in spite of the fact that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority (the DWP).

• My joint claim JSA was not even reinstated until 9 October 2009 – almost three months after we gained access to a roof over our heads – because my wife’s National Insurance number was “lost” from the Department’s computer system.

Kindly note that this complaint relates to Mr Brooks threatening me on 11 March with the termination of my benefits if I do not undertake a training course of the choosing of Highgate Jobcentre Plus. I understand that I can have the Independent Case Examiner review this part of my complaint if I am not happy with the reply or not that I have received to this letter within 15 working days.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

Encls

cc The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (at ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk)

Church and State

MAYOR OF LONDON RSI PROPERTY
DAY 406 IN A WEEKLY PERIODIC TENANCY
SUBJECT TO A SECTION 21 NOTICE

(SEE PARA. 3 BELOW)

1. Our 308 Honorary Associates include 20 Nobel Prize laureates. Declan and I are engaged in a project that deals with the publication of issues significant to social policy in a number of key areas, e.g., climate change, population, futurism, atheism, and free speech. Established as Network for Church Monitoring, a non-profit company limited by guarantee, our main publication, found at the website, Church and State, calls attention to subjects, not the least which have been critical of the interaction between religious and secular institutions. We have been the target of numerous threats and actions, e.g., the former resulting in threats to Declan's life, and the latter, which have led to vandalism. The various incidents are on record with the police and other official agencies.

2. There are no less than 63 Nobel Prize laureates on the Church and State website from 20 Honorary Associates, eight articles, nine book excerpts and 33 petition signatories. (For example, one Nobel laureate signed our Nobel petition in support of human embryonic stem cell research and gave us permission to excerpt from one of his books.) Our list of associates also includes 18 US National Medal laureates, and six Turing Award laureates (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in computer science). We have published one article and excerpted from the books of seven members of the British House of Lords. And there are 31 knighted professors on the site from 13 Honorary Associates, one book excerpt and 21 petition signatories. These figures are despite the never-ending assault on our email (this link reveals the targeting of our emails to, among others, a close colleague in Washington, DC as well as space advocates and Nobel laureates).

3. This is Day 406 for us living under the threat to life of a 'no fault' eviction by Peabody Trust.[1] We live in a Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) property. Peabody's appalling new terms of tenancy have forced us into an unstable weekly periodic tenancy that poses a threat to Declan's life and inhibits our ability to exercise our rights. Declan accumulated quite a history with the Housing Ombudsman Service before he received the Ombudsman's decision not to investigate a referral from Lyn Brown MP on jurisdictional grounds. The Ombudsman was asked to consider whether or not our tenancy has been renewed like for like; and whether, if not, it should be in light of the landlord having accused us of not signing a like-for-like agreement. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will not accept a referral of discrimination from Ms Brown, the Commission's helpline (EASS) having grossly distorted the complaint against Peabody. We no longer have pro se access to the courts (see next paragraph).

4. This eviction matter came before District Judge Ruth Fine at the Central London County Court on 30 June 2020, when both counsel for St Mungo's (the charity in effective control of our tenancy) and Declan presented their positions. Declan lost the case and was ordered to pay £1,850 in costs. A publishing colleague in America cleared these costs within 24 hours of my blog post about this hearing for strike out on a related issue that was the essence of the claim, i.e., that St Mungo's would take a phone call to confirm that we are clients of the Mayor of London's RSI programme. Within a week of the hearing, St Mungo's had agreed to take this phone call for us both, the Court having ruled that they were not obliged to do so despite our circumstances. This time we escaped bankruptcy (counsel for St Mungo's asked for £3,407.50 in costs), but consider that to seek pro se access to justice in the courts has become far too dangerous for us. Declan currently has before the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman the decision of the Information Commissioner that allows St Mungo's to continue processing coercive support plans without our knowledge or consent and that also poses a threat to his life.

5. When it comes to traffic, we have had 10.7 million hits in the past three years on Facebook; however, I left the platform on 13 March 2021 for one year rather than risk being banned for life. It is indisputable that with any sort of level playing field Church and State would have far exceeded 2.5 million hits last year. In addition to a large variety of blocks without explanation, Facebook had so severely restricted our Page's distribution by October 2020 that it was almost as good as an unpublished page.[2] Currently, we are up to their 85th block since 1 December 2015, and as usual without an explanation. This block records as one half of their 3rd double block in the first five weeks of this year that lasted 60 days. Our traffic has also been curtailed by over 2.5K blocks on access to Church and State since 26 July 2016, including 29 full distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks since 17 May 2019 that have lasted for as long as 54 hours at a time.[3] About 70% of our hits are from Americans.

"This is precisely the hard hitting kind of response needed to clarify the unfair way Facebook is treating your highly reputable site." Don Collins, Founder, International Services Assistance Fund, Washington DC

Last updated: 26/06/21

_________________________

[1] Once a fixed term has elapsed, the landlord has the option to seek eviction even if the tenant has upheld their obligations in full (though of course the landlord must still apply for and obtain a county court order).

[2] 17/10/20: We have permission to publish this ISAF letter of 30 September to Facebook COO Sheryl Samberg. Facebook has so severely restricted our Page's distribution since 4 September that it's almost as good as an unpublished page

[3] Since October 2019, we have been defining a full DDoS attack as having such a high volume of up to 4-minute blocks on access to Church and State that we don't bother recording them all.

Church and State blog