Department for Work and Pensions breaches the Data Protection Act

Jobcentre Plus (JCP) is an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This morning Declan received a letter from JCP in clear breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. It says that after a thorough search our jobcentre, Highgate Jobcentre Plus, has confirmed that they hold no system or clerical records in respect of the termination of our benefits in September 2006. In other words, the information has been lost or, at the very least, is not held securely!

Declan requested the information after he was notified by JCP that we weren’t forced to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan failed to “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (the letter of termination is archived here), but because he failed to attend an appointment on 19 September 2006 (see blog of 6 May “Department for Work and Pensions rewrites our history”).

Declan’s complaint against JCP for refusing him access to a Starting a Business course that would enable him register NAC as a company limited by guarantee is still in play (see blog of 30 April “Declan's complaint against Jobcentre Plus goes to the Independent Case Examiner”) – the Independent Case Examiner’s Office has yet to deal with it! Now he is pursuing JCP to solve this problem of missing data in respect of the termination of his joint claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance in September 2006. Oh well!



This is the letter Declan sent by registered post this afternoon to the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham:

Dear Mr Graham

Data Protection Act 1998, Subject Access Request

I am writing to you as the Information Commissioner responsible for the regulation of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the protection of personal information. I have written to Jobcentre Plus (JCP), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), to request personal information, but the information I have requested has been lost or is not held securely.

Please find enclosed a copy of a letter dated 5 May 2010 from JCP IT Director David Chapman, stating:

We have no record of closing your claim on 27 September 2006 but we did close your claim in September 2006 because you missed an appointment on 19 September. If a customer misses an appointment we may close their claim with a one day suspension of benefit.

I responded to this letter by asking JCP Chief Executive Darra Singh for the following information: a copy of all personal data held by the data controller in respect of the termination of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance in September 2006 (see enclosed copy of my letter of request dated 10 May 2010 with enclosure).

The response to this request has been to provide me with Jobseeker's Allowance Clerical Records and Jobseeker's Allowance System Records (see enclosed copy of letter from JCP dated 27 May 2010), but I have not been provided with any system or clerical record in respect of the termination of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance in September 2006. Moreover, I have been informed that “after a thorough search Highgate Jobcentre Plus have confirmed that they hold no system or clerical records relating specifically to that period and action” (see enclosed copy of a second letter from JCP dated 27 May 2010).

I have not, for example, been provided with a copy of the letter, dated 27 September 2006, terminating my claim because I allegedly failed to sign my declaration (see enclosed copy of the letter of termination dated 27 September 2006). Please kindly note that the aforementioned letter to Mr Singh points out the following:

• My joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance 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 appeals process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority (the DWP).

• My joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance 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.

I understand that the Information Commissioner can ask JCP to solve this problem of missing data in respect of the termination of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance in September 2006 so that they comply with the data protection principles. If they do not, you may consider taking formal legal action such as issuing an enforcement notice ordering them to do so. I note that an enforcement notice is a legally binding document that sets out what an organisation must do (or stop doing) to comply with the law.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

cc Mr Darra Singh, Chief Executive, Jobcentre Plus (by email)
Ms Patrice Mulligan, Manager, Highgate Jobcentre Plus (by hand)

Declan calls for Department for Work and Pensions evidence

In the previous blog “Department for Work and Pensions rewrites our history”, I provided a link to a letter Declan received from the DWP on Thursday informing us that we weren't forced to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan failed to “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (the letter of termination is archived here), but because he failed to attend an appointment on 19 September 2006. Well, now the DWP will either have to fabricate evidence and/or breach the Data Protection Act 1998. Tomorrow, Declan will send the following request under the Act to Jobcentre Plus Chief Executive Darra Singh:

Dear Mr Singh

Data Protection Act 1998, Subject Access Request

I am writing to you as the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus (JCP), an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Please find enclosed a copy of a letter dated 5 May 2010 signed by JCP IT Director David Chapman on your behalf, stating:

We have no record of closing your claim on 27 September 2006 but we did close your claim in September 2006 because you missed an appointment on 19 September. If a customer misses an appointment we may close their claim with a one day suspension of benefit.

I hereby make a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998 to be supplied with a copy of all personal data held by the data controller in respect of the termination of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance in September 2006.

With reference to the aforementioned letter, I can confirm that I am currently looking for a solicitor or counsel to represent me pro bono, who might be able to tell from your letter whether JCP is 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 JCP, and (c) what can be done to prevent recurrence of this form of unfair treatment. Please kindly note:

• 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.

I note that the Data Protection Act gives significant rights to individuals in respect of personal data held about them by the data controller (the institution). These rights include to take action to rectify, block, erase or destroy inaccurate data. I understand that I can have the Data Protection Commissioner review my subject access request if I am not happy with the reply or not that I have received to this letter within 40 calender days.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

Department for Work and Pensions rewrites our history

Our history with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was yesterday turned on its head - by the DWP! Jobcentre Plus (JCP) is an executive agency of the DWP. In a letter on behalf of JCP Chief Executive Darra Singh, we were informed this morning that we weren’t forced to live on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan failed to “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 but because he failed to attend an appointment on 19 September 2006. Well, this is news to us!

When it comes to the “loss” of my National Insurance number off the Department’s computer system (see blog of 7 October 2009 “After a huge run, the Department for Work and Pensions denies me a crisis loan”), the DWP now makes out that I never had a National Insurance number to lose in the first place! They go on and on (archived here). The bottom line is that Declan’s complaint against JCP for refusing him access to a Starting a Business course that would enable him register NAC as a company limited by guarantee – lodged with the Independent Case Examiner last Friday (see previous blog) – remains intact. Below is Declan’s letter of reply to Singh, which will be forwarded by registered post to the Independent Case Examiner tomorrow.

Oops, it seems that we are extremely lucky to have the letter terminating our benefits archived here, and plenty of corroborative evidence archived there and elsewhere to boot. An application of mine dated 21 September 2009 nails them on my National Insurance number, a copy of which I retain on disc; if any of the information I provided to be reallocated a National Insurance number was deemed to be false, why have I got a National Insurance number now? Singh has plenty of questions to answer, and is now additionally looking at an application from Declan under the Data Protection Act for a copy of the document on file under his name that claims our benefits were terminated in September 2006 because he missed an appointment on 19 September. The fabrication of such evidence is surely a criminal offence, and should be dealt with accordingly.

Dear Mr Singh

Jobcentre Plus

I am writing to you as the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus (JCP), an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Please find enclosed a copy of a letter dated 5 May 2010 that I received this morning signed by Mr David Chapman on your behalf. I note that JCP continues to refuse me access to a Starting a Business course (as opposed to related workshops run by Business Link in London, such as their “Starting up a Social Enterprise” workshop, which I attended on 7 April), without explanation.

My wife suspects, as I believe, that my on-going 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 looking for a solicitor or counsel to represent me pro bono, who might be able to tell from your letter whether JCP is 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 JCP, and (c) what can be done to prevent recurrence of this form of unfair treatment. Kindly note for your records:

• 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.

With reference to your last paragraph, please be advised that I have already written to the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) with my complaint against JCP for refusing me access to a Starting a Business course. I understand that my MP may be able to refer my complaint against JCP to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if I am not happy with the reply or not that I have received from the ICE within the next 16 working days. If my MP is not so inclined, I will be seeking the assistance of my local Citizen’s Advice Bureau, again with this letter from you to hand to substantiate my claim.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

cc Mr John Hanlon, The Independent Case Examiner (by registered post - together with enclosure herein referred to)