The Jobcentre Plus's Little Difficulty With Truth

Yesterday I went into thw Jocentre Plus in Southampton for my initial claim interview. Had to wait over half an hour - seemed to be a delay due to office staff yacking to each other while people were waiting.

Note to staff - Yes, you may fall behind for various reasons, and therefore you need to take steps to catch up. In which case talking to each other about irrelevant matters is wrong. It is treating jobseekers with contempt.

But that isn't want really shocked me.

You might recall that I had been falsely told that one could only apply online. Was this a mistake? I asked one of the staff at a welcome desk yesterday. She agreed that yes, you can apply by telephone. But, and this was the real shocker - they are required to tell people that you can only apply online.

So, civil servants in Jobcentres Plus (or is that Jobcenrre Pluses) are required to provide jobseekers with false information.