Surely the amount of claimants being signed off and put back into work would be far less problematic if the appointments were conducted via video link? Job centre staff would be far less hesitant to sign-off long-term claimants who show no sign of looking for work if they weren’t within physical reach of the person they were signing off and wouldn’t be fearful of harrassment outside of work?
Thoughts?
What if claimants don’t have the equipment to do videolink? What if their internet went down and they couldn’t connect, would the benefits be sanctioned that week? I don’t think it’s a lot to expect somebody receiving unemployment benefit to attend a regular appointment to discuss how they are actively looking for work. Also, you run the risk of claimants leaving the country to work elsewhere whilst still claiming.
They’d still have to attend the Jobcentre, where the video link would be set-up.