Information clampdown by States of Jersey...

One of the wonders of IT is that it is so easy to send information all over the world at little cost - just at the touch of a button.
It is truly amazing BUT it does not suit everybody.

The States of Jersey is, like governments everywhere putting more and more information on-line and that is all well and good so far as it goes. But of course WE the public have to have the right IT equipment and the ability to use it and that does not come cheap and the necessary skills are - for some - difficult to achieve.

It is becoming obvious that the States is on an Ozouf led economy drive and that the savings offered by putting stuff on-line rather than printing it on paper are initially attractive. But who does this really benefit? We have referred to the problem before on SSTAG and will continue to do so in future.

A recent example is detailed below regarding the Social Security Department and to our eternal sadness involves Senator Le Gresley who was until very recently the head of Jersey CAB where making information available is the name of the game.

To cut it short - we were recently told by the counter clerk at the SS office at La Motte that leaflets and booklets had been discontinued and once the current stock was gone there would be no  more printed.
We thought this must surely be a mistake - but when we wrote to Minister Le Gresley we duly received confirmation! The exchanged e-mails are attached to this posting.

Yet on BBC Radio Jersey this weekend - on the "phone-in where no phone calls are broadcast " Senator Le Gresely (appearing with Deputy Green the Minister for Housing) was heard to claim that anybody seeking more information could pop into La Motte HQ and pick up explanatory  printed leaflets!!!
Obviously  not correct Minister and we wonder if he even reads his own e-mails?

At the same time in the JEP (Monday 26 November) there appears an article promoting the wonders of on-line digital information and how the States can save "a great deal of money" according to a local IT expert with an obvious commercial interest. "This is the future of government as digital enables a leaner public sector" he says - and of course such claims are lapped up by Senator Ozo and his accountant friends.

On the other hand at a recent Scrutiny Panel hearing it was revealed that FOI (the long awaited Freedom of Information law) is bogged down in no-man's land and nobody knows when it will be funded or  implemented. So the actual ability of the public to access more and more information (bearing in mind that new policies and regulations are hitting the public from every angle on a daily basis) will become increasingly difficult because printed leaflets etc are already being scrapped.

We at SSTAG will do what little we can to fight for MORE printed information not LESS and we hope that just a few of our so called elected representatives will give us support.

The reply from Senator Le Gresley dated 23 November 2012 appears here with our initial e-mail following;

Thank you for your e-mail.

When leaflets have expired or need changing our approach is to consider what would now be appropriate and in what format. This has meant that some historic leaflets have been removed. It has also meant that some are now only available on-line – for example the contributions rate sheet for employers has been replaced by the on-line contributions calculator. The main income support benefit leaflet is currently being redrafted.

We have never produced leaflets in the Polish language and have no plans to do so. Historically there have been leaflets in Portuguese and French, relating to the reciprocal agreements between Jersey and these countries, but these are no longer available.

Yours sincerely

Senator Francis Le Gresley

Dear Senator/Minister,

Today I called into the La Motte offices to pick up any SS leaflets etc in the Polish language to assist somebody with relatively poor command of English.

To my amazement I discovered that your Department has introduced a policy to scrap written information published on paper  but now proposes that this will be available ONLY on-line for ALL persons.

The last printing of booklets/leaflets I was advised will not be replaced once the current - already depleted - stock is gone!

My amazement is enhanced in view of my previous recent communications to you regarding the inadequacy of so many aspects of "public hearings" and furthermore by the confusion over States employment vacancies.

So I really must protest that the creeping "non publication" policy of States Departments is just simply so unhelpful and discriminatory against so many.

This is all the more acute with Departments such as Social Security and Health where so many people needing access to vital infomation are sick, disabled or otherwise disadvantaged.

I am totally shocked and hope that there has been yet another mistake by your counter staff.

Surely this absurd alleged policy cannot be correct?

PS This a scanned leaflet picked up at the very same Social Security Department last week and unless my uncle is a Dutchman it is written in Polish

....no doubt Senator Le Gresley can explain further.

Here he does...

 

 

The leaflet you have found, printed in Polish, is produced by the Health and Safety Inspectorate who are an independent body, based in Philip Le Feuvre House, for which I have political responsibility. This leaflet is also available in English and Portuguese. Only the English version is available on-line.

http://www.gov.je/Industry/HealthSafetyWork/HSI/Legislation/LawRegulations/Pages/HealthSafetyLaw.aspx

Yours sincerely

Senator Francis Le Gresley

 

STOP THAT THIEF! Reform the Social Security Department.

As the leaflet above says (click on image to enlarge it) - this is a copy of an actual statement from the Social Security Department showing details of an Income Support claim award.

We have of course removed anything that might identify the claimant or the senior officer at the Income Support Unit that produced it.

WE have been asking for months that such  FULL statements should be produced by the Department in response to EVERY claim.

Without such full information it is impossible to know whether a claim decision is correct and without such information a claimant cannot know whether to seek a RECONSIDERATION or to make an Appeal against the decision.

Evenso, it is still very difficult to understand what the statement actually says. It is set out in a very confusing format and is a very strange way to present information to people with all sorts of illnesses and different levels of understanding and use of language.

As always, the Social Security Department  seems to be unable to present the most basic information in an easy to understand way and the claimant has had to ask and ask repeatedly for this statement to be produced.

As always too, we wonder just how many people are denied their full and proper benefits awards by the Social Security Department  because of the complexity of the process and do not know how to challenge decisions that have been made.

Indeed we do wonder who the "BENEFIT THIEVES" really are!?

In the UK an officer is appointed to ensure that applicants receive ALL the benefits that a claimant is entitled to without having to confront Social Security staff in a challenging way.

Of course, the confrontational attitude of the SS Department itself is everywhere.
Postal communications are endorsed with the "Benefits Thieves" message, posters are displayed and media artcicles are constantly labelling claimants as potential cheats or lazy crooks.
Every form or letter from the SS Department warns of prosecution and punishment for giving wrong information - claimants are made to feel like criminals just for making an application for benefits to which they are fully entitled.

The attitude of some staff towards claimants is not always helpful or polite yet it is the claimant who faces warning notices about bad behaviour.

The standard and accuracy of information given by this Department is dreadfully inadequate. WE at SSTAG are constantly hearing about lost files, missing data, conflicting advice, anynoymous staff who refuse to give their names, delays  and confusion.

For a Department that has to deal on a daily basis with people who are ill and stressed through  difficult personal circumstances, lack of language skills, inability to understand bureaucratic processes and so on we find that the service offered is so often just simply so unsympathetic and flawed.

Of course we understand that some staff do their best - but our members have been flagging up these problems for years and it seems that there is an institutional inability to reform or improve standards or attitudes.

This is especially sad since we had expected so much better from Senator Le Gresley as Minister for the Social Security Department in view of his background of many years with the Citizens Advice Bureau.