Introduce "Secret Shoppers" to Job Centres

A "secret shopper" is a person used by watchdog groups to measure the staff's agreement with rules as well as the quality of service.

My experience of signing-on at my local jobcentre for the last couple of months has been awful. I am often called "lad" despite being older than many of the staff. I was angrily told "I can guess what people like you think" when explaining my difficulties in not finding a new job yet. The staff have shouted, sighed, tutted and shaken their heads at me. I have been wrongly told to come in for an appointment - then been told to come back the next day because I was mis-advised. All without any apology.

Most, if not all, major shops employ so-called secret shoppers. For instance, secret shoppers at a restaurant may pretend they are lactose-intolerant, or a clothing store mystery shopper could ask about gift wrapping services. Not all secret shopping reports include a purchase.

If you have been to the jobcentre recently you will notice that it now looks and feels more like a drop-in centre. It is full of despairing people, hopeless lives trying to get out from under.

The jobcentre is a difficult environment to cope with for the best of us these days but particularly for the vulnerable in society. As a result of the punitive and unreasonable measures by successive governments, most of the vulnerable people in society are unemployed and they are on the verge of becoming homeless and suicidal.

We must educate jobcentre staff who bully claimants. The tone is rude, unprofessional and angry. Many of my visits to the jobcentre were counterproductive. At Tesco or Asda if staff were rude to a customer, they would be warned, disciplined or face the sack! We need to teach staff the correct methods to respond to the general public, in a professional manner. This is why we need to hold the jobcentre staff to account.