Campaigners have criticised the BBC and Channel 4 for airing similar ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentaries based inside jobcentres, which are likely to cover-up the misery caused by Universal Credit (UC).
The Disability News Service reports that Channel 4 is filming a six part documentary at Southern House jobcentre in Leeds over the next five months. Jobcentre staff have been told by the DWP that it will follow “the journeys of customers, the relationships between customers and Work Coaches, and showcasing the breadth of support we offer”.
Meanwhile, the BBC is filming a three part documentary in Liverpool jobcentres which will “take a fresh look” at the support provided under universal credit, “as well as exploring the human stories of some of the 78,000 people who work in the DWP” and “the personal stories of the claimants and their families contending with their claims”.
The PCS union has warned staff that they may be disciplined if they say anything critical of the DWP.
Jennifer Jones, from Disabled People Against Cuts Sheffield, which first obtained the leaked DWP memo earlier this year, said the documentaries were “designed to manipulate public perception into believing that universal credit is a good and successful welfare system despite the overwhelming evidence to contradict that”.
You can read the full story on the Disability News Service website.
