If you’ve ever had the misfortune to have to experience a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Jobcentre, you’ll know it makes claimants feel like they’re entering a high-security prison. Private security guards are present on all floors, just to make chronically ill, disabled, and non-working people feel even more criminalised. However, now it seems that the DWP might be preparing to up the scale of this policing of claimants. This is because it’s just issued new guidance on the use of body-worn cameras in Jobcentres.

DWP policing claimants with body-worn cameras

Previously, private security staff at DWP Jobcentres did no necessarily always wear body-worn cameras. For trade unions, this was a real issue. The GMB, for example, issued guidance in June 2024 over them. It was furious that:

Following widespread reports from sites of Agency Staff not wearing body cams (BWC) we raised this with both G4S and DWP as a safety breach.

At the time, notorious private contractor G4S said that body-worn cameras were ‘not part of its risk assessment’ – meaning it made no specific provision for its use. Yet, it did admit they were ‘an additional security tool’.

Fast-forward to February 2025 and both the GMB and PCS unions were once again kicking off about these devices. The GMB said there was “inconsistency… surrounding the use of body cameras… leading some members to use their own mobiles for basic site safety reasons”. The PCS went further, saying:

G4S provides staff with personal mobile radios and body-worn cameras that fail on a daily basis. A member commented:

“Our cameras have not worked since May 2024. Other equipment has not worked for over two years, despite being reported to the manager.”

So, it seems that some security staff at DWP Jobcentres wear body-worn cameras, others don’t, and they don’t even work all the time.

But hold up. If security staff are wearing body-worn cameras sometimes – where is the data protection (GDPR) guidance around this for claimants – seeing is it is them the DWP heavies are going to be filming?

Good question – because it did not exists until a few days ago.

Government catching up with its own GDPR failings

On 1 October, the DWP decided it was time to comply with its legal obligations surrounding GDPR, and issue guidance for claimants on body-worn cameras. You can read it here – as you may need to request your data at some point if you are unlucky enough to be under the thumb of the DWP.

In short, it’s fairly standard stuff. Except one part isn’t. The DWP notes that it may use footage from body-worn cameras:

to help DWP or the police during an investigationwhen someone has asked us to restrict processing of their datato help with a legal caseto help in a matter of public interest

That is – if the DWP is investigating someone for benefit fraud it can now use footage from body-worn cameras inside Jobcentres to ‘help’ with that snooping.

So, not only did the DWP seemingly fail in its basic GDPR obligations surrounding these devices – it now has made it clear they will be used to spy on claimants as well.

This comes at a time when the Labour government has ratcheted up the fake culture of assuming all benefit claimants are frauds until proven otherwise. Of course, this is all bullshit – but as has always been the case, media and society have lapped it up.

In reality, when you are at the mercy of the DWP, it is distressing enough having to visit a Jobcentre in the first place. But now, the DWP has just made that a whole lot worse.

Featured image via the Canary

By Steve Topple

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