Warning Over Benefit Sanctions

Holyrood report says sanctions affect employment rates.

Benefit sanctions can lead to a spiral of decline and potentially destitution, often getting in the way of people getting back to work. That is the stark conclusion of the Scottish Parliament's Welfare Reform Committee in a report published today.

Coming just a week after its report on food banks, which saw the Committee warn of the developing Dickensian welfare approach, this report comments on the “climate of fear around JobCentres, rather than one that encourages people to engage with them and find their way back to work.

Evidence presented to the Committee showed that the loss of income that sanctions can lead to is now twice the maximum that can be imposed in fines by the courts, with 79 people in Scotland in receipt of the maximum 3 year sanction. Additionally, four in ten decisions to apply a sanction are overturned.

Committee Convener Michael McMahon MSP said:

"When Neil Couling from the DWP came to Committee and said people welcomed the jolt of being sanctioned, the Committee was shocked. Our evidence says quite the opposite; being sanctioned leaves people with not enough money to make ends meet, certainly not enough to go out job hunting.

"The system is so broken that many people do not know why they have been sanctioned, which totally undermines the DWP assertion that sanctions 'teach' people a lesson. How many of us could manage if we did not get paid one week, without any notice or often explanation? This demonstrates once again the enormous gulf between reality and DWP thinking."

Within the report, the Committee asserts that sanctions must only be used as a last resort for those who have consistently and deliberately refused to engage with job seeking requirements without good reason. This builds on the evidence received by the Committee that people are often unaware of having been sanctioned, or what actions caused the sanctions. The report puts forward constructive ideas for how the system could be changed and advocates a sea change in the culture of the policy from punitive to supportive.

Mr McMahon continued:

"There has to be a change of approach when it comes to sanctions. It is not acceptable to punish people and push them into a cycle of decline for things often beyond their control. Many claimants don’t have the IT skills or access to computers that is demanded of them. We've evidence of sanctions being made when someone did half an hour more of unpaid training than they were allowed to.

"It cannot be acceptable to remove people's money for such trivial matters or indeed punish people for trying to improve their job opportunities. People have to be supported by the system, not pressed down further. A review is long overdue and urgently needed before more people are pushed beyond the point of no return."

The Committee calls for a review of the current operation of the sanctions regime and specifically that:

• People should receive a written warning at the first breach before it is escalated to a sanction, to act as a deterrent and not a punishment.
• The initial letter and explanations of the process to claimants must be improved so that claimants are clear about the requirements on them and the consequences of not meeting them.
• People should have at least 10 working days’ notice prior to a sanction being applied and be told of the reason for the sanction.
• Sanctions should be applied appropriately and consistently and with greater levels of discretion and support.
• The consistent triggering of a stop in housing benefit as a result of a sanction should not happen and can lead to a significant debt developing from even a minor sanction.

Deputy Convener Jamie Hepburn MSP said:

"It is shameful that we are in a position where 9,000 lone parents have been sanctioned in Scotland and had their benefits reduced. That is 9,000 families where the state has made putting food on the table even more challenging than normal. We should be helping people back into work, supporting them to pursue opportunities, not punishing them for failing to tick the right box in a form and forcing them into destitution. All too often this triggers a downward spiral few can break out of.

"There are case studies both internationally and within the UK of how things can be done differently. We would urge the DWP to look to these for ways of helping the system become one of tough love, not tough luck."