The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) being subjected to benefit sanctions is creeping up, with nearly one in five being penalised last year.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that 3,097,630 JSA claims were made in 2013-14 and 568,430 individuals were subject to a sanction, a total of 18%. In 2012-13, 16% of claims were subjected to sanctions and 15% in 2010-11. They are imposed on people who fail to keep appointments, reject jobs or walk out of jobs without good reason.
In 2008-09, only 286,694 sanctions were applied on the 2,935,930 JSA claims, representing 10%.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “The huge rise in sanctions since 2010 shows the government’s system is in chaos. The number has doubled since 2009 to a level where one in five of all JSA claimants receive a sanction. This will lead to further concerns that unofficial targets imposed on jobcentres by the Department for Work and Pensions are forcing up the number of people who have their benefits withdrawn.
“Under a Labour government, there will be no targets for sanctions and the system will focused on helping people into work, not simply finding reasons to kick jobseekers off benefits.”
The figures also show that 372,461 claimants were subject to one adverse decision, 99,621 to two and 35,170 to three between 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014.
The DWP stressed the figures were derived from unpublished information which have not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards and should therefore be treated with caution.
David Webster, the honorary senior research fellow at Glasgow University, said: “The DWP is still regularly claiming that it is only a ‘tiny minority’ of claimants who are sanctioned – most recently by Esther McVey last week – but this suggests it is not a tiny minority.”
Employment minister Esther McVey said: “All the international evidence suggests that sanctions do have a positive impact on people getting into work, and there are two parts of that: as a deterrent, it has a positive impact on moving people into work and there is further research that, should somebody have been sanctioned, it helps them into work afterwards.”
The DWP pointed to OECD research on northern member states which suggested that having a credible benefit reduction leads to increased work search and a subsequent increase of flow into employment of up to 50%.
Same Difference 
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Labour have not said if they will revoke the Coalition’s Pension Bills 2010-2014 (flat rate pension) that is NIL STATE PENSION FOR LIFE, when pension is payable if remain in work or not.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/state-pension-at-60-now
and the bigger petition due to be handed in mid-March
to force Miliband and Balls to say formally in parliament
if Labour will revoke all the Pension Bills before government
stands down to work towards the general election.
http;//you.38degrees.org.uk/p/statepensionlaw
Rachel Reeves Labour … “Under a Labour government, there will be no targets for sanctions and the system will focused on helping people into work, not simply finding reasons to kick jobseekers off benefits.” …
This sentence does not say if Labour will abolish sanctions nor workfare.
Sanctions kills, because they are months long, when it takes about a month to starve to death, but that is on average, as others can die in a fortnight.
Labour talk about workfare plus sandwich – so what about the bus fare each day for six months?
Even the disabled are liable for workfare.
The sick and disabled up past over 60s because of raised retirement age, are just as liable to sanctions from Employment and Support Allowance as well as those on Jobseekers Allowance.
Without Jobcentres and the trebling of sanction decision making staff by the Department of Work and Pensions, then benefit could be paid wtihout conditionality.
It would be far cheaper to have nil staff, but then that is what is happening when the Jobcentres go digital in March 2015.
The Greens had a policy that would have ended all welfare benefit admin, both state and private, that has been rising each year by the billions. Destroyed in a single interview with Ms Lucas.
And pour all that Citizen Income money direct into still recession hit UK economy, as the jobs being created are below income tax allowance.
GREENS POLICY LOST WAS:
The Citizen Income, universal and automatic, at £72 per week, nil tax.
HOW TO COST IS EASY
Inside current budgets within the, say, the tax office.
As 75 per cent of all tax comes from indirect stealth taxes and VAT, we all pay, in or out of work and however long we live, then the entire Citizen Income would pour back in a round robin of funding.
Generate youth jobs, save the high street, and cut benefit if the living wage became the minimum wage.
Without the return of the Truck System (now called salary sacrifice system) that drags wages below the minimum wage and out of the National Insurance Fund, so right to benefit and state pension.
ME – I HAVE LOST MY ENTIRE STATE PENSION
Unable to work as disabled and chronic sick, nil benefits.
Unable to get Jobseekers Allowance nor Employment and Support Allowance as unable to attend Jobcentres nor sit in front of this computer 35 hours, without dying from hypothermia.
Lost my state pension due to the Coaliton’s flat rate pension coming in 2016, after not being paid my state pension at 60, whilst Labour MPs like all others share in £100 million in expenses and get a £74,000 pay rise this year.
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