Tory ministers are preparing yet another sanctions crackdown on benefit claimants in the wake of the tax-cutting, bankers’ bonus-scrapping mini-Budget.
Today’s statement confirmed plans to force another 120,000 Universal Credit claimants who already work part-time to seek extra hours from January.
It was at least the third tightening of the rules so far this year, as new Prime Minister Liz Truss seeks to push people into nearly 1.3million job vacancies.
But the ‘Plan for Growth’ shows an extra tightening of the rules, on top of these changes, is also being drawn up within the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions.
The small print says on top of today’s change for part-time workers, the government will “strengthen the sanctions regime to set clear work expectations in return for receiving Universal Credit.”
These will include “applying for jobs, attending interviews or increasing the hours” people work.
It was not immediately clear what this would mean, and it’s understood officials are still working on how it will translate into action.
People on Universal Credit already have to agree a personalised “claimant commitment” in exchange for their benefits - and it already includes making a work search “your full-time focus”.
But sources indicated the rules could be toughened up further.
A government source said the language in the mini-Budget was designed as a “signal” that conditions will be tightened to get “as many people into work as possible”.
People who do not follow the rules will face a benefit sanction.
The Treasury documents warn: “Claimants who do not fulfil their job-search commitment without good reason could have their benefits reduced.”
Today’s main Universal Credit announcement concerned the ‘Administrative Earnings Threshold’ for the two-fifths of claimants who have a job.
If your job pays enough to pass this threshold, but not enough to move off benefits, you are moved down to a “light-touch” search for work.
Currently this kicks in at nine hours a week on minimum wage. From Monday it will be 12 hours. After today’s announcement, from January, it will be 15 hours a week.
Separately, Tory ministers changed the rules in Spring to force claimants to look for jobs outside their expertise more quickly.
People now have to take a position outside their usual career after four weeks of job-hunting - instead of three months.
Benefit sanctions have been rising rapidly since last summer, when face-to-face JobCentre appointments reopened following Covid.
The number of claimants subject to a sanction rose from 3,827 in May 2021 to 109,506 in May 2022.
