A warning has been issued to Universal Credit claimants after more than half a million people had their benefits cut due to sanctions in the past year.
According to latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, 541,000 people were given a sanction between February 2022 and January 2023. In the overwhelming majority of cases, 97% (just over 530,000) lost some or all of their benefits for failing to attend a mandatory interview with a work coach at the jobcentre.
The rest were penalised for not being available for work (4,330), not going on employment programmes (4,000), quitting a job without a good explanation (2,410), or other reasons (520). The DWP said in its report: "If you do not meet one or more conditions of your benefit claim without good reason, your benefit could be stopped or reduced.
Read More: DWP Universal Credit sanctions - what you can do if you have your payments cut
"This is a benefit sanction. However, not everyone that is initially referred for failing to meet the conditions of their claim will receive a sanction. Where a claimant's benefit is reduced, the claimant may be eligible for a hardship payment."
The number of sanctions given out to people who break the rules of their benefit claim has soared compared to what it was before the Covid-19 lockdowns. There was a pre-pandemic peak of 23,000 sanctions in July 2019, but in March 2022 that had rocketed to a new high of 59,000, reports Birmingham Live.
Figure show there were 18,462 sanctions in January 2020, which had more than doubled to 45,000 sanctions imposed in January 2023. In his Spring Budget 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced he was toughening up sanctions to get more people on Universal Credit back to work. He said: "Sanctions will be applied more rigorously to those who fail to meet strict work-search requirements or choose not to take up a reasonable job offer."
But IPPR think tank economist Henry Parkes warned the stricter policy "would be both foolish and unfair" as people struggle with the rising cost of living. The IPPR's report found a "concerning trend" showing that the rate of Universal Credit claimants being sanctioned has risen rapidly, with more than one in 12 (7.9%) claimants subject to sanctions. It has warned that more people relying on social security are at risk of hardship and destitution if their payments are docked as they try to cope with increasing living costs.
Mr Parkes said: "Sanction rates are climbing rapidly, and it seems your chances of being sanctioned are largely down to the temperament of your local job centre. We already know that sanctions can push people into destitution, so as the cost-of-living crisis continues it is urgent that the Government pauses, rather than expands, its sanctions regime while it investigates what’s driving the rise and variation in sanction rates."
The report found that young men are sanctioned at the highest rate, while the biggest rise in sanctions was among over-60s. It called for a 'yellow card' rule where the financial penalty is removed for the first sanction and replaced with an intervention meeting, and a grace period from sanctions for those caring for young children.
The Department for Work and Pensions states that in most cases people need to complete up to 35 hours of 'work search activity' – such as preparing a CV, applying for jobs and preparing for interviews – per week in order to receive Universal Credit.
A DWP spokesperson said: "Our priority is to help people find and move into work and the latest figures show an overwhelming amount – 97.6% – of sanctions are applied simply due to claimants failing to attend mandatory appointments, not for failing to undertake work search requirements. Sanctions can often quickly be resolved by the claimant re-engaging with the Jobcentre and attending the next appointment."
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