A GLASGOW man has had an “extremely unfair” benefit sanction overturned after reaching out to his local MP.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, was up late preparing for an upcoming job interview and slept in the following morning, missing an appointment at the job centre.
He contacted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) one hour after the missed appointment and offered to attend later in the day, however, he received no response.
Following the missed appointment, the DWP imposed a sanction of £11 a day over the course of 25 days - totalling £275.
The man contacted the DWP in September 2022 to discuss the recent Universal Credit sanction imposed upon him, asking for this to be reviewed.
But after regular discussions between the DWP and Alison Thewliss MP, the decision to impose the sanction was overturned.
The Glasgow Central constituent explained: “I am so delighted to have had this sanction overturned. This situation has been extremely stressful, and I am so relieved to be able to receive this money.
“After leaving university, it has been difficult enough trying to pay the rent without sanctions such as these being put upon me.
“The difficult thing for me was knowing the work and effort I was putting in to try and get a job and having all this work thrown right back in my face by an unfair sanction made the situation even worse.
“Alison and her team made the process of getting this sanction overturned as stress-free as it possibly could be, and I can’t thank them enough for this.
“I hope that others who might be in a similar situation will be able to see that there is hope and I would urge anyone to contact their local MP if they are experiencing issues of their own.”
Thewliss said it was "clear" from her first chat with the constituent that the sanction was "extremely unfair".
She went on: “My team were able to contact the DWP and received a response advising that, as expected the constituent would receive the original amount.
"If constituents have been sanctioned and feel this is unfair, they are entitled to ask the decision be looked at again. This is known as Mandatory Reconsideration.
“I want to give a huge thanks to the constituent, who has been so patient during all of this. I can imagine this would have been a distressing time for him, and I’m so glad he was able to have the sanction overturned and receive the money he was rightfully owed.
“My team are always available for constituents to contact us, not only on DWP issues, and I urge anyone to do so on any matter during this difficult cost-of-living crisis.”
