Nearly all Universal Credit claimants who were sanctioned by their work coaches in the past year lost money because they didn't turn up for or participate in a mandatory interview, the latest figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) show.
The statistics show 541,000 Universal Credit claimants were sanctioned in the year to January 2023, with 530,000 of those penalised for failing to keep appointments. This represents nearly 98% of total sanctions. The figures represent a very small fall from the peak, but the number of claimants sanctioned is still more than double what it was pre-pandemic. In January 2020 18,462 claimants were sanctioned, but in January 2023, the figure was 44,888.
At the end of last year, a debate on the DWP policy on benefit sanctions heard that Jobcentres have been told to “up their game” and increase the number of sanctions they are handing to those receiving out-of-work benefits. And one MP said he had even heard that there was inter-office competition, with DWP offices pushing each other to achieve higher sanction rates.
Read more: All you need to know about Universal Credit sanctions as DWP imposes 'more rigorous' regime
During the debate, secured by SNP MP Chris Stephens, he said: "Different offices’ statistics are compared, pushing for higher sanction and deferral rates. Sanctions appear to be back with a vengeance”
In June 2022, £34 million was taken from claimants by way of sanctions, in July £34.9 million and in August, over £36 million.
DWP minister Guy Opperman, who is MP for Hexham, Northumberland, denied that there had been a change of sanctions policy and that he was “not aware” of any sanctions regime that incentivised DWP staff to apply sanctions.
Benefits and Work, a website which advises people how to claim and retain benefits, said: "Clearly sanctions are saving the DWP a significant amount of cash." The website said that claimants could be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract even if they already had a secure job, but for fewer hours, or if an appointment was created by a job coach on their journal at a time when the claimant had no data on their phone and no money to buy any. By the time they could afford additional data and saw the appointment, they had already missed it and been sanctioned.
Campaigners have hit out at plans revealed in the Spring Budget to abolish Work Capability Assessment (WCAs) and give work coaches the responsibility of deciding if a claimant is capable of working or not. The news comes amid reports in Disability News Service that that the DWP had admitted that there are no minimum academic qualifications required to become a work coach in a jobcentre.
However the DWP said that selection for appointment to the civil service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition. A spokesperson said: “Work coaches have tailored conversations with claimants about what they can do in terms of work and work-related activity and set personalised requirements for claimants. We will ensure work coaches are equipped to deal with changes outlined in the Health and Disability White Paper in terms of providing extra support, guidance and training.”
Benefits and Work said: "This is a decision which is currently made by registered health professionals and the fact that it is to be handed over to work coaches with no medical knowledge whatsoever is causing alarm amongst claimants and many voluntary sector organisations. With the DWP planning to give work coaches the power to decide who is capable of work, these figures are a reminder of the vast power such unqualified staff will wield.
"First deciding whether a claimant is able to take part in work-related activities and then having the power to recommend a sanction if the claimant fails to attend a meeting or does not participate as fully as the work coach thinks is appropriate. Claimants can try to show good cause for not attending a meeting or not being able to participate in it properly, including issues with their health. But if the work coach is sceptical about the effects of their health condition in the first place , then the likelihood of them recommending to a decision maker that no sanction should be applied seems slim."
A DWP spokesperson said: “People are only sanctioned if they fail to meet the conditions they agree to without good reason. The latest figures show sanctions are falling, and the majority are applied due to claimants failing to attend or participate in mandatory appointments. We take the wellbeing of our claimants seriously and always take personal circumstances into account. Our work coaches are also able to tailor requirements to make sure the most vulnerable are supported and protected.”
Chroniclelive has previously reported on former NHS worker Errol Livingstone, of Gateshead, who was living on vegetable juice and unable to use his oven after being sanctioned when he did not attend a course. Mr Livingstone, who appealed against the sanction, said the shortfall caused him extreme hardship at a time when the cost of living was already putting a strain on his budget. He lost £11 per day for eight days, a total of £88, from his monthly payment of £319.84.
Mr Livingstone said he was under the impression that he didn't have to attend the course due to his experience in recruitment and was later told he should have been there. "The sanctions don't give you any right to reply or respond to the accusations, they are just imposed on you," he said. "I go on my Universal Credit journal every day and one day I noticed that the sanction had been imposed. There's no communication or no way you can defend yourself. It's an awful system. "I appealed and then noticed some weeks later that there was an update that my appeal had been upheld and the money would be repaid. There was no apology or explanation."
The DWP announced at the end of last year that some Universal Credit claimants who have paid back hardship loans in the last seven years might be able to get some of their money back. A hardship payment is emergency money given to claimants to help them meet their essential costs when their benefit has been cut because of a sanction or penalty for fraud. The DWP said it is reviewing the loans from January 2014 to January 2021 , in the light of concerns that people were made to pay them back when they couldn't afford to do so.
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