Residents in a town have spoken of their frustration over worrying about Universal Credit (UC) sanctions as the strain of the cost of living crisis continues to take its toll. Data has revealed that the number of people in Nottinghamshire having their benefits sanctioned has more than doubled compared to before the pandemic.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures show 1,168 people on (UC) across the area were carrying a sanction in February. That was 3.4% of claimants, and up from 470 (2.0%) in the same month of 2020, pre-pandemic. The cuts were largely halted in the early stages of the pandemic as job centres shut their doors and the Government focused on dealing with soaring demand from new claimants.
However, the number of people across Britain seeing their UC claim reduced started rising again last summer and has now hit record levels. The second-worst hit district in Nottinghamshire was Gedling, where the figure increased from 27 (1.6%) to 87 (3.3%).
