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The government has been asked to freeze benefits sanctions during the cost of living crisis and reconsider plans to tighten sanctions for the unemployed.
Days after it was announced that sanctions would be imposed on single parents for the first time, a new report warned that the current system is unfair and may be ineffective.
Sanctions are fines applied to someone’s universal credit payments and are not applied evenly across the country, according to the Public Policy Research Institute (IPPR) findings.
Sanctions are determined by Job Center work coaches and are imposed on those who are deemed capable of working but do not meet the requirements of the conditions.
But the report warns that people in some parts of the country are more likely to be affected by sanctions than others.
The IPPR also noted that there is little evidence to suggest that sanctions work in practice.
The warning comes after the government was ordered to release the findings of an internal investigation document investigating how effective the sanctions are.
Ministers have commissioned the work but have so far refused to publish it. They have come under pressure from the MP and the Information Commissioner to release their findings.
Why are benefits sanctions said to be unfair?
According to published research, a benefit claimant in the northeast of England is almost a third more likely to be sanctioned than someone in the southwest.
The report’s authors said there was a “zip code lottery” as to how they would apply because they depended on the work coach’s individual decisions.
For example, in the North of England, sanction rates for job centers are generally high, with 9.2% sanction rates for groups seeking work groups in the North East and 9% in the North West as of November last year. This compares with his 7.4% in London and 7% in the South West.
This means that people living in the North East of England are more than 30% more likely to be sanctioned than those living in the South West.
Young men are also more likely to be sanctioned, but the greatest increase in sanction rates was in those 60 and older.
How many people face sanctions?
The report observes a “worrying trend” indicating a sharp rise in the proportion of universal credit claimants facing sanctions since the pandemic began.
More than 1 in 12 claimants (7.9%) face sanctions, according to government dates.
As a result, more than 100,000 people with Universal Credit have had their benefits stopped or reduced.
The IPPR has expressed concern about the rate of increase in sanctions even before the new regime is in place and recommends a moratorium on sanctions until the cost of living crisis is brought under control.
Why is this especially important now?
Last week, Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt announced that he was reforming the way universal credit sanctions work to help more people get jobs and work longer hours.
He said the sanctions would “apply more strictly to those who do not meet strict job application requirements or choose not to receive reasonable job offers.”
The announced changes will reduce the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET), the amount a person must earn to avoid having to meet regularly with a job coach, from the equivalent of 15 hours of salary to 18 hours. increases to
A partner of someone who is currently working and claiming universal credit does not need to meet with a work coach at all.
However, this has been changed to remove the couple threshold entirely. That means you need to see a coach and take “proactive steps” to get a job or get more hours.
There will also be increased sanctions for single parents and lone caregivers who previously did not have to look for work. Together, the ministers estimate that these measures could reach about 800,000 parents and caregivers in total.
Existing sanctions against all universal credit requesters will also be tightened and partially automated to ensure people aren’t overlooked.
There are also concerns that concurrent changes to the disability benefit system could force people who were previously entitled to health insurance benefits to work or face sanctions.
IPPR economist Henry Parkes warned that pushing for tougher policies would be “foolish and unfair” as people struggle with rising costs of living.
IPPR warns that more people dependent on social security are at risk of hardship and extreme poverty if payments fall while costs rise.
And the organization said the prime minister’s “major policy changes” were “likely to lead to more people being sanctioned across the UK.”