After many months of waiting and pressure from organisations and campaigners the DWP finally relented and published the secret sanction report that I’ve reported on previously.
This report concerned itself into the effectiveness of DWP (Department of Work and Pension) sanctions, afterall it’s a cruel tool used by them for a long time.
However in true DWP style they released it hours before the UK was closed to business for the Easter bank holiday.
The report shows that sanctioned claimants do take longer to move into paid employment and when they do so they’re most likely going to accept lower paid jobs than claimants that haven’t been sanctioned.
It also reveals that there’s no evidence that sanctions are effective in any way at all.
According to the report claimants that have been sanctioned also have 8% shorter UC claims than claimants who were not sanctioned.
The report proves that the majority of claimants with shortened claims disappear, they do not move into paid employment which is very worrying.
Claimants who are sanctioned and who eventually move into PAYE work then take longer to do so than those were not sanctioned and earn an average of £34 a month less than those not sanctioned.
The DWP rather unexpectedly argue in a ‘context note’ within the report that the research cannot be relied upon because it did not take into account the value of the ‘deterrent effect’ of the sanctions regime.
The DWPs ongoing theory is that claimants are more likely to meet their obligations because they fear being sanctioned thus sanctions are an effective tool.
In the three years since the draft report was created the DWP have chosen not to commission any independent research to test the truth of their deterrent effect theory.
Instead they intend to introduce a much harsher sanctions regime, when the only hard evidence they have about sanctions proves that they don’t work.
DWP Sanctions can and should be appealed however this takes a great deal of strength and determination of which not many have due to being completely worn down by the system.
So there we have it, the DWP once again ignoring important information that have a direct negative effect upon sanctioned claimants and their well-being.
The amount of people that decide to take themselves off the system when sanctioned is very concerning.
Don’t expect the DWP to care though, this is exactly what they want to happen and a claimants well-being isn’t even thought about let alone be a concern.
How many more deaths will there be as a result of being sanctioned before the cruel sanctioning system is forced to stop.
I predict thousands because not one political party is willing to campaign against this and apart from a few good MPs such as Debbie Abrahams they’re silent
Sanctions do kill and this report needs to be acted upon ASAP. One death is a death too many.
No one should be forced to suffer in this manner it’s inhumane and cruel.
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The poor side of life 
Starmer, Reeves and the majority of the shadow cabinet are signed up to the Neo-Liberal political consensus. This means that “they” intend to operate those “levers of power” according to the set of rules first laid down by the Thatcher administrations; and followed by every Government Administration since (inclusive of the Labour ones). I seem to recall – but could well be wrong – that “sanctions” were actually introduced during Blairs’ first term. If not introduced by Blairs’ cronies, they were extended during his tenure. Reeves herself actually went on record during the 2015 election campaign to claim that “Labour will be tougher on welfare claims” than the Conservatives were proposing.
Our Political mainstream is composed of three competing factions of the same ilk. When – like during Jeremy Corbyns’ tenure as Labour leader – the Oligarchy finds that there might be a credible threat to the existing power structures and to the economic elites, the full force of the established order is brought to bear against those perceived as representing said threat. It was noticeable that a significant part of the hostile fire directed at Jeremy came from within his own party.
Our entire system needs an enema.
Meanwhile, the modern welfare system is deliberately designed to be as obtuse and difficult to navigate as possible. This is to provide “incentive” for people to hold onto any work they might have as the alternative is so shit.
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Yep, Reeves also said “if you’re living on Benefits Labour is not the party for you”. And I remember Sanctions being the alternative to the New Deal scheme under Blair, I’d never heard of Benefit Sanctions before then though they may have been on the statute of legislation but were so rarely used that no one was even aware they existed anymore, Blair reintroduced them into the common vocabulary and made Sanctions mainstream, then the Tories expanded their use. But if Sanctions have now been proved to be ineffective and counterproductive (as well as harmful) their continuation must be a Human Rights issue and Starmer as a legal eagle should be aware of that.
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Reblogged this on elizapdushku's World.
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It’s all bulls### from the DWP! Trev like u I use to speak to the street homeless in my hometown Luton: most said UC put them there
And I don’t see any work shy ppl here, job fairs are swamped, and are there REALLY so many unfilled vacancies? A new B and M is opening in Swansea and are recruiting 60 vacancies. I put my name down and got a slot and was today asked in an email of I was still attending as they” have so many interested they have a reserve list!” All the positions are 16_20 hours not even full time! Do the DWP not realise the barriers we face such as poor public transport? Nah we r just lazy! Makes me sick
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So they finally told us what we already knew, and which had already been proven by Academic research. The ones who ‘disappear’ when Sanctioned will either end up on the streets (I’ve met and spoken to people in that situation myself) or will be being kept by family (again I have spoken to someone in that position) or could be sofa surfing at various mates flats, doing what ever they can to survive which could include shoplifting, drug dealing etc. I remember reading a few years ago that there were something like half a million young people unaccounted for, not in work or education, not claiming Benefits. This is the sort of thing Starmer & Reeves need to focus on, i.e. the horrendous social damage caused by the succession of Tory governments.
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Absolutely Trev all correct. It’s shameful that Starmer and Reeves aren’t concentrating on this
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