Lib Dems welcome findings of recent Sanctions Review

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed the recent findings of the independent review carried out by Matthew Oakley, a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ian Duncan Smith MP.

The review was published on 22nd July; just days after Cllr Sykes had written to the Minister with his concerns about the operation of the benefits sanction regime and delays in the publication of the report.

Cllr Sykes said: “Whilst I cannot solely claim the credit for the timing of the publication of the report I am sure that my recent letter, along with many others, must have made the Minister realise that benefit claimants and policymakers were anxious to see this report sooner rather than later. The review included a public consultation that ended in January and, as I made plain in my correspondence with the Minister, the delay was I felt long enough.”

The review makes a number of core recommendations; all of which have been accepted by Minister of Employment, Esther McVey, MP, for the Government.

These recommendations included:

• Improving the letters sent to claimants
• Broader communication improvements
• Improving claimants’ understanding of what they are required to do
• Improving understanding of the sanctions process

They are intended to:

• Improve claimants’ understanding of what is expected of them in looking for work and how a sanction may be applied if they should fail to do so
• Raise the awareness of claimants of their rights to seek a review of the decision and to make an appeal
• Raise the awareness amongst claimants of the availability of hardship funds

Cllr Sykes welcomed the findings:

“In my letter to the Secretary of State, I called on him to strike the right balance between placing robust expectations on claimants to find work and giving them the right help and support to do so. Often claimants are not told what is expected of them and so may not be offered the chance or the right support to meet the requirements before being subjected to a sanction.

“As a sanction can result in benefits being withdrawn from a claimant for between four weeks and – in the most extreme instances – three years, I sought to impress upon the Secretary of State that claimants should be given the information and support they need to take responsibility and make the right choices, as well as being made aware of their right to seek a review of the decision to impose a sanction or to appeal against that decision or to make a claim for a hardship payment.

“I am pleased to say that my recommendations to the Secretary of State have been mirrored in the findings of this report.

“I now hope that claimants will be better informed as a result of the report to be able to comply with the requirements of seeking work, and so not jeopardise their entitlement to benefit, and also be more empowered to challenge effectively decisions made against them when they have good reason to do so”.

Cllr Sykes added:

“The cross-party Parliamentary Work and Pensions Select Committee said that whilst sanctions can be a ‘useful tool for encouraging engagement with employment support’, sanctions should only be used as a ‘last resort’. I hope that these changes will lead to claimants being offered a chance to make the necessary behaviour changes first (a warning if you will) before they lose their income”.

The review and the Government’s response can be found at:

Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctions: independent review: call for evidence – Consultations – GOV.UK