13 August 2014

What: DWP publishes figures which show that the number of ESA claimants (those placed in the work-related activity group) having benefits temporarily removed for breaching strict conditions (sanctions) increased by nearly 580 per cent between March 2013 to March 2014.

Why significant: Researchers at the University of Essex, in partnership with the disabled people’s organisation Inclusion London, will later conclude that the fear instilled by the threat of benefit sanctions means that many disabled people on out-of-work disability benefits are in a state of “constant anxiety”. Disabled activists will repeatedly highlight the deaths of disabled benefit claimants they believe are linked to the government’s sanctions regime, including that of David Clapson [see 20 July 2013].