30 November 2016

The National Audit Office says DWP is not doing enough to understand how sanctions affect people on benefits.

What: The National Audit Office says that DWP is not doing enough to find out how sanctions affect people on benefits and finds that “sanctions for disabled people claiming ESA were not effective as they ‘reduced claimants time in work’ and ‘may have discouraged some claimants from working’. There was also limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) sanctions”.  

Why Significant: On the strength of the evidence pertaining to the negative effects of sanctions, the NAO recommended that disabled people are exempt.