Flawed and Punitive: Report Blasts Britain's Benefit Sanctions

Research carried out by Sheffield Hallam University suggests rules are being applied based on unfair or inappropriate decisions. The report, Benefit Sanctions and Homelessness, warned that people without a permanent roof over their head might be disproportionately affected.

Benefit sanctions are imposed on people who don't, according to the Department for Work and Pensions, fulfil their obligations to actively find work.

If someone claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fails to show up for an appointment at the Jobcentre, their claim may be sanctioned for anything between four and 13 weeks. In some cases, the Jobseeker's allowance is completely withheld if a claimant isn't able to give a 'good reason' for not taking up a job.

The recent report also looks at evidence suggesting that sanctions can increase people's risk of becoming homeless, leaving them struggling with debt and without enough money for food, rent or heating.
 
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis, said:

"The Government has assured us that benefit sanctions are only for those who refuse to play by the rules. But evidence is mounting of a punitive and deeply flawed regime. 

"Sanctions are cruel and can leave people at severe risk of homelessness — cold, hungry and utterly destitute. At the same time, people who are already homeless can struggle to meet the conditions of the regime. Many are trying to rebuild their lives, and losing the support of benefits can be disastrous. This isn't helping people into work. It's kicking them when they're down."

The Reality of Poverty in Britain

Author Kathleen Kerridge was forced to leave her well-paid job after a bout of severe health problems and being diagnosed with heart failure. Her husband lost his job as the recession bit in Britain and the family were forced to fall back on the State and Child Tax Credits in order to survive. They had a food budget of £45 a week.

The reality of poverty in Britain, according to Kerridge is not what people see on television.

"It's horrendous to permanently have to count up pennies, to see if you can scrape together the £1 'sweetie money' on a Friday for your children", Kathleen told Sputnik News."

"There are no treats, no holidays and no perks. Clothes are a necessity; superfluous clothes are a treat beyond measure. Shoes are replaced when they are falling apart and school uniforms are made to last an entire term. 

"It's an endless struggle and one that leaves you drained, depressed and feeling as though hope is somehow something you don't deserve. It drains the life from you until you can't be bothered with trying to scrape your way out of it. 'What's the point?' becomes a litany. It all seems pointless. You start to buy into the Capitalist Mantra, thinking there is something wrong with you [and] that you should be in the situation you are in.

"It's just a horrible, horrible place to be."

The report published by Crisis says sanctions have a severe impact on stress, anxiety and depression, making it ever harder for people to find work. Crisis also found that Jobcentres and providers are often uncertain about how rules should be applied.

Nineteen percent of sanctions imposed through the government's Work Programme are overturned, suggesting that people are being wrongly penalised.

"I don't think cutting benefits to those who need them can ever be the answer," says Kerridge.

"It seems to smack of an almighty government flexing its muscles. It's another attack on the poor and the desperate, rather than an attack aimed at the multi-millionaire school friends of the politicians, who evade taxes and screw us all over." 

"How can cutting the money to a single parent, by £15.00 a week ever be a good idea? It just means the struggle is a lot harder; the chances of dependency on drugs or alcohol increase, and that poor person is now ten times as hopeless as she was before."

"Sanctions Make Me Angry"

Mother of four and author Kerridge thinks Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, should be made to live for six months on a single man's Job Seeker's Allowance. For 18 to 24-year-olds that's £57.35 — and for those over 25 — it's £75.40 a week.

"Anyone can do it for a week, doing it for an extended period is what increases the suicide rate. Maybe he should have an idea of that life, before trying to comment on it," Kerridge says.

A Parliamentary inquiry on sanctions is expected to deliver its findings later this month. Local Authority Richmond in North Yorkshire tops the list for imposing sanctions on people claiming Job Seeker's Allowance, the report states.