Sanctions Guide Update as Report Says Single Parents and Children Hit the Worst.

Today the excellent Daily Mirror reports,

How benefit sanctions hit single parents and their children hardest

Single parents have been disproportionately bearing the brunt of welfare changes, a report has suggested.Gingerbread, a charity campaigning for and providing advice to single parents, released a report last week about the impact of benefit sanctions on single parents specifically. And the report was pretty damning.The sanctions process

It starts with a referral, which then goes to a decision maker who decides whether to sanction you or not. If you aren’t sanctioned at this point in the process, there are no financial penalties for you. If you are, you can then challenge the decision, it’ll be reviewed, and the decision to sanction you will either be overturned or upheld.Gingerbread says that there have been 145,000 sanction decisions against single parents since 2012.They actually make up a tiny proportion of JSA claimants that have been sanctioned. But receiving a sanction can be devastating.Here’s how easy it is for a job seeker to get sanctioned

• Failed to attend an interview (because it was too short notice and you couldn’t find childcare)? You lose your benefit for four weeks
• Not been available to work (because you don’t want to work too far away from your children)? You lose your benefit for four weeks
• Refused a job (because it doesn’t fit with your child’s school hours)? You lose your income 13 weeks – just over three months

 

Single parents are more likely than other claimants to be sanctioned incorrectly

Single parents have far more of their sanctions overturned than other JSA claimants. Sanctions are overturned when the single parent is able to demonstrate “good reason” for breaching their conditions, and no financial penalty is applied to their claim. For example, it may be excusable to miss a meeting if a child is ill.

There are special rules that should recognise that single parents have to care for their children, but Gingerbread has found that these rules aren’t being applied as they should.

More here

This is one response and comes via a local Ipswich benefit adviser.

It is highly recommended.

From this site: Child Poverty Action Group.

Information updates.

Ask CPAG online – Benefit Sanctions

Click text to view the information

+ What is a benefit sanction?

+ Which benefits can be sanctioned?

+ When do sanctions apply?

+ How much is a sanction?

+ How long does a sanction last?

What issues and problems commonly arise? 

There has been a large increase in the number of benefit sanction decisions since new tougher rules were introduced in 2012. More and more claimants are experiencing hardship, debt and in some cases, destitution, due to sanctions.

By clicking on the links below, you can access detailed information and practical advice on common problem areas:

• Avoiding sanctions
• Dealing with hardship during sanctions
• Challenging sanctions