The sanctions rate for universal credit (UC) claimants is three times higher than it is for jobseekers allowance (JSA) claimants, according to the latest report by sanctions expert Dr David Webster of the University of Glasgow.
According to a review of benefits sanctions statistics published last month by Dr Webster, the sanctions rate for JSA claimants is 2.5% per month. But for UC the rate rockets to 7.4% per month.
The rate for employment and support allowance (ESA) sanctions is much lower, at 0.32% per month.
However, the length of ESA sanctions is very concerning.
25% of ESA sanctions lasted for more than 3 months. And a shocking 16% of sick and disabled ESA claimants were sanctioned for more than 6 months, a rate that is far higher than for UC according to Dr Webster.
The harshness of the current sanctions regime is underlined by the fact that, between the years 1913 and 1986, the longest a claimant could have their unemployment benefit suspended for was 6 weeks and most sanctions were much shorter.
You can download Dr Webster’s full 22 September 2017 report from the CPAG website.
