Suppressed government report displays the ineffectiveness of the benefit sanction system

After five years of being kept under wraps, a government report has been published exposing the harrowing effect benefit sanctions can induce – especially during a time of financial insecurity.

Last week the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a report which unveiled a series of independent studies showing benefit sanctions – a withdrawal of benefit or a reduction in the amount of benefit paid for a certain period – are an ineffective way of getting people into jobs or to work more hours.

However, the exposure of the document has proven to be embarrassing for authorities as the UK government have actively promoted sanctions as part of its plans to force claimants to get a job or to work more hours. The news has also hit headlines at a time when people on benefits are particularly struggling as people are receiving below inflation rate instalments meaning they can’t afford to pay their bills or have to sacrifice essentials such as food.

The report was originally finalised in August 2020 but held back from being released by the former work and pensions secretary, Thérèse Coffey, on the grounds that it was ‘not in the public interest’.

David Webster, a Glasgow University Academic, was responsible for the DWP publishing the report as he used freedom of information laws.

He said: ‘The DWP’s internal study shows that for the average claimant, sanctions damage both work prospects and earnings. You can see why ministers wanted to keep the report quiet.’

Additionally, expressing major concerns around the system, Rachel Casey, a Policy Advisor at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: ‘No amount of excuses can change the fact that sanctions aren’t effective. The UK government’s stubbornness in its efforts to divert and deflect from this fact is disrespectful to the people caught up in this punishing system.

‘[The report] reveals that when people are sanctioned it does have a negative financial impact – it pushes them into destitution. It takes them longer to find a job, and those who do find a job after being sanctioned earn less than those who aren’t sanctioned.

‘How many more people need to wear the mental and physical damage of this policy before the government admits it doesn’t work?’

According to the latest statistics from the government, 23 million people claimed some combination of DWP benefits in February 2021, of which 9.9 million were of a working age. Additionally, in December 2022, UK Parliament reported that the number of Universal Credit claimants who received a sanction last year reached a peak of 117,999 in July which was more than three time the pre-pandemic peak of 36,771 in October 2019.

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