BENEFIT SANCTIONS. Time to rethink WELSH DATA SUPPLEMENT

Transcription

1 Time to rethink BENEFIT SANCTIONS WELSH DATA SUPPLEMENT A report by Church Action on Poverty the Baptist Union of Great Britain the United Reformed Church the Methodist Church the Church of Scotland the Church in Wales

2 Preface The Most Reverend Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales If you are working, you have to turn up to work on time and do what is expected of you. If you don t perform as agreed, employers can take disciplinary action but within strict rules, so that workers are given due warning and protected from unreasonable treatment. Employers cannot, for example, withhold a month s pay because you were once 10 minutes late for an appointment. But this is quite likely to happen if you are dependent on state benefits. Churches all over the country are actively engaged in setting up jobclubs, foodbanks and advice services; but this is only part of the answer. We need to challenge the reasons why people are falling into such desperate situations in the first place. In 2014, a group of churches in England, Scotland and Wales commissioned an investigation into the impact of benefit sanctions on people who were claiming Jobseekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance. The results are shocking: large numbers of people, particularly those judged unfit for work due to mental health problems, are being punished for breaches of their benefit conditions by the withholding of their income. Even if the reason for noncompliance is beyond their control - such as a transport breakdown making them late, or an emergency such as a partner being rushed into hospital they are automatically threatened with a sanction. Not only does this impose enormous stress and distress on individuals who are already vulnerable; it also impacts on partners, children and families, who are left short of income and forced to appeal to friends or neighbours for help, or to present themselves at one of the burgeoning number of foodbanks. God-given human dignity is affronted when people are left destitute. Since October 2012, more than 84,000 sanctions have been imposed in Wales the majority of them against people suffering from mental health problems. 2

3 The sanctions regime Certain welfare benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC) are conditional upon claimants meeting conditions, such as applying for a set number of jobs each week, and attending appointments at the Jobcentre. Benefit sanctions are a system of penalties imposed on people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC), whom the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has judged not to have obeyed instructions aimed at helping the person into employment. Matters of fraud - such as working while signing on are not dealt with by the sanctions system. A new benefit sanctions regime was introduced in October Under the new regime failures, such as missing an appointment, are punished with the removal of benefit usually for one month, but up to a maximum of 3 years. In Wales over 180,000 referrals for sanction have been made under the post-october 2012 regime and over 84,000 sanctions have been imposed. It is estimated that this represents the removal of approximately half a million weeks of benefit. Employment and Support Allowance: unfit for work but subject to sanctions Some people who are judged to be unfit for work are subject to sanctions. The Work Related Activity Group contains claimants who are unfit for work, but who are considered potentially able to move into work in the medium term. The majority of these people have mental health problems. They are required to do things such as attend interviews with an advisor, or undertake training or work experience. If it is judged by the DWP that a person has not fully complied with these conditions they may be sanctioned. All sanctions entail a loss of benefit for a fixed period normally one month. In addition, Employment Support Allowance carries a penalty of indefinite sanctions until re-compliance. 3

4 Welsh people unfit for work due to mental health problems are disproportionately sanctioned The report Time to Rethink Benefit Sanctions showed that 100 people unfit for work due to mental health problems are sanctioned each day in Britain. It also showed that as the sanctions regime tightened, the rate of sanctioning for people with mental health problems increased faster than for people suffering from physical health problems. From mid 2012, those with mental health problems increasingly received a disproportionately large number of sanctions. Data specific to Wales could not be included in the full report as the DWP failed to comply with its obligation to provide information within 20 working days in response to a Freedom of Information request. The response has now been received, so we are able to reveal the impact of benefit sanctions in Wales. ESA sanctions in Wales followed the same pattern as the other parts of Britain, but in a more extreme manner. The overall numbers showed a large rise, beginning in The proportion of sanctions going to claimants with mental health problems increased rapidly from a lower baseline in 2010 and peaked at a considerably higher level by the beginning of At that time 7 out of 10 ESA sanctions in Wales were given to claimants who were unfit for work primarily due to mental health problems. A. More sanctions given to those suffering form mental and behavioural health conditions 1800 B. Proportion of sanctions given to people with mental health problems increasing faster in Wales than GB 75% Mental and Behaviour 70% 65% 60% Wales GB % % 600 Other 45% % % 0 Dec 09 Apr 10 Aug 10 Dec 10 Apr 11 Aug 11 Dec 11 Apr 12 Aug 12 Dec 12 Apr 13 Aug 13 Dec 13 Apr 14 Aug 14 30% Feb 10 May 10 Aug 10 Nov 10 Feb 11 May 11 Aug 11 Nov 11 Feb 12 May 12 Aug 12 Nov 12 Feb 13 May 13 Aug 13 Nov 13 Feb 14 May 14 ESA sanctions disproportionately affecting those with mental health problems A. 12 month running total of the number of ESA claimants sanctioned, subdivided by their main illness or disability. The green line indicates people who were sanctioned and have a mental or behavioural disorder. The orange line represents all others sanctioned. B. Proportion of sanctions given to people with mental and behavioural problems in all of GB (blue line) and in Wales alone (red line). 4

5 Most common reason for being referred for a sanction is bureaucratic error The most common reason for being referred for an ESA sanction is bureaucratic error on the part of the DWP or its contractors. When a person is referred for a sanction the DWP s decision maker has 3 options: to impose a sanction; not to impose a sanction; or, if they see that the referral was made because of an error, to cancel the referral. In Wales 37% of referrals are cancelled because they were made in error. Surprisingly this is considerably better than other parts of Great Britain, with the average being 46%, and Scotland having cancellation rate of 51%. In other words, although more than a third of sanction referrals in Wales are due to administrative errors, this is better than the rest of the UK, where nearly half of sanctions referrals are found to be incorrect. Most likely reason for being referred for a sanction is error. Least likely reason is having broken rules without good reason. 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Apply Sanction Not apply Cancelled For ESA, 3 outcomes are available to decision makers: to apply a sanction, to not apply a sanction, or to cancel the referral because it was made in error. The graph shows the proportion of sanction referrals placed into each category. 5

6 Errors and their consequences on claimants The most common reason for receiving the Employment and Support Allowance is that a person is unfit for work because of mental health problems typically depression or anxiety. It is deeply concerning that the most common reason for someone to receive the worrying news that they are being referred for a sanction, and that their income is at risk, is a bureaucratic error. These errors are much more than a simple inconvenience. The fear and worry instilled by being referred for a sanction is substantial, and it is being imposed on people who are often the least able to cope with this additional stress. It is even more concerning that in Wales the least likely reason for someone to receive this news is they have in fact breached the rules. Impact of Jobseekers Allowance sanctions in Wales JSA sanctions in Wales follow the same trend as the rest of Britain. Overall numbers of sanctions remained flat since the introduction of JSA, with a post-banking-crisis rise in This fell back, but was followed by a second, much larger increase, beginning in For Wales this later peak appears less pronounced than in the rest of Great Britain. Just as the numbers of referrals made due to bureaucratic error increased for ESA claimants, it also increased for JSA claimants. During the 2000s, the proportion of referrals cancelled because of errors was around 1 in 20. By mid 2011 this had increased to 1 in 4. The 2012 sanctions regime introduced longer punishments, which means that the overall impact in terms of weeks of benefit removed increased substantially, post It is estimated that since the new regime was introduced in October 2012 approximately half a million weeks of benefit have been removed from jobseekers in Britain. 6

7 Impact of sanctions in Wales: number of weeks of sanction imposed 300, , , , ,000 50, This combines the number of sanctions imposed with their duration, to give an indication of the overall impact of the sanctions system each year. This shows the weeks of sanctions imposed. Should a person gain employment, or qualify for another benefit, they may not serve the full sanction period without an income. Further evidence that it is Time to Rethink Benefit Sanctions The benefit sanctions regime is implemented throughout Great Britain but has particular impacts in Wales. This short update includes new data about the impact of benefit sanctions on Welsh families needing support because of metal health problems. It also highlights the high proportion of cancelled referrals causing needless worry to often vulnerable people, at a time when what they really need is support. The numbers show the scale of the sanctions system in Wales. It is only when we listen to the stories of people who have been processed through this system that we understand the sometimes devastating impact that this can have on people s lives. In Wales, as in the rest of Britain, it is time to rethink benefit sanctions. 7

8 Produced by the Joint Public Issues Team: the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Church of Scotland, Methodist Church and United Reformed Church working together on behalf of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Church Action on Poverty, the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland, the United Reformed Church and the Church in Wales. With thanks to: Andy Buck and the team at Sheffield Citizens Advice and Law Centre, Shona Alexander and the team at Newcastle Citizens Advice, Coventry Law Centre, Fiona Weir and the team at Gingerbread, Elaine Downie at the Poverty Truth Commission, Dr David Webster, Ian Childs and the team at Medway Foodbank, Revd Sally Coleman, Claire Bennett, Tom Pollard and the team at Mind, Thrive Teeside, Jennifer Herrera and the team at Acts 435, Catherine Hale Thanks do not imply endorsement of the full text. For further information: #RethinkSanctions July 2015 Time to rethink BENEFIT SANCTIONS WELSH DATA SUPPLEMENT A report by Church Action on Poverty the Baptist Union of Great Britain the United Reformed Church the Methodist Church the Church of Scotland the Church in Wales Designed by Carrick on behalf of Church in Wales Publications. The Representative Body of the Church in Wales. Registered Charity No