The Department has made no assessment on ending conditionality through sanctioning.

It is right that there should be conditions and consequences to labour market support. We will continue to ensure that claimants who need support receive it and consider how to best tailor this support to their individual needs.

The Department has made no assessment on ending conditionality through sanctioning.

It is right that there should be conditions and consequences to labour market support. We will continue to ensure that claimants who need support receive it and consider how to best tailor this support to their individual needs.

Customers in the No Work Related Requirements Group, for example those with a severe mental health condition or disability, are not subject to conditionality requirements and therefore not subject to sanctions.

Customers are only ever sanctioned if they fail to meet their agreed requirements without good reason and they are given every opportunity to explain why they failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirement before a decision is made. We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to search for or prepare for work and Claimant Commitments are set in discussion with the claimant and tailored to their capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable.

Officials across the Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions continue to work closely and extensively together to ensure that families in receipt of benefits are not disadvantaged in any way in accessing childcare.

Childcare is a vital enabler for parents to work. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government will expect to be spending more than £8 billion every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever, and is set to save working families using the full 30 funded hours up to £6,500 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September 2025. By 2027/28, the Office for Budget Responsibility expects around 60,000 parents to enter employment, and for there to be an equivalent effect on the 1.5 million mothers of young children already in work, increasing their hours by a small amount.

In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1,629 for two children. This is an increase from the current rate of up to 70% in the Tax Credit and Universal Credit systems. Families will benefit from the decision to increase the rate of childcare costs support from 70% to 85% and will get more out of the money they earn.

All work-related requirements are set in discussion with claimants, who take ownership of planning how they will meet their requirements and ultimately secure employment, if they are able to do so. Generally, work coaches have the discretion to adjust how often the claimant meets with them and how these meetings take place, in light of the claimant’s needs, circumstances and capability.

Should a claimant fail to carry out a mandatory work-related activity that has been agreed and set out in their Claimant Commitment or Work plan, we will ask them why. We will take into account any reasons they provide, including any health conditions, before referring for consideration of a sanction. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take into account all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good reason, before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.

We also have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs as a result of their sanction, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene. All claimants will retain the right to mandatory reconsideration or appeal a decision should they disagree.

There is no change to free prescriptions eligibility as a result of the sanctions measures announced at Autumn Statement 2023.

The Autumn Statement 2023 claim closure measures will only impact customers who are entitled to the Universal Credit (UC) Standard Allowance and where they do not re-engage for a continuous period of six months or more following an open-ended sanction decision.

Entitlement to free prescriptions is based on receipt of a monetary award of UC, sanctioned customers in receipt of the UC Standard Allowance only will lose their entitlement to help with health costs at the point that the sanction decision is applied. Therefore, closure of their claim after 6-months will not change this position.

The Autumn Statement 2023 measure will not be applied where the customer receives additional amounts of UC for childcare, housing, or a disability, or where they have a new, or pre-existing vulnerability which impacts on their ability to look for, or to take up work.

The measures announced at Autumn Statement 2023 are designed to ensure that individuals that can work, will engage with support and opportunities available to them.

Additionally, the Autumn Statement claim closure measure will not be applied where the customer receives additional amounts of Universal Credit for a disability, or where they have a new, or pre-existing vulnerability which impacts on their ability to look for, or to take up work.

The conditionality and sanctions regime does not apply to those with Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity and where an individual on a work-related benefit has a health condition or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their conditionality requirements to what is reasonable and achievable – these requirements can also be lifted for a period if an individual’s ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.

No assessment is required as there is no change to free prescriptions eligibility as a result of the sanctions measures announced at Autumn Statement 2023.

The Autumn Statement 2023 claim closure measures will only impact customers who are entitled to the UC Standard Allowance and where they do not re-engage for a continuous period of six months or more following an open-ended sanction decision.

Entitlement to free prescriptions is based on receipt of a monetary award of UC, sanctioned customers in receipt of the UC Standard Allowance only will lose their entitlement to help with health costs at the point that the sanction decision is applied. Therefore, closure of their claim after 6-month will not change this position.

This measure will not be applied where the customer receives additional amounts of Universal Credit for childcare, housing, or a disability, or where they have a new, or pre-existing vulnerability which impacts on their ability to look for, or to take up work.

Claimants must meet certain requirements to receive their Universal Credit payment. These will be based on individual and household information and will take account of health, caring responsibilities, ongoing work or volunteering and any earnings. All requirements are set in discussion with the claimant and tailored to their capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable.

Those who are in the No Work Related Requirements Group, for example people with a severe mental health condition or disability are not subject to conditionality requirements and therefore not subject to sanctions.

No recent assessment has been made on the impact of benefit sanctions on levels of demand for other public services.

Claimants are only ever sanctioned if they fail to meet their agreed requirements without good reason. Claimants are given every opportunity to explain why they failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirement before a decision is made.

We have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction.

If a claimant disagrees with a decision, they can ask for the decision to be reconsidered and subsequently can appeal against the decision to an independent tribunal.

Claimants must meet certain requirements to receive their UC payment. These will be based on individual and household information and will take account of health, caring responsibilities, ongoing work or volunteering and any earnings. All requirements are set in discussion with the claimant and tailored to their capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable. This is the claimant contract they agree to.

Those who are in the No Work Related Requirements Group, for example people with a severe mental health condition or disability, are not subject to conditionality requirements and therefore not subject to sanctions.

Claimants are given every opportunity to explain why they failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirement before a decision is made. We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to search for or prepare for work.

Claimants are only ever sanctioned if they fail to meet their agreed requirements without good reason. This is a proportionate approach which ensures fairness to the taxpayers. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good reason, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.

If a claimant disagrees with a decision, they can ask for the decision to be reconsidered and subsequently can appeal against the decision to an independent tribunal.

We have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction.

No recent assessment has been made on the impact of benefit sanctions on the effect of people’s mental health.

The Restart Scheme is delivered over 12 Contract Package Areas (CPAs) throughout England and Wales. CPA2a encompasses Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, North and Northeast Lincolnshire. The scheme offers participants up to 12 months of support to move into sustained employment. Participants complete the scheme at the end of the 12 months support period but can do it sooner if they achieve a job outcome prior to that point.

A job outcome is achieved when a participant either:

• Earns the equivalent of working 16 hours per week for 26 weeks at the National Living Wage (25+)
• Has 6 months in gainful self-employment.

The table below shows the numbers of starts on the scheme, and of those starts the numbers so far of: participants who are completers, job outcomes, and completers without an outcome yet, in CPA2a and nationally.

Source: DWP Management Information

Information regarding how many of those people were sanctioned while on the Restart Scheme cannot be provided because this information is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Please Note:

Starts on the scheme is the number of people who have had their first initial appointment with a Restart provider, since the scheme started in June 2021.

Total completers so far is the number of participants who have either achieved a job outcome or have completed 12 months on the scheme and have not yet achieved a job outcome. As more time elapses more of these starts will complete.

Job outcomes achieved so far is the cumulative number of participants who have achieved a job outcome so far. Many starts who have started more recently will not yet have had time to achieve an outcome, therefore, as more time elapses more job outcomes will be achieved from these starts.

Completers without a job outcome so far is the number of participants who have completed 12 months on the scheme but who have not yet achieved a job outcome. Participants have 18 months in which to achieve a job outcome after starting on the scheme and so some of this group may still go on to achieve a job outcome. Therefore, the number of completers without a job outcome from these starts will reduce.

All numbers are cumulative and contemporary as of 28 February 2023.

Volumes are rounded and therefore may not sum exactly.

There are no plans to change this policy.

The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of September 2022 here.

The statistics for where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents from July 2019 to September 2022 can be found in ‘Table 7.2: Enforcement Actions - Detail on Sanctions’ of the National tables.

The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of September 2022 here.

The statistics for where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents from July 2019 to September 2022 can be found in ‘Table 7.2: Enforcement Actions - Detail on Sanctions’ of the National tables.

This depends on the individual eligibility criteria for other benefits.

For claimants who cannot meet their most immediate and essential needs as a result of a sanction, hardship support is available. A claimant is only sanctioned when they fail to comply with agreed requirements without good reason.

Conditionality has long been an essential part of employment support and claimants have to fulfil set requirements, which boost their chances of moving into employment or increasing their hours, in order to receive their benefit

Many of our claimants are also entitled to other elements in UC, such as housing, child or disability elements. If a sanction is applied, claimants continue to receive these parts of the award.

Under Universal Credit if a claimant has a health condition that they wish to tell the Department about, the claimant is prompted to record this in a free-text field during the original application process or as a change of circumstances during an ongoing claim. Health information is used to provide a tailored approach to support the claimant. The Department does then centrally record this information.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Safeguards are built into the system to ensure conditionality is appropriate. We take care to apply relevant easements, which are temporary suspensions of conditionality, for times when claimants may not be in a position to look for work, for instance for people who are under threat of homelessness, or who need emergency childcare. Claimants with health conditions also have their conditionality tailored in recognition of their capabilities, reducing or adjusting the work-related expectations.

Most sanctions are for failing to attend a mandatory appointment at a Jobcentre Plus, and these can often be resolved quickly by claimants getting in touch with their Jobcentre and attending their next appointment. Many of our claimants are also entitled to other elements in UC, such as housing or child elements. If a sanction is applied, claimants continue to receive these parts of the payment.

There are also hardship payments available, if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs.