Benefit sanctions up 8% in year

WELLINGTON: Work and Income is imposing an increasing number of sanctions on beneficiaries.

The total number of sanctions — including cuts and cancellation of benefits — increased by 8% across the country in the past year alone.

Sanctions were imposed on beneficiaries for an assortment of reasons. These included missing appointments, not participating in work or failing to provide all necessary information.

Beneficiary fraud has been under scrutiny after Greens coleader Metiria Turei admitted she lied to Winz when she was a beneficiary in the 1990s.

Ministry of Social Develop ment spokesman Mike Bryant said the rising number of sanctions was probably due to an increased focus on getting clients into work.

‘‘In the last quarter, there has been a slight increase in the number of benefit sanctions imposed across the country.

‘‘Part of this increase is because our staff are spending more time having workfocused conversations with people.’’

Sanctions could result in benefits being reduced, suspended for a period or cancelled entirely.

The most common reason for a sanction was missing appointments, followed by failure to prepare for work, and failure to participate in work.

Beneficiary advocate Jeremy Roundill believed Work and Income staff were given targets to impose a certain number of sanctions.

‘‘I have been told both that it is a national target, that it’s set at a regional level and that it’s set at a servicecentre level.

‘‘MSD isn’t forthcoming with information, so it’s difficult to know for sure, but I’d suspect that there’s a nationwide number set at the ministry level, and the regional offices are the ones who set the KPIs for case managers in each office.

‘‘In my experience, Work and Income cut benefits unlawfully more often than not.’’

Mr Bryant said there were no sanctionrelated targets for Work and Income staff and the process for imposing them was the same across the country.

‘‘Sanctions are just one way we work with clients to engage with us. They are not designed to be punitive and there are no targets for applying sanctions.

‘‘We always try to ensure it’s appropriate and that we adhere to all the relevant guidelines when doing so.’’

The number of sanctions imposed differed hugely in different parts of the country.

In the Bay of Plenty, about 2000 of the region’s 20,00025,000 beneficiaries received sanctions each quarter for the past two years.

‘‘We work positively with clients and have very few issues with the sanction process,’’ Mr Bryant said.

‘‘[Bay of Plenty] sanction numbers are in line with other regions such as Waikato, who have a similar number and pro portion of clients on the different benefit types.’’

Fewer than 1000 beneficiaries in Northland were sanctioned in each of the first two quarters of 2016, but the number increased by 50% in just one year.

The total number of beneficiaries in New Zealand has fallen over the past three years, from 293,586 in mid2014 to 276,331.

There were 4000 fewer people receiving main benefits in New Zealand in the June quarter than one year earlier. Main benefits include jobseeker support, sole parent support and the supported living payment.

Sanctions increased by 12% over the last year for those receiving jobseeker support. — NZME

❛I have been told both that it is a national target, that it’s set at a regional level and that it’s set at a servicecentre level❜

— Beneficiary advocate Jeremy Roundill