Yellow card

It was a long battle to get the Government to trial a “yellow card” for benefit claimants before sanctioning them to homelessness and hunger. And now, after a brief experiment, the Department for Work and Pensions has decided not to bother going ahead with it.

This is dangerous because sanctions are an in-built part of Universal Credit and as UC spreads, so the numbers of sanctions rise dramatically. Often because claimants were in hospital, stuck in a traffic jam, or at home with a sick child.

Apparently the DWP doesn’t care.