‘Look harder for a job!’ – as benef its cut for 200,000

NEARLY 200,000 Scots have had their benefits cut because they are not trying hard enough to find a job.

Jobcentres across the country are issuing an average of 117 sanctions a day because people on benefits are not doing enough to try to get back into work.

The tough approach can see claimants lose payments for as little as one week or for as long as three years.

Supporters of the move say it has helped to cut Scotland’s dependency culture and encourage more people back into work.

But the Scottish Government has controversially threatened to stop sharing information with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if it believes it could result in sanctions being applied.

New DWP figures show that 190,196 people in Scotland had their Jobseeker’s Allowance cut between October 2012 and March 2017.

On average over that period, 117 sanctions a day were issued. However, by March this year – the most recent month for which figures are available – this had slowed to 24 a day.

Adam Tomkins, social security spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: ‘Proportionate use of sanctions is a core component of Jobseeker’s Allowance. The fact the number of claimants being sanctioned has fallen would suggest this has had a positive impact in reducing unemployment.’

DWP figures show that a total of 402,667 people in Scotland have faced the threat of sanctions since they were introduced in 2012. However, only 190,196 of them actually had their benefits docked, because the others were subsequently able to prove they had not been at fault.

The Dundee Wellgate jobcentre issued more sanctions than any other in Scotland, at 8,912 – or 5.5 a day. This was followed by Aberdeen Ebury House, at 6,599, and Edinburgh Leith, at 5,201.

Sanctions can be issued for a huge range of reasons, including turning down a job offer, failing to attend an interview, not actively seeking employment or losing a job through misconduct.

Anyone who refuses work or voluntarily quits a new job loses all

‘This has had a positive impact’

of their Jobseeker’s Allowance for 13 weeks, in what is called a ‘higher level sanction’. That rises to 26 weeks for a second failure and 156 weeks for a third failure.

DWP figures show that 16,093 people in Scotland received a 13-week sanction, with 1,065 of them going on to receive a 26-week sanction. Only 256 people received the full 156-week sanction.

The Scottish Government is expected to end sanctions for benefits which are being devolved to Scotland next year, such as Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payments.

But the punishments will still be able to be imposed by the DWP for reserved benefits such as Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit.