Benefits bill cut by millions
Hardline sanctions include ‘three strikes and you’re out’ clause
BENEFIT payments to nearly 50,000 Scots have been halted in a tough crackdown on workshy claimants.
Powers introduced two years ago have resulted in those failing to do enough to find work being financially penalised.
The no-nonsense approach is expected to save the taxpayer millions in handouts.
Latest figures released by the UK Government show that more than 48,000 Scots on the dole have already been hit.
But penalties have been imposed on nearly double that as a hardcore group of serial offenders still refuse to do enough to find employment.
Tough new rules mean that anyone who refuses to work will lose their Jobseeker’s Allowance for 13 weeks.
However, that timescale increases further if the claimant still chooses to repeatedly avoid seeking work.
NEARLY 50,000 Scots have been stripped of benefit payments for failing to do enough to find a job. A crackdown on ‘workshy’ claimants, introduced in 2012, is on course to save the taxpayer millions in handouts. New UK Government figures show that 48,951 Scots on the dole were hit with a ‘sanction’ between October 2012 and last September.
But 75,329 penalties were imposed during the period, with a hardcore group of serial offenders not doing enough to find work.
Under Westminster rules, anyone who refuses work or quits a new j ob l oses t heir 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 on a ‘three strikes’ rule. Those who fail to look for work or are not available to take a job lose some of their benefits for at least four weeks under an ‘intermediate level’ sanction, while lower level sanctions are applied for not turning up to see an adviser.
The toughest penalties were applied to nearly 7,000 Scots – including 63 who broke the rules for a third time. Over 25s get £72.40 a week while under 25s benefit from £57.35 a week.
Separate Scottish Government figures show a crackdown on welfare handouts will save Scots taxpayers around £2.5billion next year.
The study claims that reforms introduced by the Tory/LibDem coalition at Westminster since 2010 will reduce the overall bill by more than £6billion over six years.
Scotland’s welfare bill has soared by more than £3billion in four years to £15.5billion, leaving taxpayers with the largest benefits burden in the UK. The average bill for every man, woman and child is at least £ 100 higher than south of the Border.
Studies suggest that tough new medical tests and new rules for
‘Culture of worklessness’
incapacity benefit claimants are having the biggest i mpact on tackling the massive bill.
But many of the changes have proved controversial, including a cut in housing benefit for council house tenants with spare rooms – dubbed the ‘bedroom tax’.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has argued that the policies will ‘set our progress on tackling poverty back by at least ten years’.
But a war of words has erupted at Holyrood, with Tory MSP Alex Johnstone accusing the Nationalists of having ‘ absolutely no intention of getting to grips with the culture of worklessness’.
He said yesterday: ‘In order to qualify for benefits that are funded by hard-working taxpayers, people have to abide by the rules set down.
‘ This isn’t about punishing vulnerable people, it’s about making the system work and getting people into employment.
‘If these sanctions were not in place, it would only result in hurting those who actually do need our help and support.’ Mr Johnstone added: ‘ Most right-minded people would welcome the f act the welfare budget is coming down.
‘This rhetoric from the Scottish Government proves it has absolutely no intention of getting to grips with the culture of worklessness which dominates so many parts of Scotland and the wider UK.’
Of the 75,329 penalties issued by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) north of the Border between October 22, 2012, and September 30 this year, 23,093 were in east and south-east Scotland, 22,386 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire, 13,364 in the north and 16,480 in the west.
A DWP spokesman said: ‘Sanctions are only used as a last resort and people who are in genuine need can apply for hardship payments. If s o meone disagrees with a decision made on their claim they can appeal.’
But the SNP claims there has been a 209 per cent i ncrease i n the number of sanctions for all benefits since 2006.
The party’s work and pensions spokesman at Westminster, Eilidh Whiteford, said: ‘With the number of benefit sanctions in Scotland having tripled in the space of a few years, it is clear that Westminster is utterly determined to penalise the least well-off in society.’