1/6 of jobseekers have allowance stopped by DWP each year

Contrary to Government figures, one-sixth of all jobseekers have had their payments stopped by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) each year, according to research published by The Guardian.

The analysis shows that 16.7% of everyone who was unemployed for up to 12 months to April 2014 faced a penalty. The figure contrasts with the government's stated figure of six per cent.   

Last month, on theyworkforyou.com, Welfare Minister David Freud was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulescoomb if he could "ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the annual rate of sanctions applied to Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in each of the years from 2010 to 2014 inclusive, calculated by dividing the number of all those sanctioned in each year by the total number who claimed Jobseeker's Allowance in each year.”

He replied: “The information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.”