‘Abhorrent’

The Tories have imposed benefit sanctions lasting at least six months on nearly 6,000 sick and disabled people, shocking new figures show.

Department for work and pensions (DWP) data revealed the number of sanctions against people claiming the disability benefit Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the four years to 2017.

Between December 2012 and December 2016, 71,543 out of a total 2.4m ESA claimants were sanctioned.

The average length of an ESA sanction, which normally includes stopping a claimant’s money, was 28 days.

Shockingly, 5,739 sick or disabled people had sanctions imposed of 27 weeks or more.

Another 6,579 people had their ESA sanctioned for between 14 and 26 weeks.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams said, “It is abhorrent to see the Tories sanction thousands of sick and disabled people for up to six months, depriving them of much needed financial support and causing them further stress.”

A DWP official insisted only ESA claimants deemed capable of “work-related activity” – and not those with more serious conditions – can have sanctions made against them.

But deeply flawed work capability assessments mean that many people who are declared fit for “work-related activity” are not – including more than 4,000 people who died within six weeks of being deemed capable of employment.

 

 

‘Hardship and stigma’

Head of Unite Community Liane Groves said, “Life in austerity Britain for many disabled people means hardship and stigma.

“From being labelled work shy scroungers by the right-wing press to degrading work capability assessments that declare the dying ‘fit for work’, the last seven years of Tory rule has seen the dignity and living standards of disabled people come under sustained attack.”
 

Groves added, “Imposing sanctions on the sick and disabled is part of that attack. There’s no evidence that sanctions work, so it can only be assumed this is about punishing the most vulnerable in our society for being just that.

“It’s simply unacceptable and Unite demands the government ends its dehumanising sanctions regime immediately.”