Depaul UK submitted evidence to the May 2018 Sanctions Inquiry held by the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Depaul UK submitted evidence to this inquiry because the young people with whom Depaul UK works are often sanctioned. Sanctions can damage the mental health of vulnerable young people, leave them without enough money to meet their essential living costs and make it harder for them to recover from homelessness.
In the submission, Depaul UK made recommendations which would address these problems, and urged the Comittee to adopt them.
The recommendations were:
- That claimants who are sanctioned, especially young people, should have access to enough money to live on. Current minimum hardship payments, at around £35 a week, are inadequate and people’s mental health is damaged as a result
- That Jobcentre staff should be trained to make better use of their existing discretionary powers
- That Requirements placed on vulnerable young people in Claimant Commitments should take their personal circumstances into account
- That the Government should evaluate its sanctions and conditionality policy. It should explore whether this could be done through a randomised control trial
- That implementing these recommendations would reduce costs caused by sanctions to homelessness and other public services.
Read the full Work and Pensions Select Committee Sanctions Inquiry submission here.
