New DWP statistics show that many ESA sanctions are reversed following review and challenge.
For the period from 3 December 2012 to 31 March 2017 -
- there were 66,024 decision reviews of which 29,909 (45%) resulted in no sanction being applied;
- there were a total of 2,597 mandatory reconsiderations of which 1,493 (57%) resulted in the reversal of the sanction decision; and
- there were 607 appeals of which 199 (33%) overturned the sanction decision.
The Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit sanctions: decisions made to March 2017 are available @ www.gov.uk
For more information about benefit sanctions see our factsheet @
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/sanctions
See also our factsheet on mandatory reconsiderations and appeals @
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/appeals-and-mandatory-reconsideration
Note: Earlier this month, the DWP published three into work reports suggested a softly-softly approach works better than sanctions. The reports evaluate the ESA additional support trials which took place in 2015.
Crucially, the reports place emphasis on empathy in relation to a claimant’s needs rather than the current ‘sanctions stick’ approach. In fact, many claimants did not see the voluntary or mandatory nature of participating in the trials as making a difference to their engagement and were least engaged by the mandatory trials.