Benefit sanctions are making it harder for vulnerable people in Coventry to find work according to a new report by Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick with Coventry Law Centre, Coventry Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Coventry Women’s Voices

The report is based on a survey of people who have been sanctioned (had their benefits stopped) in Coventry. It found that far from encouraging people into work, in too many cases the sanctions process actually made job seeking harder. Lack of money made it difficult for people to afford travel to interviews, telephone calls or access to a computer to look for work.

In addition benefit sanctions are leaving families in Coventry with severe financial problems – sometimes with no money for food, rent or utility bills, with increased debt and in some cases at risk of homelessness. This is leading to an increase in stress, depression and other mental health issues. Both these practical and psychological problems reduce the time available for job seeking.

The report highlighted serious problems with the sanctions process which included:

· Sanctions being imposed on vulnerable people with no account being taken of their difficulties.

· Claimants being given appointment times or required to take part in training or work programmes that take no account of caring or other responsibilities or health needs.

· Some claimants being set requirements for job search that are not possible for them to complete for example as a result of learning difficulties or difficulties with written or spoken English.

· Sanctions that have been wrongly applied or applied for very minor errors

· Sanctions that have been applied with no warning, with no information given about the reason for sanction, the length of sanction or right to appeal.

Janet Gurney, Case worker at Coventry Law Centre, which has an 80% success rate for appeals in sanctions cases said:

‘In too many cases sanctions are wrongly applied and are causing untold misery. Some of the most vulnerable people, far from being helped by the job centre appear to be targeted. We have repeatedly raised our concerns with the Job Centre and are looking forward to their response.’

The findings of the report were presented to the City Council’s Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee in October last year. Responding to the report, Committee chair, Cllr Skipper said:

‘This important report raises serious concerns about the impact of sanctions in Coventry. Not only are families being left dependant on the food bank to eat, but local voluntary and public services are facing increasing demands as a consequence. We will be raising the findings of the report with the full Council Cabinet and will continue to press DWP for improvements in their dealings with people looking for work locally’.

Thousands of families in Coventry over the last year were left without any income after their benefits were sanctioned (stopped or reduced) according to advice agencies working in Coventry. The agencies are so concerned about what is happening to people in Coventry that, together with the Centre for Human Rights in Practice, they are launching a three month survey to find out the full impact of welfare benefit sanctions in Coventry.

The survey is being launched following a meeting attended by over 30 organisations and individuals to discuss benefit sanctions in Coventry. Problems raised at that meeting included:

• Examples of sanctions that appeared particularly severe including one person sanctioned for six weeks for being five minutes late to sign on, who as a result may become homeless, and another sanctioned for accidently putting the date of a job application and the job applied for in the wrong boxes on a form.
• Examples of stress, depression and other mental health problems, including increased suicide risk among clients as a result of sanctions, particularly among female victims of domestic or sexual violence.
• In some cases people only found out that they had been sanctioned when their benefits were stopped and did not know what they had done wrong, or that they had a right to appeal.
• Families with children being left with no income to buy food or pay bills and at increased risk of homelessness because of rent arrears.

As a result of this meeting it was decided to launch a Coventry wide survey to uncover the full extent and impact of sanctions. Coventry agencies are asking their clients and any members of the public who have been sanctioned to take part in the survey, which is completely anonymous. Copies of the survey and advice about what to do if you are sanctioned are available here: http://www.covlaw.org.uk/welfare/sanctions.html

A direct link to the survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FWW7YYW

Speaking at the launch of the survey Janet Gurney from Coventry Law Centre said:

We are really concerned about the impact that sanctions are having on some of the poorest families in Coventry. From the cases that agencies are seeing it looks as if some sanctions are being imposed unfairly, but few people know about their right to appeal, or that appeals are often successful. We would like to support more appeals in Coventry, but we also need to know more about how sanctions are being imposed in Coventry and what affect this is having on families.

The results of the survey will be published, and shared with the Job Centre locally and DWP nationally in the hope of improving practice.

For more information contact Janet Gurney on 02476 253 174 or Mary-Ann Stephenson on 07957 338582

For a link to the full media release click here and also read the Coventry Telegraph's article on the topic of the survey.

The Centre for Human Rights in Practice is jointly hosting a roundtable meeting with Coventry Citizen's Advice Bureau, Coventry Law Centre and Coventry Women's Voices. James Harrison, Co-director of the Centre, and Mary-Ann Stephenson, co-ordinator of the Human Rights, Equality and the Spending Cuts project and CHRP Associate Fellow, will be attending.