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Social Security Benefits

Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 10 November 2011.

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Photo of Liam Byrne Liam Byrne Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions were (a) issued and (b) enforced in each month since June 2010.

Photo of Chris Grayling Chris Grayling The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

Information on the number of benefit sanctions (a) issued and (b) enforced in each month since June 2010 for jobseeker's allowance (JSA), employment and support allowance (ESA), and income support (IS) is provided in the following tables.

The number of benefit sanctions issued has been interpreted to mean the total number of cases that have been referred to a decision maker for a sanction decision. Information relating to the number of such cases is only available for jobseeker's allowance.

The number of sanctions imposed has been interpreted to mean the number of those cases where an adverse decision has been given. This information is available for JSA, IS and ESA.

Jobseeker's allowance (JSA)

The following table shows this number of referrals made and the number of sanctions imposed by month since June 2010 as requested:

Year/ Month Number of referrals Number of sanctions
2010    
June 120,090 57,350
July 131,840 62,630
August 139,300 65,940
September 143,730 69,360
October 144,960 70,230
November 148,310 73,530
December 115,520 54,780
     
2011    
January 127,340 63,510
February 141,100 70,310
March 161,290 81,610
April 114,470 60,620
Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database

Employment and support allowance (ESA)

Between 1 June 2010 and 31 May 2011, there were 11,530 sanctions imposed on ESA claimants in the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG). The following table shows this number of ESA WRAG sanctions by the month the sanction was imposed:

Year/ Month sanction was imposed Number of sanctions
2010  
June 1,440
July 1,150
August 920
September 830
October 960
November 930
December 820
   
2011  
January 960
February 960
March 1,250
April 610
May 710
Total 11,530
Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP ESA WRAG sanctions database

Income support (IS)

Between 1 June 2010 and 31 March 2011, there were 62,860 sanctions imposed on lone parents claiming IS. The following table shows this number of IS lone parent sanctions by the month the sanction was imposed:

Year/ Month of sanction Number of sanctions imposed
2010  
June 7,390
July 6,860
August 6,940
September 6,080
October 6,550
November 5,890
December 4,940
   
2011  
January 6,730
February 5,540
March 5,960
Total 62,860
Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DWP Income Support Lone Parent Regime database

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