Statistics released in a new report show that if you are unemployed and live in Salford or Greater Manchester you are more likely to be a victim of Job Centre benefit sanctions than if you live elsewhere in Great Britain.
Data contained in the report by regional economic think tank, New Economy, reveals that, between October 2012 and December 2013, a whopping 3,208 `adverse' sanctions were handed out to Salford Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants by Baskerville House Job Centre on Browncross Street the sixth highest number in Greater Manchester.
Meanwhile, for one month in December 2013 (latest available figures), 204 sanctions were issued by the Salford Job Centre out of 2,477 JSA claimants a rate of 8.2%, compared to the Great Britain average of 5.6%.
In comparison, for December, Liverpool was 6.5%, Sheffield was 6.8%, Leeds was 4.6%, Birmingham and Solihull 3.5% and Greater Manchester 7.6%.
For Greater Manchester, the average sanctioning rate over the whole year was 6.24% compared to the North West average of 5.9% and the Great Britain average of 5.3%.
An `adverse' sanction means a complete loss of Job Seekers Allowance for a period, which includes housing benefit. The use of sanctioning, states the report,"may flatter the unemployment data", or, in other words, skew the official unemployment rates...
"Although sanctioned claimants are not automatically removed from the claimant count measure of unemployment (Job Seekers Allowance), claimants may decide their claim is not worth pursuing or they miss further appointments effectively discontinuing their claim" the report states "Sanctions can also include claim `disallowances', meaning temporary cessations as claims have to be restarted."
The results of sanctioning may help the Government's image but for those affected it means real hardship. The report references a Centre for Local Economic Strategies study by Manchester City Council, which concluded that, of 28 organisations that provide emergency food provision in the city, 95.5% link demand for their food bank or project to welfare reform and of these, 76% refer specifically to benefit sanctions.
The report states that "Although the number of benefit claimants has risen as a result of the recession and use of sanctions with it there is also evidence that the claimant management regime is stricter and sanctions are being more actively applied..."
Sanctions can be imposed by Job Centres for everything from `failure to attend a work-focussed interview or a Work Programme appointment', to `failure to apply for jobs' but the report lists issues around claimants trying to understand the complicated bureaucratic system and communications, citing that a "failure to open letters, comprehend them, be properly informed of decisions, or sometimes inability to access computers, have the potential to lead to a sanction".
The report cites research from Citizens Advice Scotland in July which `noted that 60% of its advisers said claimants do not receive notification of sanctioning and 90% said claimants do not understand the reasons for the sanction or how to avoid them in the future'.
Meanwhile, the author of an independent review of benefit sanctions by Matthew Oakley for the Department for Work and Pensions is also quoted stating "this is a system that can go wrong and, when that happens, individuals and families can suffer unfairly". And the New Economy report concludes that "There is increasing evidence that misunderstanding and inadequate communications account for considerable numbers of sanctions".
It gives the example that, on appeal, 72% of sanctions related to Work Programme sanctions are dropped.
Indeed, Salford Unite Community Branch is actively encouraging people to appeal sanctions, which it believes are politically motivated, while public sector trade union PCS states "The Government's stricter rules have led to target-like objectives being set for staff to sanction a certain number of claimants, regardless of their behaviour. This has often come with the threat of disciplinary action and is unfair on both staff and the people entitled to benefits who they are there to help" (see previous Salford Star article click here).
Commenting on new date showing falling numbers of JSA claimants in Greater Manchester, Stephen Overell, principal for employment and skills at New Economy, said:
"The great unknown behind these figures is the impact of welfare reform and benefit sanctions. How many people stop claiming because they find work and how many because they just stop claiming and vanish from the system? We do not yet have the evidence to answer this question properly.
"We do know, however, that slightly under 8% of claimants have received a benefit sanction in Greater Manchester and so may have lost their JSA for a period of time, and roughly 6,000 unemployed young people trying out the new Universal Credit reform in Greater Manchester are not being counted in the JSA statistics" he added "The JSA figures may, therefore, paint a flattering picture of what's really happening in the world of work."
To read the full report click here
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