No Evidence Welfare Sanctions Work

Sanctions on welfare payments which have allegedly caused thousands of claimants to fall into hardship and depression are being handed out without evidence that they actually work, Whitehall’s official spending watchdog has found. The DWP is also failing to monitor thousands of people whose benefits are being cut or withheld while many are being pushed outside the benefits system, said the National Audit Office. Auditors concluded there has been a failure to measure whether the government is saving money while the application of the sanctions regime varies across the country and from job centre to job centre.  The report has been seized upon by critics of the government’s sanctions regime who say it is punitive, wasteful and not aimed at finding people work. Read more on the Guardian website.