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.

Troubled Families Scheme Has Made 'No Significant Impact'

A government initiative to help the most disadvantaged families in England has made no "significant impact", a report suggests. The Troubled Families Programme launched in 2012 at a cost of £448m, with £900m added as it was extended. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggests it has had no measurable effect on school attendance, employment or behaviour. But the government says lives have been "transformed" and the scheme works. The programme - set up by former Prime Minister David Cameron following the 2011 riots in English cities - was intended to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the most "troubled" families. Read more on the NIESR website.