DWP should prioritise supporting benefit claimants over sanctions, most people say

Two in three people in the UK believe that Jobcentres should prioritise supporting people into work over enforcing sanctions, new research has found.

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has found that nearly 70% of people thought it was more important to support unemployed people into quality jobs rather than pushing them into any job as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, 62% thought the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should offer a positive service to those who want support rather than use sanctions to punish those who don’t follow the rules.

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The new Labour government has said it wants to support more people into better jobs and address the growing numbers out of work due to disabilities and poor health to tackle a growing benefits bill.

It is estimated that spending on disability benefits will increase by £30bn in the next five years, according to statistics from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

There are currently 2.8 million people out of work due to ill health or disability, which the DWP hopes to address, but experts are calling on the government to prioritise support over sanctions and conditionality.

In her first landmark speech as work and pensions secretary on Tuesday (23 July), Liz Kendall said: “There have always been conditions to look for work and consequences if you don’t. That won’t change. But I want to see a much greater focus on that upfront help and support.

“People are crying out for help and support. There are a few who are acting fraudulently and others who say they can’t work when they can, but the overwhelming majority want that help and support and that’s what we’re determined to deliver.”

Polling from the NEF also found that the public underestimate the scale of job-seeking requirements for people seeking out-of-work benefits.

On average, people assumed that claimants were expected to look for work for 13 hours each week. But the reality is that they are expected to look for work for 35 hours each week.

They also thought people could spend around three months looking for work in their preferred field, but it is actually just one month.

Tom Pollard, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation, said: “Politicians tend to assume that the public want the strictest regime around out-of-work benefits possible. Successive governments have tried to push people back to work through poverty-rate benefits and the threat of sanctions.”

NEF recommends that the DWP scrap the requirements for people on benefits to search for work for 35 hours a week and accept any job recommended by a work coach, as well as trialling a new approach in Jobcentres which prioritises voluntary engagement over conditions and sanctions.

Around 63% of the public believed this approach would lead to people engaging more positively with Jobcentres, and 61% believed it would be more likely to lead to people moving into a more suitable job.

Pollard added: “We now know that this approach is making it less likely that people will get into good jobs that they can thrive in and is pushing many to feel unable to engage with Jobcentre support in the first place. All of this is leading to a higher a greater cost to the public purse.

“The public is ready for our benefits system to shift from a focus on compliance to positively supporting people into good jobs, and our new government should listen.”

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