Page 50 - JUSTICE and AJC Report - Reforming Benefits Decision-Making

attend their appointment to update their claimant commitment. However, up
to January 2021, when the latest DWP statistics are available, there have been
no new Job Seekers Allowance, ESA or Income Support sanctions. This is
likely due to the migration of individuals to UC. There have also been very
low numbers of UC sanctions since the suspension ended, although they are
beginning to rise again (albeit remaining at historically low levels). This is
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likely in part due to the time it is taking to update the claimant commitments
and in part because of new procedures the DWP has put in place for making a
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sanction decision (which are discussed further below).
2.56 The sanctions regime requires work coaches and decision-makers to exercise
their discretion and judgment on numerous occasions:

a) Work coaches decide what requirements to put in the claimant
commitment (which are then agreed and accepted by the claimant).
b) Work coaches decide whether to apply easements – these reduce or
switch off a claimant’s conditionality for a period of time. Whilst some
easements are legal requirements, others are discretionary where it is
unreasonable to expect a claimant to complete their requirements for a
period of time.
c) Work coaches consider whether a claimant has ‘good reason’ for failure
to comply with the claimant commitment and decide whether to refer
them to the decision-maker for a sanction decision.
d) Decision-makers decide whether the claimant’s actions were reasonable
and therefore whether to impose a sanction.

2.57 Although work coaches and decision-makers are provided with training and
guidance which they are meant to follow when they make their decision, as
we set out below, it appears that this discretion and judgment is not being
applied consistently and is not always being applied fairly. However,
currently the DWP does not collect data on the application of discretion in
setting claimant commitments and applying sanctions. This means that DWP
cannot fully understand how sanctions and easements are being used and
ensure discretion is being applied fairly. Further, in order to fulfil its public

126 DWP, ‘Benefit sanctions statistics to January 2021 (experimental)’ (May 2021).
127 D. Webster, Benefits Sanctions Statistics Briefing February 2021 (March 2021).

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