Reform of sanctions regime urged

The TUC campaign, Saving our safety net, is calling on the incoming government to reform the benefits sanctions regime.

Many Jobcentre advisers say they are given targets for sanction referrals and feel bullied by managers into sanctioning jobseekers who are doing their best to find work.

Under the claimant count, which only includes those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, unemployment posted a monthly fall of 20,700 to 772,400 in March. The unemployment rate was down to 2.3% from 2.4%.

The number of male claimants was down by 12,500 to 491,400 and their joblessness rate was down to 2.7% from 2.8%. Women claimants’ numbers fell by 8,200 to 281,000, but their joblessness rate was unchanged at 1.8%.

Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, unemployment fell by 76,000 to 1.84 million in the three months ending February compared with the previous three-month total of 1.91 million. The unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.8%.

Around three-quarters of the fall was accounted for by fewer unemployed men whose total was down by 56,000 to 1.01 million. Their unemployment rate was down to 5.8% from 6.1%.The number of unemployed women fell by 20,000 to 825,000 and their rate was down to 5.4% from 5.5%.

http://savingoursafetynet.org

http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2015/03/benefit-sanctions-are-unfair-and-hurt-innocent-vulnerable-people