Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he is making on reducing the number of incorrectly completed sanction referral forms submitted by Work Programme providers; and if he will make a statement.

The vast majority of referrals are correct, however the Department is committed to driving best practice therefore in January 2014 the Department introduced a Provider Quality Assurance Framework to support providers in the completion of high quality and appropriate sanction referrals. To back this up in the autumn of 2014 the Department is starting a pilot in which Jobcentre Plus Labour Market Decision Makers will work directly with providers and provide on site coaching to help them eradicate inappropriate sanction referrals.