Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2015 to Question 224691, what steps his Department is taking to work with specialist charities which support people with learning disabilities, blind and partially sighted people and people with other impairments to ensure sanctions are applied fairly and appropriately.

The Department engages actively with a wide range of disability charities, including those who represent people with learning disabilities, blind people and partially sighted people, through the Disability Charities Consortium and the Fulfilling Potential Forum.

A claimant’s medical circumstances are always taken into account when we consider whether they should undertake a specific activity to help support them back into work and claimants are encouraged to discuss the impact of their condition on their support needs.

We do not sanction Employment and Support Allowance claimants for not finding work and will not require them to apply for or take up specific jobs. Before a sanction can be applied to vulnerable claimants such as those with learning difficulties or mental health conditions we make every effort to contact them via a home Visit or their carer/healthcare professional first to ensure they fully understand what they have been requested to do and the consequences of not doing it.

Where claimants have good reason for not meeting requirements, then a sanction will not apply.