Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that people whose appointments with her Department are cancelled do not have their benefits suspended for non-attendance of those meetings.

A claim to benefit should not be suspended due to an appointment being cancelled by the Department. If there is no alternative but to cancel a scheduled appointment at the Jobcentre, claimants will be contacted to apologise for the cancellation, explain the reasons for cancellation and seek to agree a new date and new time for a new appointment.