Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35960, on universal credit, who the independent decision makers will be; and how those people will be appointed.

Decision Makers considering the imposition of a sanction are DWP employees. When a sanctionable failure is identified by a work coach, a referral is made which is randomly assigned to a centralised decision maker to review the circumstances of the case, including any representations from the claimant regarding good reason for non-compliance, and arrive at a decision independently of the work coach.