Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of benefit sanctions on the behaviour of benefit claimants.

The Department considers all available evidence when making decisions regarding new or existing policies. To ensure sanctions are clear, fair and effective in promoting positive behaviours, we keep the operation of conditionality and sanctions policies under continuous review. We routinely undertake Equality Analyses when developing policies. No recent assessment on the impact of benefit sanctions on the behaviour of benefit claimants has been made.