Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what evidence her Department holds on the effectiveness of sanctions as part of the social security system in helping people find work.

The Department holds the following evidence from surveys on this.

72% of claimants agreed that the potential for sanctions meant they were more likely to conduct work search – UC extended gateway evaluation 2015 (page 38 at the link below).

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481865/universal-credit-extended-gateway-evaluation.pdf

Around 70% of JSA claimants and 60% of ESA claimants who were aware their benefit could be reduced / stopped, if they did not comply with certain conditions, felt they were more likely to follow the rules - The job centre plus offer final evaluation report, (page 28 at the link below).

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/261656/rrep852.pdf

The Department has also committed to doing an evaluation of the effectiveness of Universal Credit sanctions at supporting claimants to search for work in response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s report on benefit sanctions. The Department will look to publish this by the end of 2020