Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the official monthly rate of sanctions applied to Jobseeker's Allowance claimants is calculated.

The Department calculates a monthly sanctions rate for Jobseekers Allowance claimants based on the number of sanctions in a month divided by the Claimant Count.

The data underpinning the calculations are DWP’s statistics on decisions to apply a sanction and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics on the number of people claiming JSA (the Claimant Count). These are publicly available Official Statistics.

More detail on the calculation of the monthly sanctions rate can be found in the statistical ad-hoc publication, “JSA and ESA benefit sanctions rates: explanation of methodology”, available on GOV.UK. A copy of the publication is also attached here.