Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will undertake an independent review of the operation of Employment and Support Allowance sanctions, with particular emphasis on their impact on those with mental health problems.

As with all of our policies, we keep the operation of the sanctions system under review to ensure that it continues to operate effectively and as fairly as possible.

We continue to make improvements to the sanctions system as committed to in our response to the Oakley Review. The Government has gone further than the scope of the Review, for example, we are reviewing all claimant communications and sanctions processes, not only for those Jobseekers Allowance claimants who come under the remit of the Review, but all Jobseekers Allowance claimants and also all Employment Support Allowance claimants.