26 October 2017
New data: More than 100 people per day with mental health problems are having their benefits sanctioned
- Video:
- Full data set, infographics and videos
New data released today has revealed that benefits claimantsjudged as unfit to work due to mental health problems are morelikely to have their benefits stopped by sanctions than thosesuffering from other conditions.
Policy advisers for the Methodist Church obtained the data usingFreedom of Information Requests to the Department of Work andPensions. It shows that people who receive the sickness anddisability benefit Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) becauseof a long-term mental health problem are being sanctioned at a rateof more than 100 per day. In March 2014 - the last month for whichdata is available - approximately 4,500 people with mental healthproblems who receive ESA because of mental health problems weresanctioned.
Paul Morrison, Public Issues Policy Adviser for the MethodistChurch, said: "We believe that the number of people with mentalhealth problems who have their benefit stopped due to beingsanctioned is in fact a great deal higher than 100 a day. Notincluded in these figures are people who receive ESA due to aphysical illness, but who have a higher risk of mental healthdifficulties."
According to the DWP data, the most common reason for beingsanctioned is that a person has been late or not turned up for aWork Programme appointment.
"Sanctioning someone with a mental health problem for being latefor a meeting is like sanctioning someone with a broken leg forlimping. The fact that this system punishes people for the symptomsof their illness is a clear and worrying sign that it isfundamentally flawed," said Mr Morrison, who is also the author ofan upcoming report on the sanctions regime. "Churches haveincreasingly seen people in desperate need because they have beensanctioned. The suffering and injustice we have seen caused by thesanctions system deserves serious scrutiny."
Paul Farmer, CEO of mental health charity Mind, said: "We'revery concerned about the number of people having their benefitsstopped. This causes not just financial problems but addedemotional distress. It's unjustifiable that people with mentalhealth problems are being sanctioned disproportionately compared tothose who have another health problem.
"Stopping benefits does not help people with mental healthproblems back into work. In fact, it often results in peoplebecoming more anxious and unwell and this makes a return to workless likely. Sanctions are based on a false assumption thatindividuals lack motivation and willingness to work, but it's theimpact of their illness and the environment in which they areexpected to work which actually present the toughest challenges.That's why they should only be used as a last resort, when someonesimply refuses to engage."
These figures - and other new data on the sanctions regime -will feature in a report that is due to be launched in the springby a coalition of major Churches, including the Methodist Church,the Church of Scotland and the Church in Wales.
The Revd Sally Foster-Fulton, Convener of the Church and SocietyCouncil of the Church of Scotland, said: "With others in theScottish Leaders' Group on Welfare, we are, sadly, well aware ofthe negative impact of sanctions on vulnerable people, often leftwith no income and no security and no way out of the deeper holethey have fallen through. We welcome the publication of theupcoming report. It is important that we highlight these facts andbegin to counter this troubling trend. We will use the newdata in our 28 February conference looking 'Beyond Food Banks', forwhich sanctions are a key trigger."
Notes:
1. People who are being supported by the disability benefitEmployment and Support Allowance can have their benefits sanctioned(stopped for a period of time) if they fail to engage with certainactivities. This only applies to those in the Work Related ActivityGroup (WRAG) - a group for whom an assessment has deemed that theyare neither fit for work nor unable to work, but able to move intoemployment with support.
2. Paul Morrison is available for interview.
3. Case studies and the full data set are available - please
4.