AQW 3089/16-21

Mr Daniel McCrossan
Social Democratic and Labour Party
West Tyrone

Tabled Date: 14/09/2016
Answered On Date: 26/09/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the changes to benefits sanctions following the introduction of Welfare Reform.

Answer:

The changes to benefits sanctions are contained in the Employment and Support Allowance (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 240) and the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016 No. 241) and will come into operation at the same time as Universal Credit comes into operation in Northern Ireland.

The Employment and Support Allowance (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 revise sanctions for those claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who fail to attend a work-focussed interview (WFI) or to undertake work related activity (WRA) without good cause. The amount of the new sanction will be 100 percent of the personal allowance for a single person. The revised sanctions regime will have two parts – an open ended period and on top of that a fixed period:

the open-ended part of the sanction is that the claimant will be sanctioned until they take part in the WFI or undertake WRA or agree to do so on a scheduled date.

the fixed period part of the sanction will be an additional fixed period of 1 week for a first failure, 2 weeks for a second failure within 52 weeks of the first and 4 weeks when it is a third or subsequent failure which is within 52weeks of the last previous failure.

When claimants re-engage within one week of the failure or before a decision to sanction has been made, only the fixed period will apply. In the case of multiple sanctions, they will run concurrently. If, after a sanction begins, the claimant is moved out of the work related activity group (WRAG) and therefore no longer subject to the requirements of WFIs and WRA, the sanction will end at that point.

The Regulations also change the effective date of a sanction, so that it takes effect from the first day of the benefit week after the one for which the claimant was last paid ESA. The aim is to make the link between claimants’ failures to comply and the sanction clearer and swifter. A right of appeal against the decision continues to be available.

The new regime will include access to hardship payments for those who have a sanction imposed on their award. Hardship payments will be available from the beginning of a sanction period, providing the claimant meets the conditions for entitlement to income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 introduce a new three-tier regime of fixed period sanctions for Jobseekers’ Allowance -

higher level sanctions - for example for leaving a job voluntarily, or through misconduct, or failing to take up a job or mandatory work activity – those subject to a higher level sanction will lose all of their JSA applicable amount for a fixed period of 13 weeks for a first failure, 26 weeks for a second failure, and 78 weeks for a third or subsequent failure (within a 52-week period of their last failure);

intermediate level sanctions - if not available for or actively seeking work the claimant will lose their entitlement – those subject to an intermediate level sanction will lose all of their JSA applicable amount for a fixed period of 4 weeks for a first failure, rising to 13 weeks for a second or subsequent failure (within a 52-week period of their last failure) to be applied following a period of disallowance; and

lower level sanctions - for example for failure to attend an adviser interview or failing to attend a training scheme - those subject to a lower level sanction will lose will lose all of their JSA applicable amount for a fixed period of 4 weeks for a first failure, and 13 weeks for a second or subsequent failure within 52 weeks of the previous failure.

The amount of the sanction for all three types of sanction will not change under the revised regime. The current hardship provisions to protect the vulnerable will continue to apply to allow payment of income-based JSA, at a reduced rate, for the duration of the sanction period.