'Benefit Sanctions' Tagged Posts

Connect, Challenge, Commit – Homeless Sunday

Connect During the service, we heard a number of statistics about homelessness in England. In 2014-15: 840 families and individuals were assessed as homeless 54,430 moved into Temporary Accommodation 1,368,312 families and individuals on council waiting lists 384,854 tenancies allocated last year 2,744 individuals were included in the Nov 2014 rough sleeper count. 7,581 people were found sleeping on London’s streets   Challenge Nicola told us the story of Billy, a fictional character but one which is based on many…

Enough

“Poverty is not being able to do things that are necessities. Things that are important like gas and electric, showers, bus fares, and having to worry that your daughter has a hole in her shoes. She needs new shoes and I don’t have the money. What do I do? Do I get gas or do I get shoes?” – Poverty in Scotland 2015, a Scottish Government & Poverty Truth Commission publication. In the UK, children raised in families without enough…

Time to Rethink Benefit Sanctions

Love inspires the anger that curses poverty, preaches life’s enrichment, seeks equality. – Andrew Pratt During Sundays service (8th march), Ali talked about a recent Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) report into the effectiveness and consequences of the sanctions currently enforced on state benefits. The report uncovers some startling statistics. The full report and more information can be found here. Once you have read it or watched the video below you can write to your mp from here.

New data: More than 100 people per day with mental health problems are having their benefits sanctioned

This is a news release by the Methodist Church about a new report to be published by JPIT.  New data released today has revealed that benefits claimants judged as unfit to work due to mental health problems are more likely to have their benefits stopped by sanctions than those suffering from other conditions. Policy advisers for the Methodist Church obtained the data using Freedom of Information Requests to the Department of Work and Pensions. It shows that people who receive…