Universal credit sanction decisions up by more than 100 per cent in April 2021 compared to January 2021

However, total of 1,100 claimants affected per month remains far lower than pre-pandemic levels

The number of universal credit sanction decisions has increased by more than 100 per cent in April 2021 compared to January 2021, according to new DWP statistics.

In Benefit sanctions statistics to April 2021 (experimental), the DWP examines data for adverse sanction decisions for the period before and during the Covid-19 pandemic up to April 2021. While the figures show that sanctions reached a peak of more than 22,000 in July 2019, as the Covid outbreak accelerated and legislative changes (SI.No.371/2020) disapplied work search and work availability requirements between 30 March and 30 June 2020, the DWP highlights that -

• sanction decisions decreased to 11,000 in March 2020, and continued to drop to negligible levels by the end of April 2020 after Covid conditionality easements took effect;
• adverse decisions per month then gradually increased after the easements were lifted from 1 July 2021, with the number reaching 490 in January 2021;
• the most recent data shows that 1,100 adverse decisions were made in April 2021, more than double the January 2021 figure; and
• in the three months to the end of April 2021, a total of 2,490 adverse sanction decisions were made, the majority of which (2,390 or 95.7 per cent) were for conditionality failures relating to work-focused interviews.

In addition, the statistics show that prior to the legislative changes made on 30 March 2020, 1.91 per cent of universal credit claimants subject to conditionality at the point where the sanction was applied had a deduction taken from their award as a result of a sanction. In May 2021, this proportion was 0.11 per cent, the same as it was in February 2021.

For more information, including sanctions data for jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance, see Benefit sanctions statistics to April 2021 (experimental) from gov.uk