The Work Programme and sanctions


Despite being the “flagship“ welfare-to-work scheme of the Conservative-led coalition government, and then the incumbent Conservative government from May 2015, the DWP announced in November 2015 that it was replacing the Work Programme and Work Choice with a new Work and Health Programme for the longer-term unemployed and those with health conditions. The DWP also announced that it would not be renewing Mandatory Work Activity and Help to Work which included “Community Work Placements”.


The moves have not seen a reduction in benefit sanctions. General union Unite is running a campaign to stop benefit sanctions and reports that more than half a million have had their benefits stopped by sanction in the last 12 months. 


The union says benefit sanctions are “cruel and handed out for ridiculous reasons such as: arriving minutes late to a meeting; not applying for jobs when waiting to start a new job, and missing an appointment on the day of the funeral of a close family member”.


The TUC is worried that even less support will be available to help the unemployed back into work than there is already and is awaiting further information on what the new Work and Health Programme involves, and “whether we’ll see a return in ‘workfare’ under a different name”. 


Information about the Unite campaign is available from the website at: www.unitetheunion.org/campaigning/stop-benefit-sanctions