#EarlyWarningSystem #Report on #BenefitSanctions & #Children @CPAGScotland @CPAGUK @PovertyAlliance Child Poverty Action Group (UK) - CPAG has set up an ‘Early Warning System’ to identify problems reported by front-line workers in the operation of #benefits. Their first policy briefing is online, giving examples of problems with sanctions. They give examples of a series of mistaken decisions: for example, a sanction for not reporting for the Work Programme while in police custody and benefits were already stopped, and a sanction for turning up for the time on the letter instead of the time the office thought it had sent out. Part of this, too, is that people who are suffering sanctions then have to go to #FoodBanks – a link recently denied by Neil Couling, of the Department for Work and Pensions - DWP, at a meeting of the Welfare Reform Committee at The Scottish Parliament. The Early Warning System (EWS) is a framework which has been developed by CPAG in Scotland to collect case studies and wider evidence about how welfare changes are affecting the health and wellbeing of children. They are currently collecting information and anonymous case studies from 75 frontline workers including welfare rights officers, housing advisers and support workers across Scotland. Please visit the website for more information on the project. Concerns raised through the Early Warning System Cases collected through the EWS suggest that sanctions are often applied without adequate consideration of claimants’ personal situations, characteristics or the barriers they face - particularly in relation to their ability to comply with the conditions placed upon them. Cases illustrating these concerns include:
Posted on: Fri, 09 May 2014 19:12:02 +0000