Court of Appeal ruling on sanctioning regime
The Court of Appeal has today found that the government has acted unlawfully in the way in which it has used regulations to enable the sanctioning regime operated by Jobcentre Plus. This suggests that the Department for Work and Pensions will be required to present regulations before Parliament in order to enable benefit sanctioning to take place.
Government response:
Responding to the court ruling, the minister for employment, Mark Hoban, said: “The court has backed our right to require people to take part in programmes which will help get them into work. It’s ridiculous to say this is forced labour. This ruling ensures we can continue with these important schemes.
We are however disappointed and surprised at the court’s decision on our regulations. There needed to be flexibility so we could give people the right support to meet their needs and get them into a job. We do not agree with the court’s judgment and are seeking permission to appeal, but new regulations will be tabled to avoid any uncertainty.
Ultimately the judgment confirms that it is right that we expect people to take getting into work seriously if they want to claim benefits.”
DWP’s statement is available here:
ERSA response:
Speaking about the judgment, ERSA chief executive, Kirsty McHugh, said:
“It is essential that the government gets its house in order. Any lack of certainty about the operation of employment programmes is detrimental to both welfare to work providers and to jobseekers. We believe fundamentally that good quality work experience placements are a good thing and can really help people in their drive to gain employment. However, these always need to be well managed and be a positive rather than punitive experience for jobseekers.
“We are also very pleased to hear in an article by Public Interest Lawyers that one of the claimants, Jamie Wilson, is participating on the Work Programme at present and is finding it a very positive experience.”
ERSA’s statement is available here:
