Recommendation 127

We did not ask the DWP to comment on its sanctions policy as part of this inquiry. However, we are aware that it has commented on this matter recently, in response to the House of Lords Economics Affairs Committee’s inquiry into The Economics of Universal Credit. In their response to that Committee’s report, the DWP said: ‘Sanctions can be a useful way to encourage claimants to comply with reasonable and achievable requirements, developed and agreed between the Work Coach and the claimant to prepare for and/or move into work.’323 It goes on to say that the Department has committed to look at further processes such as sending written warnings before actioning sanctions on claimants as well as highlighting its own analysis on conditionality, that highlighted that: ‘72% of claimants agreed that the potential for sanctions meant they were more likely to conduct work search.’324