Pensions Secretary admits there have been benefits cases 'where we got it wrong'

Pensions Secretary David Gauke has admitted there have been cases dealt with under the Government’s benefits sanctions regime “where we got it wrong”.

Mr Gauke was challenged about the impact of sanctions on Sunday, which cover universal credit, employment and support allowance (ESA), jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and income support.

Critics blame the sanctions regime for forcing some of the poorest in society into debt and risk of homelessness.

But the Cabinet minister argued that overall the regime does help usher welfare claimants back into work.

Speaking on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Gauke tackled criticism of sanctions head on, saying: “One of the reasons why I think we have got higher levels of employment is because we place conditions on people; that changes behaviour and that helps people get into work.

“That’s not to say that there aren’t hard cases, cases where we get it wrong – we want to work very hard to eliminate that.

“But I would defend the principle of saying – if we are going to give money to people, to actually lift people out of poverty on a sustainable basis – it’s not just about giving them money, it’s also about saying, ‘What can we do and what can you do to get you into work?’.”

Sanctions involve the reduction or suspension of payments because a claimant has not met conditions for receiving the benefit, such as attending jobcentre appointments.

Experts from bodies representing psychologists, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and counsellors have previously warned that sanctions system could damage the mental health of claimants.

But Mr Gauke said: “On the subject of mental health – and this is a sensitive point, and I’m not going to pretend that we have always got this right in every individual case.

“But we do know that getting people into work, giving people the benefit of working, the structure that provides, the self-esteem that that provides, work can really help mental health as well, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.”

He added: “The task for us is to ensure that we have an increasingly personalised welfare state, a system that properly understands the circumstances individuals are in.”