Caroline Selman

Really? I've not come across that before.

Really? I've not come across that before.

Yeah, so like you say, we are currently working with Centring and Law Centre round about supporting people in relation to sanctions. So that's when people have money taken away if they haven't, for example, attended a work-focused interview with the DWP. And although they tend to be things that are put in place for not particularly serious things like being a bit late to an interview,

Yeah, so like you say, we are currently working with Centring and Law Centre round about supporting people in relation to sanctions. So that's when people have money taken away if they haven't, for example, attended a work-focused interview with the DWP. And although they tend to be things that are put in place for not particularly serious things like being a bit late to an interview,

The consequences for people are really very serious. So you're looking at sort of about 100% of somebody's standard allowance if you're a single person, sometimes for really quite a long amount of time. And one of the key concerns we have about the sanction system is it's been shown not to work. in terms of supporting people into work or better paid work.

The consequences for people are really very serious. So you're looking at sort of about 100% of somebody's standard allowance if you're a single person, sometimes for really quite a long amount of time. And one of the key concerns we have about the sanction system is it's been shown not to work. in terms of supporting people into work or better paid work.

But it has been shown to be really harmful repeatedly across both sort of independent studies and also some of the government's own evidence as well. So there's a core concern as to why that regime should be being used at all.

But it has been shown to be really harmful repeatedly across both sort of independent studies and also some of the government's own evidence as well. So there's a core concern as to why that regime should be being used at all.

But the piece of work that we're doing with Central Good Law Centre is about supporting people to challenge sanctions if they are challenged, because people can ask for an internal review and appeal them. And what we find is that if people do challenge them, they're very often successful.

But the piece of work that we're doing with Central Good Law Centre is about supporting people to challenge sanctions if they are challenged, because people can ask for an internal review and appeal them. And what we find is that if people do challenge them, they're very often successful.

I think most people, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, if you have something that's been found not to work and which causes harm, that's probably not a policy that is a good one to be applying to people. More broadly, we have also got concerns about how fit DWP is to understand who is being impacted by things and how.

I think most people, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, if you have something that's been found not to work and which causes harm, that's probably not a policy that is a good one to be applying to people. More broadly, we have also got concerns about how fit DWP is to understand who is being impacted by things and how.

What we've seen recently in terms of that statistics is that some people are more likely to be impacted or harmed by the sanctions regime than others, which also raises a whole host of concerns about how decisions are taken by the DWP in terms of...

What we've seen recently in terms of that statistics is that some people are more likely to be impacted or harmed by the sanctions regime than others, which also raises a whole host of concerns about how decisions are taken by the DWP in terms of...

how policies impact people but another area that we do a lot of work on is how the DWP is increasingly using things like data analytics and machine learning that's been identified by the National Audit Office as having a real risk of bias within it but where the DWP is on record as saying they don't have the data or the way of knowing whether that bias is in place but still rolling it out at pace.

how policies impact people but another area that we do a lot of work on is how the DWP is increasingly using things like data analytics and machine learning that's been identified by the National Audit Office as having a real risk of bias within it but where the DWP is on record as saying they don't have the data or the way of knowing whether that bias is in place but still rolling it out at pace.

The thing that rang really true was that bit about the impact on trust as a result of sanctions. And I think, you know, that's not just in terms of our own experience in relation to it. It's also, you know, borne out by DWP's own findings. And then I think in terms of some of our own sort of experience in this area. So we often come at stuff from an access to justice perspective.

The thing that rang really true was that bit about the impact on trust as a result of sanctions. And I think, you know, that's not just in terms of our own experience in relation to it. It's also, you know, borne out by DWP's own findings. And then I think in terms of some of our own sort of experience in this area. So we often come at stuff from an access to justice perspective.

So how we're supporting people to exercise their rights or challenge incorrect or unfair decisions. But one of the things that really comes through so strongly in that is that wider pernicious impact of justice.

So how we're supporting people to exercise their rights or challenge incorrect or unfair decisions. But one of the things that really comes through so strongly in that is that wider pernicious impact of justice.