Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people subject to benefit sanctions applied to a hardship fund in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Edinburgh in 2015.

The information is not available at the level requested and could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

The Department has, however, published information on the number of hardship applications and awards for Jobseekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance which can be accessed via the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/jsa-and-esa-hardship-applications-and-awards-apr-2012-to-jun-2015