Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to (a) cancel or (b) suspend all pre-existing benefits sanctions during the covid-19 outbreak.

We are focused on the processing of claims and will not be checking conditionality compliance regarding preparing for, looking for and being available for work until the end of June. This means that claimants won’t receive any new sanctions if they are unable to meet these commitments during this period.

We currently have no plans to cancel or suspend pre-existing sanctions. Claimants who were sanctioned before Covid 19 can continue to apply for hardship payments and are no worse off as a result of the pandemic. We continue to review our policies as the situation evolves.