Updated Sanctions Guide Hits the Streets for Fife Benefits Claimants

FIFE Council, in partnership with independent advice agency, Citizen Advice & Rights Fife (CARF) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has updated the guide that helps Fife welfare benefit claimants keep their benefits and cope if their benefits are cut.

The “Keeping your full benefit payment” guide replaces the original “sanctions guide” from 2014.

Sanctions are not the same for all benefits; how sanctions work and how long they last can be different depending on your circumstances. This guide gives you helpful information if you get:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Universal Credit
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support

As well as this, it also includes information about lots of agencies that can help you if you’re in crisis, for example the DWP’s own hardship fund, the Scottish Welfare Fund and food banks in Fife.

The guide is available from a number of places including council offices, libraries, CARF, Fife Gingerbread, community job clubs and advice hubs and for the first time, Fife’s seven DWP Job Centres. You can also download it from www.fifedirect.org.uk/benefitchanges

Leader of Fife Council, Councillor David Ross, said: “We’ve continued to see Fifers being left without any benefit income as a result of sanctions.

“As a council we have and will keep doing all we can to support residents who find themselves in this difficult situation.

“We’ve produced this updated guide alongside the DWP and CARF and hope Fife benefit claimants will find easy to understand and useful so that they will be able to fulfil the conditions needed to keep their full benefits and to know where they can turn for help if sanctions are applied.

“The key message is don’t ignore a sanction – it unfortunately won’t go away. However, Fife Council and our partners will do all we can to support you through this.”

Martin Nowakowski, Fife Customer Services Operations Manager with the Department for Work and Pensions, added: “We’re always trying to improve our communications with our customers and this joint working with Fife Council and Citizen’s Advice and Rights Fife should go some way to helping our customers keep their Benefits, and finding the right local advice and support if they need it”.

Norma Philpott, CARF Chief Executive, concluded: “We welcome the revised sanction booklet as we believe sanctions should be a last resort and avoided if at all possible. We have seen the hardships and difficulties first hand for individuals and we have had to spend time supporting people to successfully challenge sanctions. Importantly this booklet emphasises how to avoid being sanctioned in the first place.”

For more information and to download a copy of the updated guide visit www.fifedirect.org.uk/benefitchanges