BY Daniel Harkins | March 3 | 
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Christian churches call for end of benefit sanctions impacting children
New report reveals people are going without food and electricity as a result of Government measures, affecting thousands including those suffering from mental illness and more than 6000 children in Scotland
A coalition of Christian Churches have called for a review of benefits system after publishing a report showing that 6500 Scottish children were affected by sanctions in the last year.
The report, Time to Rethink Benefit Sanctions—published by the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Church in Wales, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, and the ecumenical campaign group Church Action on Poverty—found that people are going hungry as a result of the current benefit system.
The department for works and pensions has introduced a number of reforms to the welfare system since the 2010 election, including sanctions that can see benefits stopped, with the report finding that the first time many people knew of the sanctions imposed was when they couldn’t withdraw money at the cash machine.
Seven million weeks of sanctions were handed out to claimants across the UK in 2013/2014, the report found, with 100,000 children in total affected.
The Poverty Truth Commission, which works with the Faith Community in Scotland, heard the story of a 40-year-old father from Glasgow who was sanctioned for missing an appointment. As a result, he had to go without gas or electricity and had been reduced to shoplifting for food.
“While telling his story, shame, humiliation and desperation reduced him to tears,” the report sates.
The report describes the sanctions regime as a deliberate punishment, and says ‘we are disturbed that a benefit system intended to provide for the needy and vulnerable is used as a means of coercion and compliance.’
The churches are recommending reform of the hardship payments system to avoid the deliberate imposition of hunger and are urging the Government to suspend all sanctions against families with children and those suffering from mental health problems. They are calling for a change of culture, from one of enforcement and punishment to one of assistance and support.
The full report can be found at www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/resources/rethinksanctions
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