Roger tables Early Day Motion protesting overuse of sanctions at Sparkhill jobcentre in Birmingham
Posted by Roger Godsiff, MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, at 14:07, Fri 8 November 2013:
Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion to draw the Government’s attention to the high levels of sanctions handed out by Sparkhill jobcentre in Birmingham. Roger tabled the EDM in response to reports by his constituents that, rather than supporting people into work, the jobcentre was penalising people unfairly and imposing unnecessarily harsh conditions.
Speaking after meeting with constituents in Sparkhill, Roger said: “I am extremely concerned that Sparkhill jobcentre is putting severe sanctions on people who are trying their best to find work and comply with all the conditions of receiving JSA. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to Sparkhill or even to Birmingham. People around the country who are looking for work in a very tough labour market are being sanctioned for such ridiculous ‘breaches’ as requesting to rearrange a jobcentre appointment to attend a job interview or a family funeral.” The number of sanctions handed out since the Government’s new regime was introduced on 22 October 2012 has increased by 11%, with more than 400,000 people being sanctioned.
Roger is also worried by the severity of the sanctions which are being imposed, with the length of time for which people are expected to live on an income of precisely nothing ranging between 13 weeks and a staggering 156 weeks. He commented: “This Cabinet of millionaires does not seem to understand that it is simply not possible for people to live without receiving any income for months or even years at a time. How on earth do the Government expect people to feed themselves, let alone travel to job interviews?”
Of course, people who are in receipt of benefits should be doing all they can to find work, but the Government refuses to accept that the vast majority of them already are. In a recent statement, Citizens Advice explained that the overwhelming majority of jobseekers are “desperate to get back into work”, and called on the Government to urgently reconsider the sanctions regime after a 64% rise in the number of problems with sanctions in just one year. Gillian Guy, the head of Citizen’s Advice, called the Coalition’s sanctions regime “excessively harsh and badly implemented”.
Roger concluded: “Pushing people below the poverty line is not a magic recipe for creating jobs, contrary to what the Government seem to think. All the increase in sanctions will achieve is to push more people into poverty and despair, ironically making them less, not more, employable. Why will the Government not invest in jobs rather than punishing people who are trying as hard as they can to find work?”
You can read the full text of the EDM here: www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/686
Comments
If you are subscribed to HearFromYourMP in this constituency,
log in to post a reply.
Otherwise, if you live in the UK,
sign up in order to
HearFromYourMP.
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 14:27, Fri 8 November 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
The majority of the UK citizens are below the poverty line and the situation in general is getting worst day by day. The government does not have money to pay to those who are seeking jobs and they do not want to increase the tax for the rich. I agree with Roger that the decision makers are rich and would not understand the problems faced by the youths who are seeking jobs. By the way, where are the jobs?
Posted by Colin, 09:03, Sat 9 November 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Does Mr. Godsiff regret, then, the millions of immigrants allowed in under his Labour government's disastrous 13 years in power? Presumably, without these, we would have full employment. Also, how does he explain the fact that millions of the newcomers have found work (often unskilled) whilst so many of those on benefits appear to think that some jobs, such as supermarket work, waiting on tables, picking crops, etc., are beneath them? Governments cannot create jobs, only the conditions for private enterprise to do so. The massive number of public sector jobs created by Labour are akin to the father of a bankrupt family employing all of his children for household duties, then paying them by borrowing on credit cards.