Cairinne MacDonald
The current government benefits system and use of sanctioning penalises the vulnerable and entrenches poverty.
The Scottish Green party states they want to “Stand against benefit sanctions. We believe sanctions that punish people for unemployment have no place in a fair system. The sanctions regime is reserved [for Westminster]but the UK Department for Work and Pensions relies on information from Work Programme providers to know who to sanction. Green MSPs will campaign for new provider contracts to include a clause preventing them from sharing information with DWP that would lead to a benefit sanction, thus ending sanctions for a significant number of benefit claimants in Scotland”.
In August, the Green MSPs published research highlighting that unless the Scottish Government changed its approach, 13,000 Scots a year would face sanctions accumulating to a total of around £7m.
Green MSP Alison Johnstone has obtained a promise from the Scottish Government to make employment programmes for people with health conditions, disabled people and those at risk of long-term unemployment voluntary and sanction-free when they are devolved next year..