Sanctions on people claiming benefits return today despite pleas from charities and campaigners.

This follows a three-month freeze brought in when large numbers of workers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic were claiming benefits and unable to look for work during lockdown.

New figures show there was a six-fold increase in numbers claiming Universal Credit between 13^th March and 9^th April compared to the previous period from 14^th February to 12^th March, taking the total of people on Universal Credit in Scotland to 373,000.

It comes as a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calls for urgent reforms to Universal Credit to stop people being pulled into poverty.

Looking at the experiences of 19 new claimants and speaking to Jobcentre Plus staff, the charity warned the value of the benefit was “inadequate” and in some cases leaving people “without enough to pay for essentials”.

Speaking yesterday, Work & Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said it was important to reinstate the claimant commitment, which is a statement that sets out responsibilities to look for work with the prospect of sanctions if this is not done.

“It is an essential part of the contract to help people start to reconsider what vacancies there are, but I know that I can trust the work coaches and jobcentre managers, who are empowered to act proactively with people,” she said.

“There will be some people right now who have not had to look for a job for the last 20 to 30 years, and they will need careful support, tailored to make sure they can start to look for the jobs that are available and which I hope will soon become available.”

But the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) criticised the move, with director of external affairs Jo Anderson calling the return of sanctions “disappointing”.

He said: “There has never been any evidence to suggest that these sanctions incentivise employment for people with mental health problems.

“Instead they cause undue stress and worry which will only be exacerbated by the challenging times that we are all living in.

"The benefit sanction pause could have been a real opportunity to fix a system which does not work for so many people.

“SAMH has long called for an end to benefit sanctions and we urge the UK Government to take another look at this decision.”

Dr Anne Mullin, a GP in Govan, has previously told healthandcare.scot that covid-19 should prompt politicians to look again at the state of the welfare safety net.

She warned: “Potentially many, many more people are going to find themselves in a very difficult financial situation and you need a robust state infrastructure and support to fall back on.”

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