The National Audit Office (NAO) is undertaking a study to examine whether the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is achieving value for money from its administration of benefit sanctions.

To receive benefits such as Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit, some claimants must agree to undertake work-related activities which aim to help them move into work. Not completing these activities can lead to a sanction, where a claimant’s benefit payments are suspended for a period of time.

This includes how benefit sanctions fit with the intended aims and outcomes of DWP’s wider working age employment policy, whether sanctions are being implemented in line with policy and whether use of sanctions is leading to the intended outcomes for claimants.

You can email your experiences on the NAO website