JOBSEEKERS in North East Lincolnshire have broken the rules and had their benefits docked on more than 2,500 occasions over the past year, official figures show.
Benefit payments have been suspended 2,660 times for people who have failed to do enough to find work, turned down job offers or not turned up to Jobcentre appointments since new rules were introduced in October last year.
In the most extreme cases, individuals can lose the benefit for three years if, for example, they leave three jobs voluntarily.
Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of being "heavy handed" with the number of sanctions being handed out.
He has now written to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and the regional manager of Jobcentre Plus to raise his concerns.
"These figures are absolutely horrendous," the Labour MP said. "The DWP is being very heavy handed with its sanctions.
"This figure is simply too high a total, which is why I have written to both the minister and the regional manager of Jobcentre Plus to raise my concerns.
"This is not fair on people who need those benefits to help them look for work."
Mr Mitchell said he has received complaints from numerous constituents, who claim they have been stripped of benefits unfairly.
"The most recent case was a man who came to me who had lost his mobile phone and as a result missed an appointment and had his benefits docked," he said.
"The irony is that because he has been stripped of his benefits he cannot afford to buy a new phone, which means he runs the risk of missing further appointments.
"Penalising him for losing his mobile phone does not seem fair to me."
Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers claims he has also seen "one or two" constituents with legitimate complaints about the sanction scheme.
The Tory MP said: "I have had one or two constituents come to my surgery, who I think were harshly treated and I have taken up those cases up with Jobcentre Plus.
"But there are others who have not being obeying the rules and who knew full well the consequences they would face.
"I am sure that people would prefer that only those people who are genuinely looking for work receive benefits.
"There is always the opportunity for people to appeal the decision and ultimately if they are one of my constituents they can always take the matter up with me."
The figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that 53 per cent of decisions to withdraw benefit were the result of the lowest level sanction, while 38 per cent were intermediate sanctions and 9 per cent the highest level sanction. About a third of cases relate to people failing to actively seek work, with slightly fewer related to people who failed to participate in the government's Work Programme - a flagship government scheme of work experience for jobseekers - or failing to attend training. About one in five cases were the result of somebody failing to attend an interview with an adviser. Employment Minister Esther McVey said that people were paid Jobseeker's Allowance only if they were doing all they could to look for a job. She said these sanctions were only used against those who were "wilfully rejecting support for no good reason". But organisations including Citizens Advice and the Child Poverty Action Group have criticised the regime as "self-defeating" and an "unhelpful bureaucratic nightmare".Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
