Scottish Benefit Sanctions Soar While 65% of DWP PIP Decisions are Overturned at Tribunal

Scots have been sanctioned by the DWP over 400,000 times since 2010, figures compiled by the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe) show.
 
The  figure does not include sanctions that were later overturned on appeal. The punitive sanctions regime has been a key driver in the rapid growth in foodbanks under the Tories, with sanctions increasing after extreme new rules were introduced in 2012.
 
Claimants have seen their support suddenly withdrawn because strict, and often ludicrous, conditions have not been met. Some of the absurd reasons for sanctions include claimants missing appointments due to being at a job interview or being hospitalised.

Over half of disability benefit appeals in Scotland are successful, figures uncovered under FOI show.
 
An FOI response to the SNP shows that over 55% of appeals to overturn Personal Independent Payment (PIP) assessments in Scotland were successful in 2016/17.
 
Just under 8,000 Scots and around 67,000 people in the whole of the UK appealed the private assessors’ decision to take away their disability benefits last year - and 65% of these decisions were overturned overall.