A government report shows that up to March 2015, 43,800 sanctions were imposed on Lone parents on Income Support'(typically a reduction in benefit of around £14 per week). During this period 652,000 work focussed interviews were carried out.
The law says- Lone parents with a child under 5 may be able to claim income support.
Those with children under 1 don't have to attend work focussed interview. Conditionality exists for others-
Those with children age between 1 and 5 are required to attend WFIs at a frequency and duration determined by their Personal Adviser, enabling support to be more tailored to meet the needs of the lone parent. Benchmarks are in place to ensure that lone parents with a youngest child aged one to three attend a minimum of two WFIs a year, and those with a youngest child aged four attend a minimum of four WFIs a year;
Those with a child aged 3 or 4 are also required to undertake Work Related Activity. Activities will be fexible, tailored to the individual, and must be reasonable taking into account the parent’s circumstances.
Failing to meet the conditionality without 'good cause 'may result in a sanction- a reduction in the amount of Income Support by an amount equal to 20% of the Income Support personal allowance.
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