13th Sep 2015 With your kind support the Government were forced to investigate the benefit sanctions regime and its effects on the most vulnerable in our society. From this an all Party Select Committee Inquiry was held and it published its findings on 24th March, entitled "The Work and Pensions Committee report into Benefit Sanctions Policy beyond the Oakley Review”. It was extremely critical of the sanctions regime, asking for the implementation of 26 urgent recommendations which included: "setting up an Independent Review "make hardship payments available from day 1 The government was asked to respond, but has not done so and no date has been set to do so. I ask please once more for your support to push the government to act on these vital and life saving recommendations. You will find our petition here: https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-david-cameron-mp-implement-the-recommendations-of-the-benefit-sanctions-policy-beyond-the-oakley-review We have seen that £12 billion of welfare cuts are to be introduced. People are dying and the suffering continues and we need to protect and support vulnerable people. It’s about compassion and humility and the government have a duty of care. Citizens advice estimate that there could be nearly 30,000 people left without any money for weeks on end if they exercise their legal right and appeal a negative "fit for work" decision Leaving people with no means of feeding themselves, staying warm and keeping essential appliances working is unconscionable and has no place in a civilised and rich society such as Great Britain. An estimated 80,600 JSA sanctions and 10,000 ESA sanctions were overturned in the 12 months to March 2015 via reviews, reconsiderations or appeals. This is a total of 90,600 cases where the claimant’s payments will have been stopped for weeks or months only to be refunded later. Whatever happened to innocent till proven guilty? In closing I would like to say a huge thank you again for your support during this campaign. Your wonderful help has opened the door and we must now force action. If you wish to stay in touch direct please do so at gill.a4u@outlook.com My deepest thanks once again, change is not possible without us all. best Gill