Respect sanctions plans under fire

Government plans to impose benefits sanctions on antisocial families have been criticised by an influential advisory group.

The Social Security Advisory Committee, which ministers must consult, said the proposals lacked safeguards to protect vulnerable children and adults who may not be responsible for their behaviour.

The policy, unveiled in the Respect action plan, proposed that people evicted from rented housing who then refuse to work with support services face housing benefits cuts. In its report on scrutinising social security matters in 2005-6, the committee said the
government had failed to provide enough detail on whether pilot schemes would work.