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A MAN on benefits was sanctioned by Jobcentre staff for not looking for work while he was waiting to start a new job – at the Department for Work and Pensions.

A farcical loophole allows the DWP to sanction claimants for not jobhunting in the period between being offered work and starting in their new post.

Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss has a constituent who lost their benefits while waiting for their DWP job.

(Image: PA wire)

She has written to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith . The SNP MP said: “What we can see from this case is people trying hard to get back into work.

“So they find a job but then have the rug pulled from under their feet at the 11th hour with a sanction.DWP policy effectively means it is pot luck whether you get a sympathetic work coach or not. That is no way to run a social security system.

“I have written to Iain Duncan Smith and demanded that he issues guidance to DWP officials that no one should be sanctioned in the intervening period of being offered a job and starting work.

“The UK Government need to shake off this unhealthy obsession with slapping sanctions on people who are just trying to get on in difficult times.”

(Image: Getty Images)

In her letter, Thewliss wrote: “This unjust situation would indicate to me that the Government have a target-driven sanctions agenda.”

A DWP spokesman said: “Claimant commitments are always tailored to individual circumstances.

“Because universal credit is an in-work as well as an out-of-work benefit, claimants continue to be eligible for support even when they move into a job.

“Alongside this, they are expected to continue fulfilling the conditions they agreed to in their claimant commitment as long as they are receiving benefits.”