Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on an evaluation of in-work progression published by the Department for Work and Pensions today, said:

“It is shocking that the Conservatives are imposing sanctions on hard-working people who are just trying to do the right thing.

“Real wages are still below 2008 levels, while millions of people are trapped in insecure work.

“Meanwhile, the Government has slashed social security for working families and imposed pay restraint on the public sector.

“Labour will scrap the punitive sanctions regime, introduce a Real Living Wage of £10 an hour by 2020 and ban zero-hours contracts.”