Sanctions for sole parents

When sole parents fail their obligations and have a financial sanction imposed, they do not have their whole benefit sanctioned. Instead, a maximum sanction of 50% of the total benefit may be imposed. The balance payable is known as 50% protection.

Sole parents who are sanctioned can continue to get full supplementary assistance, regardless of the grade of sanction. This includes the Winter Energy Payment.

For more information on what a client can continue to get when sanctioned, see:

• Paying other assistance during a sanction

If the client has not recomplied after two weeks, MSD will contact them to discuss financial assistance and recompliance. If the client has still not recomplied at four weeks MSD must send the client a letter advising they need to attend an appointment to discuss ongoing entitlement to benefit.

For more information on this process see:

• Sanction period -Two week intervention [no link find out why]
• Sanction period - Four week intervention [no link find out why]

For a first and second obligations failure, a sole parent's benefit is reduced by 50%, unless they have a non-financial sanction imposed (for a first failure only).

For more information on non-financial sanctions see:

• Non-financial sanctions

If the client does not recomply within 4 weeks, they will have 50% of their benefit suspended.

50% of their benefit will remain suspended until they recomply or 50% of their benefit is automatically cancelled after 13 weeks.

They continue to get full Extra help (including the full rate of Winter Energy Payment).

Note if a client has more than one obligation failure initiated on the same day, only one sanction can be imposed on the client. For the sanction to be lifted, the client must successfully dispute or recomply with all the obligation failures.

For a third obligations failure a sole parent is subject to a non-entitlement period for a period of 13 weeks and will have 50% of their benefit cancelled. The sole parent may get a provisional benefit and have their benefit increased to 100% if they start a six-week approved activity or programme of activities.

They continue to get full supplementary assistance (including the full rate of Winter Energy Payment).

For more information see:

• Recompliance