Nearly 2,000 people from across the north-east who claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) were sanctioned last year, new figures have revealed.
Between January and December 2014, some 679 individuals in Aberdeen North were penalised, 431 in Aberdeen South, 485 in Banff and Buchan, 165 in Gordon and 128 in West Aberdeenshire.
Aberdeen South SNP MP Callum McCaig collated the figures from a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) database, and has vowed he will be investigating the justification for the sanctions further.
He said he would be contacting the local Jobcentre to find out why people had their benefits stopped or reduced, after hearing “horrendous stories” of claimants being punished for “spurious” reasons.
Sanctions can be imposed if someone doesn’t follow through on an agreed commitment such as applying for a job, going to an interview or failing to turn up for a meeting.
Mr McCaig said there was “very strong anecdotal evidence” people were being unfairly sanctioned. He gave examples of individuals being at the right building but in the wrong room and at a job interview when they were deemed to have missed an appointment.
The former Aberdeen City Council leader said many of those using food banks had been left with no money after being sanctioned.
He added: “When you can’t afford to pay for food, it’s going to make it an awful lot more difficult to try to find a job.
“The system should be there to help, not punish people. The sanction system is definitely being used as a form of punishment and as a form of driving down the costs of benefits.”
A DWP spokesman said the required commitments in return for benefits had been made “even clearer” and pointed to a decrease in the number of JSA sanctions.
In Scotland, they fell from 84,200 in 2013 to 55,864 the following year, according to the department.