§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether benefit can be reclaimed if a claimant who was taking steps to carry out a reasonable direction for purposes of seeking entitlement to jobseeker's allowance benefit fails to do so.
§ Miss WiddecombeIf a claimant fails to carry out a jobseeker's direction which was reasonable having regard to his circumstances, the adjudication officer will consider whether he had good cause for doing so in deciding whether to impose a sanction. Jobseeker's allowance will be paid in full until the adjudication officer has made the decision.
If the adjudication officer decides that the claimant failed without good cause to carry out the direction, a sanction will be applied for two weeks. Vulnerable groups will have access to hardship payments during a period of sanction.