We need an inclusive recovery from coronavirus. Short conversations with a work coach won’t cut it

It was a massive misjudgement to give work coaches renewed authority to sanction claimants at the beginning of July and see benefits cut if claimants are not deemed to be meeting their commitments, writes Labour MP Seema Malhotra

A woman wearing a mask to protect against coronavirus rides a bicycle past a job centre (AP)

With eight jobless people chasing every vacancy we need the government to pursue an inclusive recovery. That demands a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) culture that is supportive, not punitive.

At the moment it doesn’t look as though that is what we are going to get. It was a massive misjudgement to give work coaches renewed authority to sanction claimants at the beginning of July and see benefits cut if claimants are not deemed to be meeting their commitments. It makes no sense when in certain parts of the country, 20 people are competing for each job.

We didn’t have enough work coaches before Covid-19 and new analysis by the Labour Party shows caseloads for a single work coach could almost double from 130 per work coach to an average of 228 later this year.