[Vicky.]

I know, I disagree with sanctions in the first place. JSA is worked out as the 'minimum amount the LAW says you need to live on', and lets be honest, 70 quid a week or whatever is an absolutely pitiful amount when you have heating costs and that to pay aswell as feeding yourself...but the law is the law. I'm not disputing the amount JSA is...

What I have a massive problem with, is that people can be threatened with getting LESS than the amount the law says you NEED to live on...sometimes even recieving nothing at all for months at a time, for little things such as missing an appointment, or failing to apply for a job. While I agree that jobseekers should do everything they can to find work, the idea that they can just strip you of any money at all on a whim is barbaric to me tbh.

I know one guy who was sanctioned for 2 weeks (a relatively short sanction) for being late for his signing time. The bus he gets did not turn up, and they were only one an hour, so he was about an hour late. But apparently that wasnt a reasonable excuse, he should have gone for the bus 2 hours before his appointment was due to avoid possibly being late. Its pure bullcrap at times.

On a brighter note, he did appeal this sanction, and won, however by the time the appeal went through, he had already gone a fortnight with no money at all anyway, so it wasnt of much help.