David Bartolucci is calling on the government to re-think its decision on resuming Universal Credit sanctions.

After lockdown commenced, nearly 650,000 people across the country lost their jobs which led the government to issue a three-month sanction pause with Universal Credit.

According to the latest jobs market report from CV-Library, the number of job vacancies in the UK declined by 62.7% in the second quarter of 2020.

Authorities confirmed the number of Sutton residents needing Universal Credit surged to 5,123 by June 2020.

People claiming Universal Credit are required to show evidence they are searching for jobs.

Otherwise they could be sanctioned by having their Universal Credit payments cut.

Your Local Guardian:

Sutton Council’s lead councillor for Revenues and Benefits, David Bartolucci said: “Tory ministers want to sanction people for not applying for jobs that don’t exist.

"This makes absolutely no sense and once again shows how out-of-touch Tories are with the hardships facing people across Sutton.

“The number of Sutton residents needing Universal Credit has surged to over 5,000 people.

"The Lib Dem council is working flat out to support them and ensure they can continue to feed their families and pay their bills.

"Sutton Council is also working with partner agencies at JobcentrePlus and local training providers to ensure skills training is available for those losing their jobs.

“Tory ministers must extend the pause on sanctions until the jobs market improves.

"Sutton residents have done their bit to control the spread of the virus in these tough times and they shouldn’t be forced by ministers to look for non-existent jobs.”