Iain Duncan Smith to trial benefit sanction warning

Scheme will give claimants 14 days to explain infringements before benefits are docked after MPs criticise system as overly punitiveAn early warning system for benefit claimants facing sanctions is to be trialled in response to claims that an excessively punitive and bureaucratic system is driving some claimants deeper into poverty. The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has announced that claimants will be given a “yellow card” 14 days before their benefits are reduced.