HOUSING charity Crisis warned yesterday that the Tories’ ideological assault on benefit claimants are leaving many people homeless, hungry and destitute.

Homeless people and those suffering from mental ill health are among those most affected by the government’s draconian sanctions regime, the charity said.

Crisis’s survey of 1,000 people from homeless hostels and day centres found that increasing numbers were being forced to sleep rough or go hungry as a result of benefit sanctions.

It also revealed that people were being sanctioned for failing to attend a work programme when they did not know where to go, had to collect children from school, or missed an appointment due to traffic jams.

Shadow employment minister Emily Thornberry said the report was a damning indictment of a broken sanctions regime.

“Instead of dealing with the rising benefits bill by tackling low pay and building more affordable homes, the Tories introduced a new regime of benefit sanctions which brought a culture of fear into jobcentres, pushing people into extreme hardship and in many cases out onto the streets,” she said.

Crisis chief executive Jon Sparks said that sanctions were “disastrous” for people “trying to rebuild their lives” or coping with illness and trauma.

“It’s clear that the regime isn’t working for the most vulnerable,” he said.

“The government’s recent proposal for a two-week period of appeal doesn’t go far enough.

“We must make sure that homeless people and those at risk of homelessness are identified and protected from an early stage.”

The study comes the day after a damning report by cross-party MPs which found that the number of people going hungry would halve if benefit sanctions were reformed and payments made without delays.

Civil service union PCS, which represents benefits clerks, also joined the criticism.

“These are truly shocking findings that should provide a wake-up call to ministers about the damage their benefit cuts and sanctions are doing to people’s lives,” said general secretary Mark Serwotka.

“This kind of treatment has no place in a modern employment service and the sanctions regime should be scrapped.”