If the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is to be believed, the failure by those out of work to take up an available job is a 'sin', along with wrath, lust, envy and the rest. But, as of today, this immoral act will no longer go unpunished (if it ever did). On the contrary, people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance who decline to take up community work or the offer of a job will have their benefits heavily cut. Indeed, even the Daily Mail has declared such sanctions to be 'draconian'.

This new 'claimant contract' is intended to end the choice of 'life on benefits' for the 'workshy' among us. However, as with so many other recent fiscal and welfare reform announcements, analysed here in our pamphlet, the impact on disabled people has not been properly considered, if at all.

Now, while benefits like Employment and Support Allowance are tailored to the unemployed members of this cohort; inaccurate and inappropriate assessment procedures mean many disabled people end up on JSA. At present, eligibility for ESA is measured using the Work Capability Assessment, criticism of which is so abundant that it is under both government and independent review. This medical test fails to effectively measure fitness for work and takes little account of fluctuating and intermittent conditions or the social and practical barriers that can seriously hinder disabled people's capabilities to find and sustain work. As a result, and as shown by DWP data, two thirds of people assessed using this test are found 'fit for work' and passed on to JSA. Reports from Citizens Advice Bureau clients reveal many of those people supposedly fit for work include people suffering from bowel cancer who require the use of colostomies and stoma bags.

With this and IDS's new sanction regime in mind, disabled people are disadvantaged by the conditionality criterion of Jobseeker's Allowance. Many disabled people will be unable to take up the offer of employment simply because it may be unsuitable to their needs. Almost half of disabled people looking for work have had to restrict their choice of jobs because of inaccessible transport. A quarter had to turn down a job offer for the same reason; almost another quarter had to decline a job interview.

Once in work, many disabled people will be subjected to disability discrimination. Disablism still persists in today's workplace: surveys show over half of disabled people have experienced discrimination while at work. However, should an affected individual then be judged to have left their job voluntarily, they may be subject to benefit sanctions, leaving them even worse off.

For those believing society is rife with people choosing to live their life on benefits, IDS's new sanctions regime may well be welcomed with open arms. However, as noted by Reeves and Collins, "there are few things so unfair as having your capability limited through no fault of your own". As we argued in Destination Unknown, disabled people with complex needs, but who are able to work, need proper personalised support and a flexible, capabilities-based welfare-to-work programme. Sanctions will not solve the problem of limited capability.

Should this policy exacerbate disability poverty and perpetuate low-pay, no-pay work cycles for the some of the most disadvantaged – as I expect it might – it will be a very difficult sin to forgive.

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