IAIN Duncan Smith has been slammed for failing to respond to a Commons report that raised concerns about suicides among benefit claimants who had been sanctioned.

The document by the Work and Pensions committee was published in March, and sought a full review of the sanctions regime and the setting up of a body, modelled on the Independent Police Complaints Commission, to conduct reviews at the request of families when a person died while receiving Jobseekers’ Allowance or while being sanctioned.

Duncan Smith is obliged to respond and initially indicated he would do so before the summer recess. However, he did not and instead said his response would be published before the conference recess last month. The Tory conference ended on Wednesday and he has yet to respond.

Last night, the SNP MP Mhairi Black, who sits on the Work and Pensions Committee, said vulnerable people were being hit as the Government dragged its heels on taking action.

“It is crystal clear all benefits sanctions need to be halted immediately until an independent root-and-branch review of the DWP’s sanctions and conditionality can be carried out,” she said.

“The Tories have their heads in the sand when it comes to benefits sanctions and while they drag their heels by ordering ‘further work’ to be carried out, more and more people are finding themselves in desperation and despair due to the unfair sanctions regime.”

Earlier this year, official Government figures revealed half of all sanctions imposed on job seekers since the introduction of the new sanctions regime in 2012 were overturned on appeal.

A separate Scottish Government analysis found that mothers were particularly vulnerable to being targeted and that sanctions on lone parents increased by 43 per cent between 2010 and 2014.

“Support agencies and organisations have provided report after report that people who have had their benefits withdrawn have gone without food, switched off their energy supply leaving them unable to cook or heat their homes, and face increasing debts,” Black added.

Frank Field, the Labour MP and committee chairman, wrote to Duncan Smith last month saying he was disappointed at the long delays in the Government’s response, and also with delays by his department in responding to previous work by the committee.

“The report was published on 24 March and while there was an understandable pause during the election period, we had initially expected a response before the summer,” wrote Field.

“The previous committee regularly received responses well after the two month timetable. While I understand that there may be special circumstances ... this is unacceptable as a trend. I note other busy departments invariably meet the deadline.”

Dr David Webster, honorary senior research fellow in Urban Studies at Glasgow University, added: “The Work and Pensions Committee report is the first serious review of the sanctions regime that has grown up since the 1980s and it recommended wide-ranging reform. Let’s hope the government’s delay in reply means it is having a rethink. The welfare of hundreds of thousands of people depends on it.”

John Dickie, of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Children and families across Scotland are being plunged into income crisis, left without anything to pay the bills and forced to rely on foodbanks as a result of punitive sanctions, which very often should never have been applied in the first place. Those families can’t wait a day longer for the Work and Pensions Secretary to respond to MPs’ very reasonable call for an independent review of sanctions policy.”

A DWP spokesman said: “We are doing further work in this area and have informed the committee that we will report back in due course. The vast majority of those on benefits do the right thing by looking for work, and the number of sanctions are going down.”

Sanctions were extended under the Coalition government’s Welfare Reform Act 2012, meaning claimants lose a minimum of four weeks’ allowance if they breach certain rules, such as being late for an appointment or not completing a required number of job applications.

Earlier this year, The National revealed that, according to official statistics, more than 80,000 out-of-work Scots have had their benefits stopped for a minimum of four weeks since the new sanctions regime was introduced by the Coalition.

The most severe sanction sees Jobseeker’s Allowance withdrawn for 13 weeks when, for example, an individual leaves a job voluntarily. This rises to 26 weeks for a second “failure” and 156 weeks for a third.

According to the most recent figures, a total of 81,980 people in Scotland – including parents with young children – were hit by 143,671 sanctions, which saw them barred from receiving Job Seeker’s Allowance between October 2012 to September last year.

The UK Government says the regime provides an extra incentive for claimants to seek work. But critics argue the system punishes those who have caring responsibilities or may be especially vulnerable because of literacy or health problems, forcing many to turn to food banks.