Universal credit claimants could lose their rights to public transport discounts and legal aid under new measures being imposed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The penalties will apply to people sanctioned for more than six months, who also face their claims being closed.

Announced last week as part of reforms coming in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement on Wednesday, November 22, the measures will also include digital tools being used to track claimants' attendance at interviews and job fairs under the toughened sanctions regime, reports the Mirror.

The Treasury said "stricter sanctions" would be imposed for people "who should be looking for work but aren't." They will include "targeting disengaged claimants by closing the claims of individuals on an open-ended sanction for over six months and solely eligible for the universal credit standard allowance, ending their access to additional benefits such as free prescriptions and legal aid." To get the latest money stories straight to your inbox twice a week sign up to our newsletter here.

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The government is also reportedly considering a real-terms cut for millions of families struggling on benefits at the same time as tax cuts for some of the richest people in the country. A single person over the age of 25 in receipt of the universal credit standard allowance currently receives a monthly payment of £368.74. The department has said the tougher penalties will not apply to people receiving additional child, housing, or disability benefits.

It comes despite an internal government report published in April warning that benefit sanctions lead claimants to find work less quickly and earn less when they did. The £2.5billion work plan also aims to help up to 1.1million people, including those with long-term health conditions and disabilities, look for and stay in work, the Treasury said.

Save the Children UK has branded the new measures "unspeakably cruel". Head of UK child poverty, Becca Lyon, said: "It is right to provide additional support to help people back into work but this cannot be tied to the threat of totally losing any form of safety net. Families are currently experiencing a severe cost-of-living crisis and 4.2 million children in the UK are already in poverty. One million of those are destitute, going without essentials like heating and clean clothes."