.
I am not part of the chorus of bleeding hearts protesting against government plans to stamp out benefit fraud by using the expertise of private agencies.
I pay my taxes and have no trouble whatsoever with private agencies having access to government databases of incapacity and housing benefit claimants thought to be fraudulent. I have no trouble with the prime minister’s call to members of the public to report suspected benefit cheats. And I definitely have no trouble at all with incapacity benefit claimants being required to undergo ‘fit to work’ medical checks, especially as it turns out that three out of four of them have been turned down since tougher rules were established in 2008.
An astonishing one in three of benefit claimants is suspected of making fraudulent claims at some point, and benefit fraud generally is currently estimated at costing the country in excess of five billion pounds. At the last count, there were around sixty-one million of us living in the United Kingdom. If we discount the six million people of working age who are claiming benefits, that’s £91 a year for every one of us who pay taxes. I’d rather save that rather than give it to fraudulent layabouts.
The prime minister also promises to crack down on the administrative errors that cost a further £1.5 billion. Good - that’s another £27 a year saved for each and every one of us!
One thing the government could do in my view is to put a cap on the benefits paid to families or those living together. That would put an immediate brake on such instances as the jobless Somerset couple with nine children who receive £3,500 each month in benefits. That’s a lot more than some families earn by working!
It is clear that the whole benefits system needs clearing up and simplifying. And, hopefully, this is the government that might be brave enough to do it.
.
I am not part of the chorus of bleeding hearts protesting against government plans to stamp out benefit fraud by using the expertise of private agencies.
I pay my taxes and have no trouble whatsoever with private agencies having access to government databases of incapacity and housing benefit claimants thought to be fraudulent. I have no trouble with the prime minister’s call to members of the public to report suspected benefit cheats. And I definitely have no trouble at all with incapacity benefit claimants being required to undergo ‘fit to work’ medical checks, especially as it turns out that three out of four of them have been turned down since tougher rules were established in 2008.
An astonishing one in three of benefit claimants is suspected of making fraudulent claims at some point, and benefit fraud generally is currently estimated at costing the country in excess of five billion pounds. At the last count, there were around sixty-one million of us living in the United Kingdom. If we discount the six million people of working age who are claiming benefits, that’s £91 a year for every one of us who pay taxes. I’d rather save that rather than give it to fraudulent layabouts.
The prime minister also promises to crack down on the administrative errors that cost a further £1.5 billion. Good - that’s another £27 a year saved for each and every one of us!
One thing the government could do in my view is to put a cap on the benefits paid to families or those living together. That would put an immediate brake on such instances as the jobless Somerset couple with nine children who receive £3,500 each month in benefits. That’s a lot more than some families earn by working!
It is clear that the whole benefits system needs clearing up and simplifying. And, hopefully, this is the government that might be brave enough to do it.
.
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