benefits

DWP to hire ‘external agents’ in crackdown on benefit fraud that government’s own data shows doesn’t exist

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/05/dwp-to-hire-external-agents-in-crackdown-on-benefit-fraud-that-governments-own-data-shows-doesnt-exist/

‘If the government is concerned about fraud, it would be serious about the £15.2bn that multinational companies hide from the UK via tax havens.’

As the government continues to crack down on so-called benefit fraud and reform the welfare system with stricter measures, newly released statistics by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that there were almost no recorded cases of disability fraud in the financial year ending 2024.

Disability Living Allowance fraud was just 0.1 percent, rounded off to £0m. Personal independence payment (PIP) cheating was found to be 0 percent in the same period, the data showed.

PIP overpayments represented 0.4 percent, equating to around £90m lost in a year, marking a significant decrease from the previous year, when such overpayments stood 1.1 percent (£200m). The overpayments were said to be mainly due to errors made by the department when allocating award levels at the assessment stage.

In response to the DWP’s figures, Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK described PIP fraud as a ‘non-issue.’

“New data shows what we, as disabled people, have known for years – PIP fraud is a non-issue. PIP fraud is now the lowest on record – despite the government placing fraud front and centre of their latest public announcements,” said Erhardt.

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…https://leftfootforward.org/2024/05/dwp-to-hire-external-agents-in-crackdown-on-benefit-fraud-that-governments-own-data-shows-doesnt-exist/

Continue ReadingDWP to hire ‘external agents’ in crackdown on benefit fraud that government’s own data shows doesn’t exist

David Cameron slammed for ‘swanning around’ in £42m luxury jet as Tories prepare to slash sickness benefits

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/david-cameron-slammed-for-swanning-around-in-42m-luxury-jet-as-tories-prepare-to-slash-sickness-benefits/. Many articles from LeftFootForward today.

The foreign secretary travelled on the hired Embraer Lineage 1000 for a five-day visit to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia last week

The Tories have been slammed for their rank hypocrisy, after former Prime Minister David Cameron hired a £42 million private jet to travel around Asia, costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds, while the government prepare to slash benefits for people suffering from depression or anxiety.

The foreign secretary travelled on the hired Embraer Lineage 1000 for a five-day visit to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia last week, the Mirror reported.

The shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, posted on X: “I get that David Cameron may need to charter a plane when travelling to multiple countries in one week, but that does not justify spending hundreds of thousands of pounds at taxpayers’ expense to hire one of the most luxurious private jets on the market.”

The taxpayer is footing the bill for the private jet at the same time as the Tories cut benefit payments for those with disabilities and physical and mental health conditions.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/david-cameron-slammed-for-swanning-around-in-42m-luxury-jet-as-tories-prepare-to-slash-sickness-benefits/

Continue ReadingDavid Cameron slammed for ‘swanning around’ in £42m luxury jet as Tories prepare to slash sickness benefits

24 MPs sign motion calling to reconsider two-child benefits limit

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/24-mps-sign-motion-calling-to-reconsider-two-child-benefits-limit/. Many articles featured from LeftFootForward today.

The motion expresses ‘incredulity’ that the government hasn’t assessed correlations between the two-child limit and child poverty levels

A motion signed by 24 MPs has called on the two-child limit to be reconsidered while expressing disbelief that the government has not assessed the correlation between child poverty and the Tories benefit cap as new research came to light. 

Tabled by Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy, the Early Day Motion highlighted research from the End Child Poverty Coalition which revealed how some of the most vulnerable families are those hardest hit by the two-child limit. 

Introduced in April 2017 by the Tories supposedly as an incentive to get parents into work, the policy prevents households from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third or subsequent child.

Concerns were raised by the government’s own Work and Pensions Committee in 2019 which recommended that the policy be abandoned, warning that the limit would increase the number of children in poverty and disproportionately affect minority groups.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/24-mps-sign-motion-calling-to-reconsider-two-child-benefits-limit/. Many articles featured from LeftFootForward today.

Continue Reading24 MPs sign motion calling to reconsider two-child benefits limit

People with depression or anxiety could lose access to benefits in Tory welfare reforms

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/people-depression-or-anxiety-could-lose-access-benefits-tory-welfare-re

At eternity's gate by Vincent Van Gogh portreys depression. Copyright expired.
At eternity’s gate by Vincent Van Gogh portreys depression. Copyright expired.

PEOPLE suffering from depression or anxiety could lose access to sickness benefits as part of the government’s major welfare reforms, the Work and Pensions Secretary said today.

Mel Stride announced plans to overhaul disability benefits in a statement to the Commons, with proposals aimed at providing “more tailored support in line with their needs.”

In a green paper published alongside Mr Stride’s statement, ministers set out plans to reform personal independence payments (PIP), the main disability benefit, through changes to eligibility criteria and assessments.

The proposals follow Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of major changes to the welfare system earlier this month, saying that “people with less severe mental health conditions should be expected to engage with the world of work.”

Tom Marsland, policy manager at the national disability charity Sense, said recent government narrative around disability benefits has been “divisive and deeply damaging.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/people-depression-or-anxiety-could-lose-access-benefits-tory-welfare-re

Continue ReadingPeople with depression or anxiety could lose access to benefits in Tory welfare reforms

Work and pensions committee chair tells ministers to fix carer’s allowance issues

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/27/work-and-pensions-committee-chair-tells-ministers-to-fix-carers-allowance-issues

Stephen Timms says DWP letting unpaid carers incur ‘enormous accidental overpayments’

Ministers have been told to “immediately” fix the issues causing tens of thousands of unpaid carers to incur “enormous accidental overpayments” amid growing anger over the carer’s allowance scandal.

An older man waits at a pedestrian crossing pushing a person in a wheelchair

Stephen Timms, the chair of an influential parliamentary committee, said he was “very troubled” that scores of carers were being forced into financial distress as a result of the government’s mistakes.

He said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should be “helping them not harassing them” and added: “It does sound to me as though things are going quite badly wrong at the moment.”

Timms, the chair of the Commons work and pensions committee and the Labour MP for East Ham, told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme that the DWP seemed to “completely ignore” the notifications it received when an unpaid carer earned more than the £151-a-week limit.

Instead, he said, the department was allowing people to incur “enormous accidental overpayments”, often over several years. In dozens of cases these bills have totalled more than £20,000.

The Guardian revealed this week that 156,000 unpaid carers are now repaying severe penalties – pushing many into debt or financial distress – for often unwittingly overstepping the small earnings limit while caring for a loved one. Roughly one in five unpaid carers in part-time work breached the earnings limit last year.

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/27/work-and-pensions-committee-chair-tells-ministers-to-fix-carers-allowance-issues

Continue ReadingWork and pensions committee chair tells ministers to fix carer’s allowance issues