Benefits and lies

It is estimated that around £1.5bn in means tested benefits are lost to fraud and error. But what the Tory-frothing-at-the mouth press will conveniently ignore is that £1bn is underpaid.

Statistics released by the DWP estimate that 5.1%, or £590m, of income support and JSA expenditure; around 5.1%, or £750m, of housing benefit expenditure; and around 5.3%, or £370m, of pension credit expenditure is estimated to have been overpaid.

It is also stated £1.0bn, of total benefit expenditure was underpaid. But how much is not claimed? Pension credit, for example, is notoriously under claimed.

And in March this year, the Local Government Association estimated that claimants are missing out on council tax benefit worth £1.8bn ‘cos the rules are complex and poorly advertised. And now with NL’s latest big nasty idea called voice risk analysis technology that surely will put even more people off claiming as they will be perceived as potential fraudsters (along with those awful oppressive benefit fraud adverts on telly). Well, NL wants to reduce the number of claimants and what a spiffing good idea of scaring them off!!

But this is all a drop in the financial when you consider the cost of tax avoidance. The TUC estimate that £25billion is lost annually from tax avoidance, which is made up of £13bn tax avoidance by individuals p.a. and £12bn p.a. from 700 largest corporations.

And of course not forgetting that the rich are getting richer under NL. Yet the spotlight falls on the poor in this society, the claimant who is trying to make ends meet by taking on some work whilst not disclosing it to the state and the rich and powerful who have the luxury of not having to worry about money but get away with tax avoidance cos they can.