A country in so much debt and a cavalier attitude towards public finances will cripple our great nation if something is not done and quickly..
Say it with your Vote on May 6th 2010 - A Vote for BNP is a vote for common sence!!
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BLUNDERS by Whitehall officials have led to 10 welfare claimants scooping more than £1million worth of overpaid benefits.
Officials admit most of the taxpayers’ money is unlikely to be returned.
An estimated £800million worth of benefits is paid out mistakenly every year and critics were last night enraged by the latest example of mismanagement. Shadow Work and Pensions Minister Andrew Selous said: “It is unforgivable that while taxpayers are tightening their belts, the Government is racking up more debt through poor administration. Ministers urgently need to get a grip.”
And Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Webb added: “Doling out more than £1million in benefits overpayments to just 10 people sums up the Government’s cavalier attitude to money."
“It’s especially galling when thousands are forced to apply for crisis loans because the system fails to deliver on time. It needs to be much simpler so help is given to people who need it most.”
Whitehall figures obtained by the Conservatives yesterday showed that the Department of Work and Pensions is owed a total of £1,046,514.16 in over paid Income Support from its 10 biggest debtors. It has not been disclosed how such enormous errors were made, although the overpayments are thought to stretch back many years. Five claimants owe the department more than £100,000, the biggest debt standing at £136,567.94.
Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Either they were paid massively excessive lump sums or the errors went on for a very long time. Either mistake is unacceptable. Taxpayers have enough bills to pay without the Government dishing out a fortune by accident.”
Claimants whose overpayments come to light are supposed to pay the cash back, but most claim they have spent the money. In many cases, officials arrange for them to repay a fraction of the cash on a weekly or monthly basis. One benefits cheat was recently given 100 years to repay £70,000 at £14 a week.
Junior Work and Pensions minister Helen Goodman said a task force to tackle debtors owing more than £10,000 had recovered £1.2million since last October and the overpayment recoveries were up from £180million a year in 2005-06 to more than £280million.
She added: “Our strategy is based on preventing error entering the system, ensuring customers and staff comply with rules and identifying and correcting existing errors.”
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