Workshy Britain: Benefits out of control
THE SHOCKING truth of workshy Britain was laid bare today as figures revealed the number of households receiving benefits worth more than £15,000 a year has doubled under Labour.
Welfare Reform Minister Jim Knight said 1.2 million households were given state handouts in excess of £15,000-a-year in 2007-08, compared with 600,000 a decade before.
And households receiving more than £20,000-a-year trebled from 100,000 in 1997-98 to 300,000 ten years later.
The figures do not include income from tax credits, Mr Knight told Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May in a written Commons answer.
Data was taken from the nationally representative Family Resources Survey, which includes benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, Service Personnel and Veterans Agency and local authorities.
Mr Knight said: “The amount of benefits a family receives is entirely dependent on its individual circumstances."
Later figures showed spending on council tax benefit in Britain - available to people on low incomes to help towards council tax bills - has risen by more than £1 billion since Labour came to power.
Data adjusted to current prices showed a significant increase from £3.14 billion in 1997-98 to £4.16 billion in 2007-08.
Responding to a written Commons question from Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps, Junior Work and Pensions Minister Helen Goodman said the figures included all council tax benefit, whether funded by central government or local authorities.
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The Government's welfare benefits system has been branded "over complex" by the Lib Dems and was attacked by the Opposition last week after new figures showed fiddling and blunders cost taxpayers a massive £3billion last year.
Department for Work and Pensions figures for the financial year 2008/09 showed that £640million was overpaid in jobseeker's allowance and income support through fraud and error.
A further £840million of housing benefit was similarly lost, along with £390million in pension credit and £220million in incapacity benefit.
And around £1.2billion in benefits were underpaid, leaving people with legitimate claims for support without cash they were eligible for.
The Tories deemed the figures "truly shocking".
IS IT TIME THE BENEFITS SYSTEM WAS REHAULED? ARE YOU APPALLED BY THESE FIGURES? ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW TO JOIN THE DEBATE...
