Housing benefit fraud: Tory MP Stephen Barclay urges rethink
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| Quote: Cash-strapped councils are losing millions of pounds to housing benefit fraud and the government is not doing enough to stop it, a Tory MP claims. Stephen Barclay says councils have no incentive to go after fraudsters and they are getting away "scot free". He is calling for a review of the incentives offered to councils by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to claw back money through the courts. The DWP says the system has been tightened up, with tougher penalties. Overpayment of housing benefit due to fraudulent claims has more than doubled in five years to stand at £350m a year in 2011/12, according to the DWP's own figures. | |
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I would suspect that this is another lets make up some rubbish statistic to demonise the poor from the Nasty Party. While there are cases of fraud it might be a lot less than he predicts.