Welfare Secretary accused of 'dragging her feet' over 'radical' benefits reforms amid record numbers of Britons on long-term sick
WATCH NOW: Nationwide crackdown on fraud in effort to stamp out 'VILE CRIME'
GB News
Liz Kendall has been accused of “dragging her feet” over her “radical” benefits overhaul.
Hidden behind the doors of Downing Street, the Cabinet minister’s critics are believed to be frustrated by the welfare secretary’s progress on cutting the cost of disability and sick bill by £3billion.
A plan to outline the reforms - otherwise known as a Green Paper - will only be published in March.
The suggested overhaul of policy will require a consultation, leaving the likely end date to be longer than a year before the policy has the desired effect.
Since the pandemic, around £35billion of taxpayers’ cash have been falsely handed out to benefit cheats
PA
A senior Whitehall source told The Sun: “No10 and No11 want her to go faster. They are pulling their hair out.”
Another insider added: “We must cut welfare - we should be going faster.”
In an attempt to minimise public rifts within the Labour Cabinet in the early days of its administration, the Government said: “We are determined to fix the welfare mess left by the Tories, with record numbers of people out of work on long-term sickness.
“We have started that work straight away… and we will bring further reforms in the spring that put work at the heart of welfare and increase living standards.”
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Kendall is currently searching for ways to save £1.5billion by the next election by implementing new laws to target benefit fraudsters.
The plans, as they stand, will let Labour confiscate stolen funds straight out of the scammers’ bank accounts.
Such powers will be used as a last resort, according to the Government, when people who are able to, yet refuse to, pay back the stolen money.
The minister said: “People who seek to cheat the system should know that our new powers will help us catch you out and make sure you are held accountable.”
Safeguarding and oversight measured will be put in place, while staff will undergo training on the use of newly introduced powers
PA
Her plans also seek to stop benefits chiefs having to pay extensive court battles with the fraudsters, which was the only previous way to get the money back.
Safeguarding and oversight measured will be put in place, while staff will undergo training on the use of newly introduced powers.
Number 10’s growing impatience has come as senior Labour politicians sift their budgets to find spare change to support Rachel Reeves’ own October budget.
Since the pandemic, around £35billion of taxpayers’ cash have been falsely handed out to benefit cheats - errors which currently cost £10billion each year.
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