I welcome the Government’s victory in passing the Welfare Reform Bill, which ensures that no family can get more in benefits than the average working family earns. Under the reforms, the benefit payments that a household on out of work benefits will be capped at £26,000 per year so that work always pays. Under Labour, households were able to receive up to £104,000 per year in Housing Benefit alone. Over the last few months I
I have just appeared on the James Whale Drivetime Show on LBC radio to discuss the government’s work programme. There was a caller on the show before me; he revealed he was a store manager for a clothing chainstore and that previously he was sceptical about the scheme. However, from experience he now see the benefit for both his company and those placed on the scheme. From his point of view it has been an
A great story appeared on the Great Yarmouth Mercury website over the weekend about Michael Beck from Ormesby. Despite the challenge of epilepsy and memory loss he is determined to find a new job so he isn’t reliant on benefits. Read the story here. The layabout wasters who sometimes take the benefit system for a ride and have no excuse not to work or assist the local community should take a leaf out of Michael’s
This week we have witnessed another example of the overpowering directives fed down from Brussels bureaucrats and are left facing the wrath of the European Commission if we do not water down legislation. The Department for Work and Pensions is working tirelessly on the Welfare Reform Bill to build a new system that is based on a fairer deal for claimants and the taxpayer. The Coalition Government recognises the need for an updated system that
The Government is proposing tougher community sentences that will see offenders made to do a full five-day week of hard work and job seeking. The work will include manual labour, improving public areas by clearing up litter, cleaning graffiti and maintaining parks and other green spaces. The new rules will see unemployed criminals forced to work a minimum of 28 hours over four days, with the fifth day spent looking for full-time employment. These proposals
Research has recently come to light revealing that money intended to support vulnerable disabled people is instead being spent on drug addicts. The Government is currently awarding parts of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to nearly 19,000 people with drugs and alcohol addictions. The mobility section of the DLA is intended to help those who struggle to walk, but as the system is currently paper based, huge numbers of people are claiming £50 pound a
Budget puts fuel into the tank of the economy
Charity chief sparks debate on benefits for all
The work programme launches this summer.
Brandon Lewis