26 January 2007
The government is considering the introduction of a single benefit payment for people of working age, a move that would initiate the most radical restructuring of welfare income for decades.
Jim Murphy, minister for benefit reform, told Public Finance that the Department for Work and Pensions was 'committed in principle' to the idea of a single payment that would merge income-replacement benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and the new Employment Support Allowance.
But Murphy stressed that the DWP's work on the benefit, first floated in last year's welfare reform green paper, was embryonic and that his team was aware of potential pitfalls. But he attacked the 'can't do' attitude of critics who think the policy is impossible.
Murphy and Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton have wrestled with ways to reduce the complexity of the current benefits system, which has been blamed for poor take-up by potential recipients, rates of poverty and some overpayments. Up to £7bn of benefits go unclaimed every year.
The Commons' influential Public Accounts Committee this week published a report criticising, once again, the confusing and complex information underpinning the system. PAC chair Edward Leigh said those complexities led to vulnerable citizens being 'misled' about their entitlements, as well as 'vast sums of money squandered'.
Speaking at a seminar in London on January 23, Murphy outlined his support for a simplified benefit package for people who are able to work. But he insisted that any reform must be based on a 'work search first, benefit second' mentality.
The DWP wants to ensure that people who can work undertake 'work-related activity', such as interviews with personal advisers, before receiving benefits.
Roy Sainsbury from the University of York's social policy unit supported the planned benefit. He claimed it could tackle complexities and the stigma attached to some benefit claims, as well as reduce administration costs.
'Incentives' not to work, such as mental health patients' reluctance to experiment with work because they fear a quick return to unemployment on medical grounds, could also be tackled, he suggested.
'The time has come for a debate on it. It has got the potential to deal with these problems,' Sainsbury said.
Kate Green, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said she was 'open-minded'. But she warned that the current benefits system partially reflected complex social arrangements in the UK, which support additional payments to the low paid, families and people with disabilities. She called for the retention of sizable additional payments for those in most need.
'We'd be very anxious if this was used as an opportunity to level down benefits to that of the minimum requirement,' Green said.
PFjan2007
