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21 Dec 15
Delays and errors in delivering benefits are “plunging families into hunger”, a report by the Work and Pensions Select Committee has found.
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18 Dec 15
Two parliamentary select committees have launched a rare joint-inquiry to scrutinise the government’s life chances strategy and the impact of early years intervention.
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17 Dec 15
Auditor general Amyas Morse has issued a qualified opinion on the 2014/15 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Client Funds Accounts, which cover statutory child maintenance schemes.
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4 Dec 15
Labour has said that cuts to benefit entitlements being introduced through Universal Credit mean controversial tax credit reductions have been “rebranded” by the government rather than reversed.
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3 Dec 15
The government has launched a review of the localisation of council tax support that will consider the impact of the reform on local government finance and whether further reforms should be made to...
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30 Nov 15
Social benefits are a major area of expenditure for most governments. A common standard for accounting for these has now been drafted
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26 Nov 15
Austerity will continue and both significant public sector cuts and some radical reforms lie ahead, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in its analysis of yesterday’s Autumn Statement and...
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25 Nov 15
Tax credit cuts have been scrapped and the police budget protected, George Osborne has announced in four-year spending plans that will slash Whitehall spending by an average of 19%, less than had...
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24 Nov 15
Facts and figures from the December 2015 edition of Public Finance magazine, including pay growth, Bank of England forecasts, international health provision, student satisfaction, and refugee numbers.
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18 Nov 15
After a year of walkouts and discord, Stormont may soon be back in business with altered rules and adjusted budgets
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18 Nov 15
Northern Ireland’s political parties have struck an agreement with the UK and Irish governments to restart devolved government in the province following 10 weeks of talks.
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16 Nov 15
A further 17 job centres will start taking new Universal Credit claims from today, the Department for Work and Pensions has announced.
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11 Nov 15
Unemployment fell by over 100,000 in the third quarter of the year with the total number of people out of work at its lowest level since the three months to July 2008, the Office for National...
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11 Nov 15
MPs have called on the government to pause planned tax credit cuts to allow for development of a more thorough reform to the system.
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9 Nov 15
Figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions today have found that around 67,000 households have had their benefits capped since the government introduced the £26,000 annual limit in...
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2 Nov 15
Work and pensions committee chair Frank Field has written to chancellor George Osborne to urge him to publish a five-year impact assessment of the government’s proposed tax credit changes,...
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28 Oct 15
Failures in tackling fraud and error in the benefits and tax credit systems remain prevalent, with combined underpayments and overpayments in excess of £47bn in 2013/14, the Public Accounts...
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26 Oct 15
The new single tier state pension system will leave most people worse off and remains fraught with complexities, according to new research.
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21 Oct 15
Back-to-work schemes should be overhauled to ensure they focus on the needs of people with social problems and those furthest from the job market, MPs have said.
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20 Oct 15
The Treasury has defended controversial proposals to further cut spending on tax credits, saying reforms introduced since 2010 are projected to save £15bn by 2016/17.
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12 Oct 15
Scottish Secretary David Mundell has promised that the new fiscal and welfare powers to be devolved under the 2015 Scotland Bill will be “a game-changer.”
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6 Oct 15
Conservative reforms to the welfare system are intended to make individuals take responsibility for their own lives, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has told the party’s...
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28 Sep 15
Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith has pledged to change the debate on social security to reflect that what he called a national asset that represents the “collective pooling of risk...
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22 Sep 15
More than 90% of people in the UK pay more in taxes than they receive in social security over their lifetime, according to research.
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21 Sep 15
The government’s flagship Universal Credit welfare reform will be available in three-quarters of all jobcentres by Christmas under the next phase of its national rollout, ministers have said.