Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled a controversial plan to extend the “work for benefits” scheme where the long-term unemployed would need to take up work placements in return for their benefits.
The worst benefit cheats could face up to ten years in jail under tough new guidelines announced by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The government’s much discussed benefits cap today rolls out across the UK, where no family will now receive more than £26,000 per years in benefits, with single people limited to £350 per week.
A major shake-up to the way people receive benefits begins today, with the first claim being made for the new universal credit payment which combines several benefits and tax credits into a single monthly payout.
If Job Centres cannot find more work for the unemployed and underemployed and George Osborne is proposing to freeze or reduce the minimum wage, then how can people earn more to get off benefits?