Please can we have our money back? How Scotland's benefits cheats are allowed to keep the cash – Murdo Fraser
With only three people convicted of benefit fraud in Scotland since 2022, no wonder the total bill is set to hit nearly £10 billion
Scotland’s benefits bill is out of control, with projections it will reach almost £10 billion by 2032, and no one in Scottish politics has any idea how that can be paid for without swingeing tax increases or devastating cuts elsewhere.
Most of that money goes on the adult disability payment, the fastest growing component of which is for mental health claims. It simply cannot be in the country’s interests to have so many people on benefits when they could be working and making a valuable contribution to society, and that particularly includes those at the younger end of the age scale.
A young person who leaves school or further education and immediately goes on to benefits may end up with a lifetime on welfare, which is neither in their interests nor those of the wider economy or indeed the taxpayer.
SNP’s light-touch approach
We also know – from evidence collected by the Scottish government itself – that parents will turn down pay rises, promotions or overtime because it will negatively impact on the money they receive in benefits. And there are not enough checks on those making the claims, with a ‘tick box’ culture having been developed.
The light-touch approach to benefits developed by the SNP in government is proving to be a disaster, both for claimants and for the taxpayer. That needs to change, which is why I am introducing a proposal for a Member’s Bill at Holyrood to clamp down on benefit fraud.
As well as seeking to end the light-touch approach for claims, the purpose of this Bill would be to create a statutory aggravator for benefit fraud to highlight to the courts how seriously such offences should be taken. In order to mirror the situation that applies south of the Border, a new power would be granted to recover overpayments. This would be backed up by the ability to confiscate driving licences from those who refused to comply.
At present, when people receive benefits to which they are not entitled or are otherwise over-paid, Social Security Scotland itself has no powers to require the money to be repaid and can only request its return. It has admitted that debt recovery is “limited to voluntary repayment arrangements”. That is the approach which needs to change.
My Bill would give them the power of recovery. It would mean that sums claimed to which the beneficiary was not entitled could be taken directly from bank accounts, which is what currently happens elsewhere in the UK.
We need to have a social security system that supports those genuinely in need, but also deals quickly and severely with those who are trying to take advantage of the system. The evidence tells us that, since 2022, only three people have been convicted for benefit fraud in the whole of Scotland, and yet we know that the problem is much wider than this.
I have no doubt that the new legislation I am proposing will generate howls of anguish from those on the left in Scottish politics. But anyone concerned about the unaffordable rise in the benefits bill, as well as the negative social consequences that go along with that, will recognise that clamping down on fraud is an important element in fixing the system.
Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.