Welfare rules blamed for increasing errors
Tuesday, 9 February 2010 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Britain's welfare system needs a fundamental shake-up to rid itself of excessive errors, MPs said today.
The Commons' work and pensions committee has called for the establishment of a Welfare Commission to examine the existing system and "model possible alternative structures".
Its report found the number of overpayment errors had doubled to £800 million in the last ten years.
But rather than attacking civil servants within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) MPs turned their fire on the ministers behind the welfare system.
"We do not underestimate the difficulty of the task facing decision-makers across DWP's businesses," it concluded.
"The complex rules that govern the social security system increase the scope for both customer and official error and the challenge of decision-making accuracy."
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