Government to require banks to do monthly checks on the accounts of people on benefits and report back

[IncompleteSenten]

I read about this here.

metro.co.uk/2023/11/06/benefits-claimants-to-have-bank-accounts-checked-monthly-in-crackdown-19779875/

Do you think they will do it or it'll be blocked?

It sounds awful. If I was on unemployment benefit I'd feel really humiliated. I understand fraud happens but bloody hell this is really not on.

Good. Maybe they'll find out I have no money because of their constant fuck ups and inability to understand young adults with disabilities still in full time education and give me some more money before I lose my house.

This particular initiative will save the text payer £500m over the next five years, not £1.5 bn. That is £50m a year, which is fuck all and will make no difference to any of us. I'd also like to see how they have worked out the savings.

DWP already has powers to monitor bank accounts if fraud is suspected. This is just the Tories desperately trying to scrape a few more votes. It is disgusting and will lead to innocent people getting their benefits suspended.

All that requires is that eBay supply details of where they send the cheque to. Nowhere near as intrusive as wanting to stick your nose into everyone bank accounts.

And if these voluntary organisations AND the Telegraph see/saw nothing wrong with using workfare why isnt the Telegraph saying who these voluntary organisations were.

People who go along with this invasion of privacy don't realise that it'll eventually affect them.

They can already do this with companies "making tax digital" and it allows insights into bank accounts. Reporting errors would be quicker ie emergency funding

It will be a simple report run on the amount of tax paid on savings. Anyone over minimum threshold is checked against benefits claimants and the people who match both lists are pulled in.

I’m ok with this, it will be done electronically, not manually and just check folks don’t have more income than they say coming in regularly or more savings than is being stated. It already happens where your bank account interest is checked by Hmrc or dividends on shares. The program is only going to flag anything suspicious.

anyone getting birthday or Christmas money isn’t going to be flagged and that can be explained. They are looking for fraud, so folks earning on the side, etc,

shen I was claiming I’d have been ok with it and I’m still ok with it.

How long before they start snooping into what people are spending their money on? It really is a slippery slope.

This is surely the point. If you’re going to go on and on about £1.2bn per year in benefits overpayments like it’s some massive scourge- we have a £4tn economy. Setting up obtrusive and oppressive systems to recover around 0.03% seems utterly fucking bonkers.

this has to be looked at in relation to the wider economy and how it fits in together. Corruption is a FAR bigger scourge - look at the councils that have recently declared bankruptcy- they’re talking about hundreds of millions being paid out in fake taxi claims. Multiply that across the board and you leave £1.2bn for dust. Add in corruption and kick back in government contracts at the national level (HS2 anyone?) and you’re talking about tens-hundreds of billions of pounds.

This is pathetic dog whistling.

Haha

Anyone fiddling benefits gets their extra money in cash so they'd have no hope catching anyone at it 🤦‍♀️

Just another stupid Tory idea

@JenniferBooth I can't answer either question, but the article was written by one Ross Clark. I posted it so anyone interested could read about the proposal for themselves.

Yes, because the DWP's systems always work perfectly and never make terrible mistakes which sometimes even end up killing people?

I can't imagine this will recoup more than it costs. And surely we want to encourage people to have savings and money in reserve rather than be in danger of being thrust into destitution? I don't give a toss if people receiving the pittance of benefits have something for a rainy day, in fact I'd much rather they did.

Lmao yes this is fairly basic...

These days very few politicians at gvt level have done a decent day's work, or got to know ordinary people. It used to be that a fair proportion would have come up from working in a factory and joining a union, or from being the daughter of a grocer at a time when women could be accepted on University STEM degrees, (Chemistry), or even from being involved in managing a large farm estate owned by their DF.

No-one seems to realise that things take time, either. Add one 5 minute task to a teacher's daily workload, and after 12 working days that's an hour it has added. Now let's add lots of other little things - after all, it will only take a minute, won't it

The Civil Service, being an excellent institution, do realise the logistical ramifications - it's part of their job. This is one reason why, AFAICT, they are currently tearing their hair out...

Where as I do agree that there are plenty of other and worse wrongs, I don’t think that means you can’t try to fix this one. And for one, I’d rather that billion or so went to schools, the nhs or policing.

Yeah because there’s no way for fraudsters to hide secret money by keeping it out of bank accounts 🤦‍♀️

Another Tory policy clutching at votes.

The other thing is this will appeal to the daily mail readers (who are numerous), will win them the next election then they'll properly cost it, show it can't be implemented and lots of shrugged shoulders later nothing happens.

They already sort of do this for universal credit. I have to claim next year and understand I have to provide 3 months bank statements, I have 6 accounts so that'll be a faff.

hmrc Routinely require sight of bank statements in tax enquiries.

If you’re going to go on and on about £1.2bn per year in benefits overpayments like it’s some massive scourge-

Which is pretty much cancelled out by benefits unclaimed

Never going to happen. Just like banning tents. It's just headline grabbing froth from a useless government. Time for them to step aside and let the grown ups take charge.

That’s not how it works though. It’s not some money is unclaimed so irs ok for others to go on the rob.

Except in Mr. Zahawis case.