Con-Dem ministers have botched their own attacks on Britain’s welfare state so badly it will cost Britain a staggering £1.4 billion by 2015
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has gleefully imposed vicious
policies such as the bedroom tax and Atos work capability assessments on Britain
since taking office in 2010.
But low take-up rates for the youth contract would see the Department for Work and Pensions miss its target by 92 per cent and cost £457 million in extra jobseeker’s allowance.
And the cost of cruel tests to judge whether disabled people are “fit for work” will soar to £287m because of the enormous number of successful appeals against bungling privateer Atos.
Mr Duncan Smith has also missed his own targets for universal credit and the work programme, costing £300m and £140m respectively.
Meanwhile the hated bedroom tax, which forces council and social tenants out of their homes, will cost £102m to put in place.
Labour warned that Mr Duncan Smith’s “cruelty” is only matched by his “incompetence,” leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said there “seems to be something very wrong in the mind” of the secretary.
The Tories have “shown they can do the easy things like cut working people’s tax credits or help for disabled people,” he said.
But they have failed to “put in place programmes that bring down unemployment and help make sure the right people get the right benefits.”
Mr Byrne said Mr Duncan Smith’s “major delivery failures” will have a massive human and financial cost by the next election.
He laid into the bedroom tax, saying that “even the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to have a clue how it works.
“Well I will tell him. It doesn’t – 96 per cent of those hit have nowhere to move to. That means arrears, sky-high rents from private accommodation and homelessness.
“And guess who picks up the tab? The local taxpayer.”
Morning Star
But low take-up rates for the youth contract would see the Department for Work and Pensions miss its target by 92 per cent and cost £457 million in extra jobseeker’s allowance.
And the cost of cruel tests to judge whether disabled people are “fit for work” will soar to £287m because of the enormous number of successful appeals against bungling privateer Atos.
Mr Duncan Smith has also missed his own targets for universal credit and the work programme, costing £300m and £140m respectively.
Meanwhile the hated bedroom tax, which forces council and social tenants out of their homes, will cost £102m to put in place.
Labour warned that Mr Duncan Smith’s “cruelty” is only matched by his “incompetence,” leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said there “seems to be something very wrong in the mind” of the secretary.
The Tories have “shown they can do the easy things like cut working people’s tax credits or help for disabled people,” he said.
But they have failed to “put in place programmes that bring down unemployment and help make sure the right people get the right benefits.”
Mr Byrne said Mr Duncan Smith’s “major delivery failures” will have a massive human and financial cost by the next election.
He laid into the bedroom tax, saying that “even the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to have a clue how it works.
“Well I will tell him. It doesn’t – 96 per cent of those hit have nowhere to move to. That means arrears, sky-high rents from private accommodation and homelessness.
“And guess who picks up the tab? The local taxpayer.”
Morning Star
