The Department of Work and Pensions, responsible for benefits such as Universal Credit and PIP, is to see its budget slashed ahead of the spring statement, according to the BBC. The Chancellor has ordered departments to cut billions from their spending.
The proposed cuts will go before the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) today, Wednesday. The OBR said the Chancellir had £9.9billion to spend at the time of her Budgert in October – but that is believed to have disappeared thanks to tariffs, inflation and borrowing costs.
The Chancellor will formally announce any cuts in her spring statement on March 26. The BBC says the new DWP cuts will also be announced byWork and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall as the Government tries to slash the amount spent on health and disability benefits.
The Government has already announced a commitment to get people off benefits and into work. The announcement could see hundreds of thousands of people lose benefits in a drive to cut spending and get people into jobs.
One government insider told the BBC: “Clearly the world has changed a lot since the autumn Budget. People are watching that change happen before their eyes. The Office for Budget Responsibility will reflect that changing world in its forecasts later this month and a changing world will be a core feature of the chancellor’s response later this month.”
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden and Health Secretary Wes Streeting will also announce ‘significant efficiency’ cuts, says the BBC – cost savings in the NHS and civil service.
An insider told the BBC: “The chancellor is determined to push through the change we need to make Britain more secure and prosperous, with the whole government making that argument in the coming weeks.”
The DWP is also getting new powers to cut down on fraud to reduce spending. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is seeking to gain new powers to disqualify drivers and recover money directly from fraudsters’ bank accounts in a drive to curb welfare fraud.
Employment minister Alison McGovern said she was confident that being able to go to court and apply to disqualify drivers who refuse to pay back fraudulently obtained benefits will work.The DWP will also work with banks to see where claimants have more than the £16,000 limit in their accounts and seek to get its own search powers to get evidence rather than relying on the police.
Once the Bill is made law, benefit cheats could be disqualified from driving for up to two years if they refuse to repay money they owe. Courts could suspend fraudsters’ driving licences following application by the DWP if they owe welfare debts of more than £1,000 and have ignored repeated requests to pay it back.
The department will also have powers to get bank statements from people they believe have enough cash to pay back welfare debts, but are refusing to do so. The DWP, however, insists it will not have direct access to people’s bank accounts.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the Government was “turning off the tap to criminals who cheat the system and steal law-abiding taxpayers’ money”.