Benefits and the deficit: what would you cut?

Kohoutek

To solve the deficit, would you cut the benefits budget in addition to the inevitable cuts in front line public services?

From the FT:

Basic state pension: £61.7b
Tax credits: £23b
Housing benefit: £17.2b
Universal child benefit: £11.4b
Disability Living Allowance: £10b
Income Support: £8.7b
Pension credit: £7.8b
Incapacity benefit: £6.6b
Attendance Allowance: £4.8b
Council Tax benefit: £4.2b
Jobseeker's Allowance: £2.9b
Winter Fuel Payment: £2.7b
Carer's Allowance: £1.4b
Christmas Bonus (£10 every Xmas for retired and benefit claimants): £830m
Funeral Benefits: £626m
Community Care Grants: £626m
Free TV Licences: £533m
Education Maintenance Allowance: £532m
Asylum Seeker's Benefit: £509m
Maternity Allowance (for those not on statutory pay): £327m
Heating benefits (grants for insulation etc): £295m

I find it ironic we spend 5.5x more on primary benefits for people that are disabled or 'incapable' of work (DLA & Incapacity Benefit) than on JSA. There must either be a huge number of disabled people out there or a lot of abuse of the system.

mitchaa

Kohoutek wrote: »

To solve the deficit, would you cut the benefits budget in addition to the inevitable cuts in front line public services?

From the FT:

Basic state pension: £61.7b
Tax credits: £23b
Housing benefit: £17.2b
Universal child benefit: £11.4b
Disability Living Allowance: £10b
Income Support: £8.7b
Pension credit: £7.8b
Incapacity benefit: £6.6b
Attendance Allowance: £4.8b
Council Tax benefit: £4.2b
Jobseeker's Allowance: £2.9b
Winter Fuel Payment: £2.7b
Carer's Allowance: £1.4b
Christmas Bonus (£10 every Xmas for retired and benefit claimants): £830m
Funeral Benefits: £626m
Community Care Grants: £626m
Free TV Licences: £533m
Education Maintenance Allowance: £532m
Asylum Seeker's Benefit: £509m
Maternity Allowance (for those not on statutory pay): £327m
Heating benefits (grants for insulation etc): £295m

I find it ironic we spend 5.5x more on primary benefits for people that are disabled or 'incapable' of work (DLA & Incapacity Benefit) than on JSA. There must either be a huge number of disabled people out there or a lot of abuse of the system.

Housing benefit can easily be cut back on by a few billion by scrapping the LHA scheme. Tax credits and CB can be cut back on if the numbers were limited to say 3 children per family.

Christmas bonus:rotfl:...Should be scrapped, those on benefits get enough already.

Free TV licenses? Who gets these??

Incapacity and Disability could easily be halved if they sought out the malingerers.

blueboy43

mitchaa wrote: »

Housing benefit can easily be cut back on by a few billion by scrapping the LHA scheme. Tax credits and CB can be cut back on if the numbers were limited to say 3 children per family.

Christmas bonus:rotfl:...Should be scrapped, those on benefits get enough already.

Free TV licenses? Who gets these??

Incapacity and Disability could easily be halved if they sought out the malingerers.

Anyone over 75.

CLAPTON

curious


christmas bonus costs 850m... now counting children there are about 60 million people in the UK so even if every man women and child got 10 how can it total 850m?

carlislelass

CB for every child

Kohoutek

CLAPTON wrote: »

curious


christmas bonus costs 850m... now counting children there are about 60 million people in the UK so even if every man women and child got 10 how can it total 850m?

The FT shows it cost 850m in 08-09 and now it's more like £150m. Maybe it was a one-off increase, probably no plans to raise it again.

vaporate

Pointless. Everyone will just say cut this n that which they do not claim, or will not be affected by it.

Kohoutek

If you divide the total amount by government department spent on benefits (£200 billion according wheredoesmymoneygo.org) by the UK population (62m), then it works out on average as £3225 per person a year - it's a lot of money sloshing amount considering how many people do not claim benefits or pensions. Simplification of the system would probably save a lot itself.

GSXRCarlos

i'd be tempted to cut the lot, if you've never paid into a system, how can you take from the system?

except for a mortgage, i don't spend money i don't have, when i do spend money i don't have, i expect to pay for the priviledge.

can i claim benefits?

Kohoutek

vaporate wrote: »

Pointless. Everyone will just say cut this n that which they do not claim, or will not be affected by it.

Yeah but it's also a choice between cutting frontline services and benefits. Wouldn't it be better to cut free TV licenses (£530m) than cut £449m and 15,000 jobs from the higher education budget?

I hope even pensioners that receive free TV licenses would accept this.

dopester

Kohoutek wrote: »

Winter Fuel Payment: £2.7b

That could be reduced by a significant amount.

Abolish it for any person 60+ who has an adult living with them (under the age of 60) who earns over say £14K a year. Or even if the other adult is on benefits.

Such a change would hit our household... but I think it's fair to do so.