MSE Poll: What should be means-tested? Free bus passes, the NHS, student loans?

MothballsWallet

There's something not in the poll that should be: IVF.

norfolkmum

The poll mentions free travel for students 16 and under, but it is now compulsory for 16-18 year old children to keep studying. I am paying over £500 a year for my son to attend 6th form at the same school where he was travelling free for the past few years. He is studying maths, physics and chemistry at A Level and works voluntarily a couple of evenings a week, leaving him no time to go and get a job if he wants decent grades. Surely if it's compulsory to go to school, travel should be free?

PasturesNew

I'd stop free bus passes and, instead, have a cheap/affordable system that didn't have an admin overhead. e.g. "show your OAP card" and you buy an "all day ticket" for a fixed price of £2 for the whole day/anywhere - or, say, £5 for a 7 day ticket.

Enough to show willing, no overhead. VERY cheap.

Nozama

Spidernick wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear why the (currently) 18% of people who think the state pension should be means tested feel that way. The state pension is based on the number of years paying into the system, so then to turn around and deprive people of this based on their prudence elsewhere would seem like a real slap in the face to my mind.

Actually the state pension is based on the number of years of NI credits rather than amounts paid into the system. A lifetime benefit claimant would automatically receive NI credits just for claiming benefits, without paying anything into the system. On the other hand, some of those who have paid a relatively high amount in taxes into the system, such as self employed people with variable earnings over the years (earning a very high income in some years but failing to meet the threshhold in others) or public sector workers, would find they have fewer qualifying years and might not receive a full pension. Ditto, for low earning workers who don't pay NI as they don't earn enough but haven't claimed benefits. Why should anyone receive a lower pension than a lifetime benefit claimant?

Our current welfare system is already means tested. If you've paid into the system, and find yourself unemployed or being made redundant with resulting savings above £16,000 - then you receive nothing.

Means-testing, in most cases, penalises those who have taken responsility for their own lives. Most are probably not living a life of luxury but have scrimped, saved and forgone luxuries, treats and the latest gadgets or status symbols.

The only type of means testing I agree with are child benefits. Bringing a child into the world should be a cautious and carefully planned decision, no-one should be motivated to bring a child into the world in order to improve their finances. If you're wondering why I said "means-tested" rather than "no benefits", I would argue that there should be a safety net for the childrens' sake. Children born to parents without means will already have fewer opportunities in life and reduced prospects relative to their peers who were born to wealthier families.

On the whole I'm in favour of moving towards a universal basic income (with additional allowances for special needs such as disability). It would eliminate some of the problems above and it would be much cheaper to administer. It would also liberate people who are currently in the poverty trap of the welfare system, whether it's genuine claimants who are forced to jump through hoops (wasting more of their time and causing undue stress) or those who play the system (and are currently not contributing to society in any way). As a nation we could become more productive and innovative, when everyone is free to use their particular talent where it's needed without having to worry about earning enough to meet your basic needs.

Also, I'm not sure why anyone should receive financial help in paying for a passport. If you can afford to travel, then you can surely afford to pay for your own passport.

Nozama

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd stop free bus passes and, instead, have a cheap/affordable system that didn't have an admin overhead. e.g. "show your OAP card" and you buy an "all day ticket" for a fixed price of £2 for the whole day/anywhere - or, say, £5 for a 7 day ticket.

Enough to show willing, no overhead. VERY cheap.

In your example, the admin overhead could be reduced by just allowing people to use their OAP card for free bus travel.

I would also argue that there is something to be said for subsidising public transport for everyone, both to increase service availability and to reduce congestion / traffic / pollution on the roads. However, public transport will only become more reliable and cheaper if more people use it, but it needs to be cheaper than travelling by car and so there is a catch-22 situation. Private companies focussing on profits while slashing services is also part of the problem.

brewerdave

You missed one important benefit that should either be abolished or means tested - Winter Fuel allowance -as a pensioner I think its nonsensical that its paid to all including the snowbirds who "winter" in places like Tenerife!!

EDIT - Re passports - I'm happy to pay for it as I can afford to have holidays abroad HOWEVER - it seems that more and more institutions are expecting people to produce them as supporters of ID checks.

LesU

There is also another alternative to expensive means testing. Have what is supplied declared as a taxable benefit in kind. That is how pensions work at the moment. Everyone gets a pension, but has to declare it as income. Why not the same for winter fuel allowance/bus pass/ TV licence etc. This could be introduced without any need for increased resources to carry it out.

julie777

Means-tested is a vague term. It could result in a blanket YES or NO.
In some cases it could mean the sum you pay would vary. It would be interesting to know what people would support in each case and how rich does a person have to be to get no freebies?

brewerdave

LesU wrote: »

There is also another alternative to expensive means testing. Have what is supplied declared as a taxable benefit in kind. That is how pensions work at the moment. Everyone gets a pension, but has to declare it as income. Why not the same for winter fuel allowance/bus pass/ TV licence etc. This could be introduced without any need for increased resources to carry it out.

...Interesting...but that would mean EVERY pensioner completing a tax return!:eek:

indesisiv

kathrynha wrote: »

Some of the things on that list shouldn't be free for anyone, and a lot should only be free for those who have contributed in tax and NI payments, therefore I couldn't complete the poll, as it insists on selected one of the two options for each item.

This ^^^^

I started the poll but couldn't complete it as there are several things on there that I don't think should be means tested or available to all.