Billions lost due to complex benefit system

For the eighteenth year in succession the National Audit Office has refused to sign off the Department for Work and Pensions' accounts due to unacceptably high levels of fraud and error. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions Danny Alexander MP said:

"Yet again as a result of Gordon Brown's absurdly complex benefits system billions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been thrown away through fraud and error. The Prime Minister's obsession with complex means-tested benefits has created a system which dishonest citizens can abuse and many honest people simply don't understand. With £850 million lost due to official error alone, it is clear that the benefits system is so complex even those who work in it don't understand it. The closure of benefit offices along with staff cuts is only going to make fraud and error levels worse. If we are to have a hope of reducing the rampant waste within the DWP we must radically overhaul and simplify the system to ensure people receive payments based on their entitlement not on how well they understand the system."