Star comment: Government needs to take care of our money while we make cuts
At a time when Government is trying to trim billions from the balance sheet through tax rises and cuts, it is frankly outrageous that £8.6 million was overpaid in benefits in a single year through a mixture of fraud and incompetence.
This must be an area where action is taken as a matter of urgency – not just to help the public purse but to restore some sense of fairness to people who work hard to pay their taxes.
Public Accounts Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier must sum up the sentiments of millions with her comment: “The Department for Work and Pensions is blaming everything from the pandemic to ills in wider society for unprecedented and wholly unacceptable levels of fraud in the benefits system. But the truth is losses to the taxpayer to fraud and mistakes have been at record levels and rising for years.”
It is not the only instance of gross financial negligence from the Government, allied to sharp practice from those willing to take a risk.
During the pandemic, vast sums were lost to people who claimed furlough, or to businesses who offered to assist in the provision of PPE and then took vast sums while providing sub-standard equipment. It seems the nation’s ability to do things well and behave diligently belongs to a bygone era.
The system shouldn’t be riddled with loopholes, nor should the Government write off such vast sums at a time when we’re all making sacrifices.
Good housekeeping and economic competence are important. While we are being asked to spend less at the supermarket, or more on bills, we expect a Government that takes assiduous care of the public purse.
It is time our country got a grip on the basics. Today the charity Parkinson’s UK warned that workforce shortages among specialist staff mean that some patients are waiting for years to access the correct care.
One sufferer from the West Midlands said she was forced to adjust her own medication after struggling to get hold of a consultant when she was left in agony. Luckily Wendy Barnett is a retired nurse so had some medical knowledge. Others are not so lucky.
Have we really got to the point where basic care is no longer available? It seems we have. Earlier this week a report said children with speech problems were not able to access NHS therapy sessions. And now we are told Parkinson’s patients are being left in pain because they have nowhere to turn. Both these scenarios would have been unheard of a few years ago, yet now they appear to be routine.
