Driving bans for benefits cheats would be for ‘extreme’ cases – minister
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Banning benefit cheats from driving would be a “backstop” used in “extreme” cases to target those who repeatedly fail to pay back cash to the taxpayer, a minister has said. 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.
The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which would put the measures into law, is due to be introduced in Parliament on Wednesday. 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. The three measures in the Bill will help save the taxpayer £1.5 billion over the next five years, the DWP estimates.
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.
