Government and Credit Reference Agency work together to stop £800m benefit fraud & error

BENEFIT cheats are being warned that Government will work with a credit reference agency (CRA) to track down fraudsters across the country.  HMRC and DWP are delivering on the Prime Minister’s commitment to draw on the expertise of credit reference agencies (CRAs) to tackle fraud and error. The Departments have signed a twelve month contract with Experian to help drive down unacceptably high levels of tax credit and benefit fraud and error.  HMRC and DWP will work with Experian to identify undisclosed partners and income; all of which affect how much money claimants are entitled to receive.  A recent pilot of this work has already protected more than £16m of anticipated losses in tax credits.  The first cases identified by Experian as part of this work are already with fraud investigators. Using the Experian data, the departments expect to save around £800m over life of the contract.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said:- "I’m delighted that following a very successful pilot we are able to take forward a partnership which will work in the interests of all honest taxpayers and benefit recipients. The Government will not tolerate people who dishonestly divert money away from those who are genuinely entitled to it. Working with Experian will allow HMRC to escalate the fight against tax credit fraudsters, helping to ensure that they are caught and punished."

Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, said:- "Benefit fraud is a crime and we are committed to stamping it out.  We will catch and punish those who abuse the system and prevent fraud from entering in the first place. Alongside this work at the frontline, we are bringing in the Universal Credit which will simplify and automate the benefits system. This will make it much easier to catch people who make false claims."

"Privet maternity contract is the thin end of the wedge!"

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is warning that the maternity deal between private company, One to One and NHS Wirral is the "thin end of the wedge." "The Government is moving steadily towards the privatisation of NHS services" said Paul Foley, UNISON North West Lead Organiser in Health, adding that the Government is wedded to promoting more private deals across the NHS. He went on to say:- "Maternity services are for too important to be entrusted to unaccountable private companies. Of course pregnant women want choice, but they want a genuine choice over whether to have their baby in hospital or at home, or whether to do so by conventional means or to use alternative methods such as water births. They don’t want an artificial choice between different types of providers, being brought about not in the best interests of mothers and mothers to be, but in the interests of a free market ideology that wants to undermine the NHS. This is exactly the sort of initiative we can expect more of if the government succeed in getting their massively dangerous Health and Social Care Bill passed, with its commitment to a wholesale competitive free-for-all. Cameron and Lansley gave a pre-election commitment that the NHS would not be privatised. Yet here we are seeing it all again and this time it’s very much a case of women and children first."

Jewellery Stolen At Knifepoint

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Police are on the hunt for expensive jewellery stolen in an armed robbery in Tuxford following the arrest of 2 people. 3 men are reported to have barged into a property in Lincoln Road at about 8.15pm on Monday, 28 November 2011 and threatened the female resident with a Stanley knife and hammer. They demanded she direct them to the safe, where they located the key and made off with a quantity of expensive jewellery. The intruders then fled in a silver family saloon car with a tow bar attachment, leaving their victim shaken but uninjured. The stolen items include a lady’s yellow gold Rolex watch, with diamonds at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions; a man’s yellow gold ring, featuring three old brilliant cut diamonds and a heavy yellow gold bark textured solid mount; and a lady’s Art Deco diamond bracelet, featuring six symmetrical panels surrounding a larger panel, and all containing brilliant cut diamonds. A gold ring, also believed to have been stolen in the burglary, was recovered following the arrest of a 20-year-old woman and 23 year old man in Sheffield on Tuesday, 29 November 2011 on suspicion of armed robbery. They have since been bailed pending further enquiries. DC Mick Booth said:- "We would like to ask jewellers and those in the market for jewellery, perhaps for a Christmas present, to be on the look out for these particular pieces. As well as being of high monetary value, the jewellery is a family heirloom and of great sentimental value to the owners, who would like it back. If you have seen jewellery matching the descriptions provided please get in touch." Anyone with any information is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police on:- 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on:- 0800 555 111.