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Welfare Reforms Bill Reaches Crucial Stage in Westminster
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January 12, 2012 TheFreshOutlook  |
The Welfare Reforms bill has been debated in Westminster while opposition to proposals to cut public spending continues to grow.
The largest bill to reform social welfare since 1945 was debated in Westminster yesterday. The controversial new bill will reduce public spending on a wide range of welfare benefits such as living allowances and the disability allowance.
According to a statement by Iain Duncan Smith on the Conservatives official website, “working age benefits and tax credits were costing us, the taxpayer, almost 90 billion pounds a year” in 2010.
He states that the new bill is about transforming lives: “It’s not just about making sure everyone has enough money to live on. That’s the starting point. But not the destination.
“The destination is making sure everyone has a life they can be proud of, supporting themselves, and their families, if possible, and if it’s not possible, then receiving the support they need, with dignity and kindness and respect.”
Many charities have campaigned against the bill. The plan is for the public money to be handed out to local councils who can then arrange how to spend it. Local councils have already had their budgets reduced, and the charities worry that the councils will use the money to replace the amount that they have lost due to cuts.
By Louisa Guise
[Image courtesy of Trodel]
