Poverty fear over Tory welfare plan

from the Press Association

Anti-poverty campaigners have voiced concerns over Conservative plans for welfare reform, amid reports that David Cameron is planning to strip claimants of benefits if they reject jobs.

Mr Cameron is due to unveil his party's plans to shake up welfare in a Green Paper to be published next week.

Reports suggest that he will adopt policies based on reforms introduced in the USA under Bill Clinton, which saw benefit payouts tumble after claimants were told they had to work or lose benefits.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Cameron will announce plans for a "screening" regime to identify fraudulent claimants of invalidity benefit, cut benefits to people who refuse to make themselves available for work and force lone parents to seek employment once their youngest child reaches the age of four.

The paper said that, under Tory plans, private and voluntary sector organisations would be given seven-year contracts to find posts for benefit claimants, receiving "bounty" payments if they remain in jobs for a certain period.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that "strict tests" will be introduced for Britain's 2.6 million incapacity benefit recipients, as well as new claimants. The paper reports that single parents will be expected to work for up to 20 hours a week after their child reaches four and full-time once their children are in secondary school.

A Conservative spokesman declined to confirm or deny the press reports.

But the chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, Kate Green, said: "The Conservatives should not threaten family security by attacking families' welfare rights when storm clouds are gathering over the economy.

"Any family could find themselves suddenly needing their welfare rights through job loss, bereavement, illness or disability. Mr Cameron should not refocus the welfare system on a tiny minority who may cause problems, but must guarantee high quality support and poverty protection to families striving to put their problems behind them."