Many of the people now living in this land expect and demand to be provided for. We are a people that talks of rights and entitlements, many without any sense of responsibility or contribution. So ingrained is it that reform is proving impossibly difficult. Not only those receiving benefits are outraged, but those administering them as well.
Recently, I witnessed a particularly egregious example. A man came in to buy a car. Currently, he has a Motability car and is receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA). However, he now considers himself well enough not to need it any longer and has succeeded in getting a job. He was advised that he had to let the authorities know. So he phoned to tell them his good news. The person he spoke to was most concerned. She asked him if he was sure that he wanted to do this. She explained that once off the register, it would be difficult to get back on. The man explained that he did not want to be on benefits and was starting work again shortly. The woman then told him that he had to request this change in writing. So he wrote a letter confirming his conversation. He received a reply. It stated that he would have to complete the full application form explaining why he no longer felt that he was eligible. The form is very long and detailed and asks questions such as whether you can dress yourself and how far you can walk unaided.
He phoned again. The helpful person the other end explained that they could not stop the payments until his form had been assessed and that it would take 11 weeks for this process. He asked what would happen if it was decided that he was still eligible. He was told that he would continue to receive the payments. So it appears that it is more difficult to get off the benefit than it is to get on to it.
I understand that the authorities want to prevent the considerable work-load involved in people moving onto DLA and off it again, if there is a danger that they may require it in future. But I also suspect that there is a deeply ingrained culture of making sure that applicants get all they may be entitled to. This attitude may be helpful when dealing with the feckless. In segments of society where living off benefits has become a life choice, it prevents more critical assessment of need and a more cynical interpretation of facts. Worst of all, it does nothing to recognise that the nation is spending more than it can afford supporting those whose need is questionable.
Motabilty is probably the most abused of all our very generous benefits. Cars are used as taxis clocking up over 20,000 miles a year. They are obtained by old people possibly presured by younger family into getting a car that is then driven by grand-children. Demands such as "But I want an SRi" are often heard spoken by the young able bodied when mother or grand-mother is discussing which model to get. Friends often are waiting when a car is delivered, and are shameless in taking the keys and driving off. This arrangement is usually based on paying the person entitled the £50.00 a week that is granted in benefit and then deducted for the car. Incomprehensibly, where two people in a family are granted eligibility, they are entitled to two cars. There have been instances where one of those is subsequently stolen, with both sets of keys.
DLA is a benefit ripe for abuse. Most of us, if we could be bothered, could feign sufficient immobilty to be judged eligible. In a system where the paymasters are as keen to pay out as recipints are to receive, the scope is limitless. So addicted are we to paying people to do nothing, that reforming Motablility is beyond the political capacity of any government. Motability is the biggest fleet in the world, after the American Army! Even IDS is not aiming that high.
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