Lord Freud

In an interview with Channel 4 News, Lord David Freud, minster for welfare reform discussed the high costs of the welfare system:

 "The direct cost of our welfare system will shock you. There is fraud and error in excess every year of £5bn. We disregard nearly a billion and it actually costs £2.5bn to administer.

Lord David Freud, gave an interesting speech at the Queen’s Speech Forum event yesterday,ran by Neil Stewart Associates, where he revealed that he hoped announcements on benefits reform could be made within weeks.

Freud’s speech covered two main areas – transforming the welfare to work market and benefits reform, which he assured the audience, is a major priority in a coalition government, after reducing the fiscal deficit.

For those of you who haven’t seen it – Lord’s Freud speech (delivered to providers on Wednesday 2 June) is now on the DWP’s website.  Freud emphasises that a greater focus on outcomes will be a key feature of the single work programme, along with differential payments to reflect the costs of supporting those with significant barriers into work. 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/ministers-speeches/2010/02-06-10.shtml