IT seems unlikely the Scottish Government intended to frame the new social security bill so as to make it easier to prosecute and jail people for unknowingly providing false information.
That seems wildly out of line with the sort of benefits system ministers have argued for, and would make the new Scottish Social Security regime potentially harsher than the Department for Work and Pensions approach south of the border.
There is a debate to be had about how big a problem fraud really is in the benefits system. While the amounts wrongly claimed can look high, they are relatively minor – benefit fraud totals less than two per cent of all annual fraud in the UK, less than one per cent of the benefits bill, and far less than is over or underpaid due to error. Still, the Scottish Government is right to ensure the Scottish system is protected. Those who deliberately attempt to defraud the taxpayer by claiming money they are not entitled to should be stopped.
But there is no possible justification for pursuing the poor through the courts when they have made genuine errors, through ignorance of the rules – such as the need to keep administrators informed of changes in family make-up, for example. The system is complex and there is real debate about some basic issues, such as when exactly a couple are deemed to be cohabiting.
There is no fairness or respect in a system which allows for the prosecution of those who have simply made a mistake, especially in situations where they did not gain anything through their actions. But the charity Justice Scotland says people in such situations will fall foul of the Scottish Government’s proposed rules, and could face prosecution and criminal sanctions.
While the penalties are less severe –five years is the proposed maximum punishment as opposed to seven under UK law – the removal of safeguards means more people could face them.
Social security minister Jeane Freeman may claim there is no intention to take such a punitive approach, and it is possible the social security bill has simply been sloppily drafted. But key principles should not be left ambiguous: The application of a badly written law can be subject to the whims of the Government of the day.
The bill has been found wanting in other ways. Scottish Labour has questioned why principles which were promised by the SNP are not included, such as the pledge to exclude private contractors from bidding to carry out medical assessments. Women’s charity Engender fears women will be more readily criminalised, the Poverty Alliance is concerned the bill gives judges and sheriffs little flexibility in sentencing.
Ministers have made great play of their desire to use new devolved powers over benefits to humanise the system. But the legislation as it stands risks undermining that. Ministers and MSPs must act to ensure they deliver what voters were promised: a distinctly Scottish social security system with dignity and respect at its heart.
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