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Hitting benefit fraud hard
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There is widespread recognition that some people are unable to share in Jersey’s generally high level of prosperity and that they merit support through difficult – and sometimes impossible – times.
Unfortunately, in every community where social benefits are paid there will inevitably be benefit cheats – individuals who cynically manipulate and lie to obtain payments that they neither qualify for nor deserve. As they cheat, these fraudsters might delude themselves that the only victim of their crimes is the state. In reality the victims are members of the taxpaying public, who ultimately fund benefits.
With this and the principle that funds lost to fraud will inevitably diminish the pool of cash available to pay benefits in deserving cases, there should be no question of holding back when it comes to reporting Social Security fraud. Indeed, anyone who is aware that fraud is being committed by an acquaintance, a neighbour or even a friend is acting negligently if they fail to inform the authorities.
In spite of this, false notions of honour or loyalty will still tend to deter some from this sort of whistle-blowing, although figures revealed by the Social Security department indicate that its ‘Benefit thieves – Let’s stop them’ campaign, launched in March, is paying important dividends. Through highlighting the issue and providing ready channels for information through a hotline and the departmental website, it has already elicited 500 tip-offs and recovered almost half a million pounds.
It is, of course, the case that the campaign has cost money, which must be offset against what has been retrieved before its full effectiveness can be gauged. Nevertheless, as the new Social Security Minister, Senator Francis Le Gresley, points out, many cases are still under investigation and the sums ultimately recovered are likely to exceed the present total by a substantial margin.
Meanwhile, the campaign, which in many respects resembles the CrimeStoppers channel for the reporting of crimes of all sorts with a guarantee of anonymity, must already be judged a success – not only in financial terms, but also as a means of involving the law-abiding public in an important initiative and as a deterrent to potential wrong-doers.
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