The tip of the benefit fraud iceberg

We pick up some of the reported cases of benefit fraud. Very little benefit fraud gets prosecuted, and we can't list even all of that.

This report comes from the unlikely source Inside Housing:

Lambeth Council is to take legal action against the former chair of its tenant management organisation, who was convicted of benefit fraud last week.

Patricia Ann Hoad, 60, falsely claimed £40,000 in benefits while working as chair of United Residents Housing. But officers in the council’s fraud investigation team uncovered her bogus claims earlier this year and she was forced to step down.

Last week Ms Hoad received a 16-week suspended jail term from Inner London Crown Court and was ordered to pay back the money she had claimed. She had admitted 10 counts of benefit fraud at an earlier hearing.

The council is now planning to take legal action, in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions, to recover the money.

So she goes to court, gets away with a suspended sentence, and only now can the separate recovery proceedings start. From the point of view of a thief admitting her guilt, what's not to like?

This is a hopeless deterrent policy.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose around £3.5bn a year to benefit fraud.