Why we need deterrent sentences for benefit fraud

Often in this blog we stress the need for sentences that will deter. Why?

Detailed enforcement is impossible - because of the numbers involved. There were 5.8m working age benefit claimants at February 2009.

The number of working age claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and incapacity benefits totalled 2.60m. 736,000 people were claiming lone parent benefit.

In the year to February there were 422,000 new claims to working age incapacity benefits, and 549,000 new claims for Income Support.

The DWP's boast is that they have over 3,000 fraud investigators. How could they hope to police these millions of claims? They can't, of course.

With these huge numbers it's highly likely that most benefit fraud goes undetected. So deterrent sentences are essential.

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.

Benefit thieves should 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.