Government states: No housing benefit for jobless migrants! Jobless migrants from within the European Union will be denied access to #housing benefit from April this year, under new plans announced by senior government ministers. Home Secretary Theresa May and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Mail the move would prevent exploitation of the UKs generous welfare system by citizens of other EU states. Under the new rules, EU arrivals claiming jobseekers allowance will not be able to receive housing benefit to pay their #rent as well. Those who get jobs but then lose them will only be entitled to housing benefit for six months. A three-month ban on claims for out-of-work benefits is already in force after restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians working in the UK were eased at the beginning of the year. Writing in the Mail, the Cabinet ministers said: No longer can people come here from abroad and expect to get something for nothing. They said immigration had made a tremendously rich contribution to our country, both culturally and in terms of the talent it brings - but it must be controlled. For those migrants who do come here, were ensuring they are unable to take unfair advantage of our system by accessing benefits as soon as they arrive, they said. But they said they would go further than the three-month ban on access to out-of-work benefits. They said: From the beginning of April we will be removing entitlement to #housingbenefit altogether for this group. In addition, EU migrants can only claim jobseekers allowance for six months unless they have genuine prospects of finding work. Adding: These new immigration and benefit checks will clamp down on those trying to exploit the system. We can ensure that Britains growing economy and dynamic jobs market deliver for those who work hard and play by the rules. They also accused Labour of a shameful betrayal of British workers, and highlighted figures that suggested the number of Britons in jobs fell by 413,000 between 2005 and 2010, while the number of working foreigners increased by 736,000. But they said measures taken by the government had reversed the damaging trend and of the rise in employment over the past year, over 90% went to UK nationals. David Cameron outlined plans to toughen welfare rules for EU migrants in November last year, saying he was sending a clear message to people that the UK was not a soft touch for claiming benefits. Among the other measures announced were plans to deport those caught begging or sleeping rough, with no return within a year and quadrupling fines for employers not paying the minimum wage.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 09:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015