Benefit cuts 'cause more poverty'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7415816.stm

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A greater number of people in Northern Ireland could face poverty over government plans to cut benefits, the Citizens Advice Bureau has said.

It criticised proposals to reduce the back-dating of housing benefit and pension credit from one year to three months.

The CAB said being able to backdate claims for 12 months helped prevent evictions and homelessness.

Derek Alcorn, CAB, said: "We think that these cuts are a false economy".

He added: "The housing benefit backdating provisions are a key tool in delivering the government's agenda to prevent homelessness and as such they are highly cost effective.

"Any saving to the housing benefit budget is likely to be far outweighed by the much greater costs of homelessness.

"The government accepted that these cuts were wrong after first proposing them back in 2000. They withdrew them then and it is not too late to withdraw them again.

"We would urge them to recognise that backdating is an absolutely vital way of preventing homelessness."

Backdated pension

It said similar proposals were dropped in 2000 following widespread protests and a highly critical report from Parliament's own Social Security Advisory Committee.

The CAB cited a number of cases to make its point.

It said a Tyrone woman was able to obtain £3,400 in backdated pension credit that she was entitled to and had not been claiming.

Another couple living in a rural area in Northern Ireland missed out on £10,000 pension credit and housing benefit but were able to get those benefits backdated due to the existing rules.