Nationality of benefit claimants published
The Government has published a piece of research which tracks the country of origin of benefits claimants currently in the UK who were overseas nationals when entering the country.
The report shows that as of February 2011 there were 371,000 people claiming DWP working age benefits who were non-UK nationals when they first registered for a National Insurance Number, of these 258,000 were non-EEA nationals.
Many of the 258,000 non-EEA nationals at the time of National Insurance Number registration are now British Citizens and as such are fully entitled to means tested benefits as are EEA nationals and some non-EEA nationals.
The DWP is co-coordinating with UKBA to review the small number of cases where it appears that benefit is being claimed illegitimately. Where this is the case, benefit will be stopped and further enforcement activity considered.
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said:
“It is not acceptable that people from other countries can claim our benefits if they have not worked or paid tax in the UK. We will root out those claimants who can not prove their immigration status and in turn they will be stripped of their benefits.
“I was shocked to discover that the current system does not record the nationality of benefit claimants and we are urgently taking steps to make sure we know exactly how many non-UK nationals are claiming UK benefits.
Amanda Frewin
Research & Project Support
