Delivering Benefits

Abstract

The administration of benefits in Britain is a mammoth undertaking involving a third of all government spending. A number of organisations are involved in this administration, including the DSS, the Benefits Agency, local authorities, the Employment Service and the Post Office. This chapter reviews how these organisations attempt to pay ‘the right amount to the right people’. Various issues relating to the delivery of benefits are discussed. For example, some people who are entitled to benefit do not receive it, and the chapter considers the issue of non-take-up of social security. Equally, some people do receive benefit even though they are not entitled to it, and the chapter also looks at the issue of fraud.