DOWNING Street chiefs are “pulling their hair out” over how long the Welfare Secretary is taking to find benefit cuts.
Liz Kendall promised in October “radical” reforms would slash her department’s disability and sickness bill by £3billion before the next election.
1
But sources say No10 and the Treasury are both frustrated by the Work and Pensions chief’s foot-dragging.
A blueprint setting out the reforms, or Green Paper, will not be published until March.
They will then need to be consulted on — meaning it will probably be more than a year before the big shake-up.
A senior Whitehall source said: “No10 and No11 want her to go faster. They are pulling their hair out.”
Another insider added: “We must cut welfare — we should be going faster.”
But playing down any rifts in the Cabinet, the Government said: “We are determined to fix the welfare mess left by the Tories, with record numbers of people out of work on long-term sickness.
“We have started that work straight away . . . and we will bring further reforms in the spring that put work at the heart of welfare and increase living standards.”
It comes as ministers go through their budgets line by line to trim the fat as Chancellor Rachel Reeves tries to beef up the public purse.
And Ms Kendall is looking to save £1.5billion over the next five years with new laws that target benefits cheats.
The measures will allow the Government to seize stolen funds directly from fraudsters’ bank accounts.
It will stop benefits bosses from having to spend cash on lengthy court battles — the only way that they could previously claw back the cash.
Ms Kendall said: “People who seek to cheat the system should know that our new powers will help us catch you out and make sure you are held accountable.”
Welfare fraud and errors currently cost the taxpayer £10billion every year.
And £35billion of public funds have been incorrectly doled out since the pandemic.
