If, while claiming Carers Benefit
You overstep the cliff-edge earnings limit
The slightest error in your employment
Can lead to a large demand for repayment
When asked to comment on why
Government responds, in a cut’n’paste reply:
“Claimants have a responsibility
To consistently
Inform DWP of any changes
In their circumstances”
The implication is
That this is
A reasonable expectation
And so carers get no dispensation
For mistakenly understating their earning
If the error was small and long in the making
And DWP had the facts the whole time
But only belatedly uncovered the ‘crime’
The carer must repay the whole total accumulated
Those who can’t do so will likely be prosecuted
Yet when it was proposed that there be
Rules about the second jobs of MPs
The tories said no to limits or penalties
In justifying their failure to set any
Government was unequivocal
To do so would be: “impractical”
As one tory MP explained:
It would “result in vexatious complaints”;
Be “almost impossible” to enforce;
And amount to “policing personal life”
Impossible!
Unreasonable!
Impractical!
Won’t work at all!
… for politicians’ side-line careers
But for the part time jobs of carers …
A legal responsibility!
Vigilance required consistently!
And when DWP spots your error - belatedly!
Prepare to be pursued vexatiously!