Unemployed Britons to lose benefit if refuse job offers

Seoul (Reuters): Unemployed Britons who refuse job offers or fail to look for work will lose their benefit payments for up to three years under new government plans to be unveiled on Thursday.

A man is reflected in the window of a job centre

The proposals from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition toughen up existing guidelines and are part of efforts by a cost-cutting government to get as many people back in work and off benefits as they can.

“The message is clear. If you can work, then a life on benefits will no longer be an option,” Prime Minister David Cameron said.

“You can’t have a situation where if someone gets out of bed and goes and does a hard day’s work they end up worse off,” added Cameron, who is attending the G20 summit of world leaders in South Korea.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is planning a broader reform of welfare benefits to simplify the system and greatly reduce the number of different payments.

However, the curbs on benefit for the unemployed are expected to come in before that broader overhaul is completed.

Anyone on benefit who turns down a job, fails to apply for work when asked to do so or does not complete a new four-week community work scheme will initially lose their 65 pound a week benefit for three months.

A second offence will result in six months’ exclusion and a third misdemeanour will see that increase to three years.

The current guidelines allows employment advisers to recommend people lose benefit for up to 26 weeks but they are discretionary and rarely enforced.

There are around 2.5 million unemployed Britons, more than seven percent of the workforce.

The government wants to cut 18 billion pounds from the welfare bill to help tame a record budget deficit.