Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A Pontyates woman has been prosecuted for claiming Housing Benefit as a lone parent after failing to declare her partner had returned to live with her. Grace Keel pleaded guilty at Carmarthen Magistrates Court last Friday to an offence under section112 of the Social Security & Administration Act. The court was told that Grace Webster, as she then was, claimed Housing Benefit from Heol y Meinciau, Pontyates from January 2012, also claiming Income Support and stating that she was a lone parent after separating from her partner, Darren Keel. In November 2013 an allegation was received that Mr Keel had returned to live at the claim address and that he and Miss Webster were living together as husband and wife. Carmarthenshire County Council undertook a joint investigation with the Department for Work & Pensions. Evidence was obtained in support of the suspicion and Miss Webster was interviewed under caution. The court heard that Grace Webster and Darren Keel were found to have bee...

A Llanelli woman has been given a 12-month community order for wrongly claiming more than £2,000 in housing benefit. Amy Roberts pleaded guilty to making a false statement under S.112 Social Security Administration Act 1992. Carmarthen Magistrates Court heard that 30-year-old Roberts claimed housing and council tax benefit at her then home in Llys Newydd, Llanelli, from November 2009 to June 2010. This was on the basis that she was living with her son and renting the property from a private landlord. On the claim she stated that nobody in the household was related to the landlord. An investigation commenced in February 2012 and it was established that her landlord was in fact the father of her young son who was born just before she had taken up the tenancy. As a result, she was not entitled to any of the housing benefit for the period November 2009 to June 2010 and an overpayment of £2,264.17 had occurred. Roberts, now of Catherine Street, Llanelli, was sentenced to a 12-month Communit...

Carmarthenshire's council leader has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions expressing deep concerns on proposed changes to the welfare benefits system. Cllr Meryl Gravell has acted on behalf of the council following the Government’s plans, particularly those relating to the Housing Benefits scheme. In the letter to Iain Duncan Smith, Cllr Gravell said: “Naturally, to a Unitary Authority like Carmarthenshire which has an ageing population as well as pockets of high deprivation and unemployment, it is the changes relating to the Housing Benefits scheme that are of immediate concern. “Council is hardly reassured by the DWP’s own assessment which concluded that these changes are likely to result in an increase in households with rent arrears, evictions and homelessness. “There is no question that the current benefits scheme is extremely complex and costly, and many will agree that it requires a full and comprehensive review. However it is the range and depth of ...