Balancing Rights with Responsibilities: The Case of Social Security Fraud

This article aims to examine whether the provisions dealing with benefit fraud in the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 and the Welfare Reform Bill 2009 represent an appropriate response to the problem of fraud. This is considered in the context of the purpose and functions of social security, and the increasingly conditional nature of entitlement to social security benefits which highlights claimant responsibilities as the means by which rights may be accessed.