Threat to backdated benefits

Benefits may cease to be backdated to the date of claim, if claimants fail to provide all the necessary information when they first apply. Proposals disclosed yesterday outline dramatic changes to the social security decision- making and appeals system.

Sixty per cent of income support claims are filled in wrongly, and "individuals will need to take proper responsibility for providing relevant evidence to the department," said Peter Lilley, the Secretary of State for Social Security. The Child Poverty Action Group said it would be anxious to ensure that individual rights were not lost in the review. Nicholas Timmins