While I applaud the Reap The Benefits campaign to encourage people to claim benefits, I am concerned about the shelving of plans to crack down on fraud.

York councillors decided not to fully implement a Government scheme to catch those who cheat, because the cost was prohibitive. Let's hope this stance is not going to encourage fraudulent claimants at the expense of genuine people.

Julie Mett,

Earlsborough Terrace,

Marygate,

York.

...York MP Hugh Bayley stated in your paper (Evening Press, April 13) that on single child benefit you would be £2.95 per week better off and for other children the rise would be 30p each.

What he has omitted to say is that if you are a single parent your single parent benefit of £5.65 per week has been stopped and changed to a Lone Parent Benefit of £2.70 a week. Surprisingly that is a reduction of £2.95 per week, so if you only have one child you are no better off. Mr Bayley says in the article that it is not being taken from your Income Support this time, but they are still taking it.

He also stated at the end of the article that it costs a lot to bring up children. Does he realise how difficult it is on a very low income, when they say you are getting more but you don't?

Everything else still keeps going up in cost. It comes back to an old statement: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

Lesley George,

Salisbury Terrace,

Leeman Road,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.