In message

, at 09:11:29 on Sun, 23 Jun 2013, Recliner
remarked:
Freedom cards are cheap to administer, but would be a nightmare in your
scheme: they'd have to be renewed annually, with a check that someone
hadn't slipped into or out of the wrong category.

The Taxman, the tax credits man, and enormous numbers of people
administering various benefits manage to do it.

We need fewer, not more, of the "enormous numbers of people administering
various benefits".

Arguably we need more transferability of benefit entitlements, which is
why I suggested "taxable earned income below X" as a possible test for
bus passes. Because the taxman is already administering that, and always
will.

But I agree about the plethora of administrators, and have never
understood why the tax, and tax credits, people need to collect their
own separate information and make their own separate decisions. Unless
it wasn't a ploy to bribe those receiving the benefits, but a bribe to
those employed administering them (to vote Labour).
--
Roland Perry