GUEST ARTICLE BY JAMES HAIGH
You can learn a lot from a physical interaction…
“Pressure. Pushing down on me, pressing down on you…”
You’ve got to love Queen and David Bowie! Although I doubt Chancellor Rachel Reeves has much time for eighties anthems right now – she’s got quite enough pressure of her own…
Economic growth has flatlined, government borrowing is up, and the threat of Trump’s tariffs looms large. Throw in the ever-present uncertainty over Ukraine’s future and European security, and what we have is less a delicate balancing act and more a full-blown pressure cooker.
As I write, the Chancellor is preparing to deliver her Spring Statement. The annual speech is supposed to be a relatively modest affair, but given the state of things, it’s shaping up to be something closer to a full-scale Budget.
In an attempt to curb welfare spending, the Government has already unveiled controversial changes to the benefits system. It’s hoped the measures will claw back £5bn a year by 2030… so that’s a £95Bn bill instead of £100Bn then? A step in the right direction, perhaps, but hardly a silver bullet.
Few would argue that something doesn’t need to change. The benefits system is, to put it bluntly, broken. We should be cracking down on those playing the system and exploiting loopholes to avoid work, whilst at the same time ensuring that those who truly need support continue to receive it.
I’ve seen both sides of the coin. I once carried out some private investigative work for a company whose employee was claiming nearly £100,000 in compensation for a workplace injury – an injury that had supposedly left him unable to work. So Esme and I were put on the case…
After spotting the apparently injured employee preparing to load up a kayak (yes, really!), I struck up a conversation. In my experience, people are surprisingly chatty when you’ve got a dog by your side. Indeed, the chap was only too happy to regale me with tales of his kayaking adventures and how he regularly took to the river and paddled down to the sea!
In a separate incident, Esme and I caught him sprinting home from Aldi with a massive table tucked under one arm (presumably another middle aisle special). Busted!
On the other hand, people like my goddaughter, who is profoundly deaf, genuinely rely on the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Without PIP, she wouldn’t be able to travel to her job as a teaching assistant and make a tangible difference to young people’s lives.
I appreciate that it’s a difficult balance. Doctors may be skilled professionals, but they’re not detectives. That’s why we need more robust and regular face-to-face assessments – ones that catch out the kayaking con artists whilst protecting those who truly depend on support.
It made me think. What if benefits agencies or the Department for Work and Pensions employed people like us to spend a few hours with each claimant, actually observing them in their daily lives? You can learn a lot just by watching and interacting with people when they don’t think they’re being tested.
Which brings me to another example of how real-world intervention can make a difference. I recently read an article about the success of Operation Castle, an initiative launched by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Since beginning the operation in 2021, GMP officers have attended every reported burglary in the area. As a result of this new approach, the force said it recorded 11,246 burglaries last year – 33% fewer than three years ago. It also arrested 2,305 people on suspicion of the offence in 2024 – a 25% increase compared with 2021.
Contrast that with other parts of the country, where burglaries are still treated as “volume” or “low-level” crimes. In some cases, if your car gets stolen off the driveway, you simply fill in an online form and hope for the best – you don’t even speak to a human being!
It confirms what I’ve known all along: physical presence matters. And that, dear reader, is precisely why the work we do at Advantage One is so effective. We provide physical store guards and store detectives, and their arrests and presence have had an immediate impact on shoplifting rates…
Over the last two years, our officers have caught 15,000 criminals, leading to 54 years of total imprisonment. That’s £350,000 directly recovered from shoplifters. Factor in the deterrent effect and the total saved stock is estimated at £2.4Mn.
But that’s not all. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of our officers, a store employee is now seven times less likely to experience crime.
As for the benefits cheats, I’d be more than happy to lend Rachel Reeves a hand if she ever wants to take a leaf out of our investigative playbook.
You would be amazed at what people get up to when they think no one is watching…