TODAY'S story revealing there are more than 20,000 people claiming Disability Living Allowance costing the public purse �76.8 million every year is a poignant insight into the fast-changing character of our city, isn't it?
Astonishing too, is the fact that as the system stands, anyone claiming the help has to fill out a form which could be up to 60 pages long.
So news that changes are on the way are welcome. Not before time either.
Let's just hope that as well as making it easier for bona fide claimants, it also roots out those fraudsters who pick up the cash they are not always entitled to: the cheats who think nothing of defrauding a system set up to help the most vulnerable.
The costs of fraudulent claims has sometimes been allowed to career wildly out of control.
The challenge facing the Coalition, in these desperate times for public finances, is to get a grip — and fast.
It will mean far more rigorous checks on claims — handled with sensitivity so as not to deter those in genuine need.
Finally, it must mean much tougher punishment for benefit fraudsters.
They must be made to understand that theirs is not a victimless crime. It's an offence against every hard-working taxpayer — and a betrayal of the helpless and proud whom they discourage from claiming their due by giving the whole system a bad name.
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