Proposals to stop criminals including killers and serious sex offenders detained in hospital from receiving and amassing benefits are moving forward.

Regulations set to be laid out in Parliament this month aim to prevent serious criminals bring given up to £800 a month in universal credit over several years.

Families of victims of crime are among those pressing for the change, as serious criminals on hospital orders continue to receive any benefits they were paid previously, while their current care is funded by the NHS.

The new regulations are set to save the Government tens of millions of pounds a year and could be operational as early as the beginning of next year, subject to parliamentary approval.

Bassetlaw MP Jo White hopes to see benefits payments made to serious criminals in high security hospitals stopped.

placeholder image — Bassetlaw MP Jo White hopes to see benefits payments made to serious criminals in high security hospitals stopped.

Bassetlaw MP Jo White has welcomed the move, and said on her website: "When I was first elected as the MP for Bassetlaw, constituents working at Rampton Hospital raised a deeply concerning issue with me.

"They told me that people detained at Rampton, including some convicted of the most serious crimes, were receiving large sums of welfare benefits every single month.

"Some had spent years building up hundreds of thousands of pounds while in secure hospital care.

"This money was not being used to pay for their treatment or detention. It was accumulating in their own pockets, while ordinary working people paid for it."

She added: "This isn't fair for tax payers or for the victims and families of their crimes, and I am pleased that this Government has listened to me and is putting an end to it."

The proposed regulations apply to individuals subject to a Section 37 order under the Mental Health Act 1983, and a Section 57A order under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

Offences covered include manslaughter, attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration and rape of a child under 13.

This planned change could affect around 2,500 offenders in hospital and around 200 a year moving forward.

The government states that it applies only to those convicted of a serious offence as defined in the regulations; it does not affect anyone on remand, unfit to plead, awaiting trial or those convicted of offences that are not detailed in the prescribed list.