A family from Newport have appeared on a Channel 5 television show tonight (Monday) in a documentary about life on the dole and the UK benefit system.
Peter Rolfe, 64 and a father to 26 children, has previously challenged the Isle of Wight Council demanding a larger Council house, much to the disgust of taxpayers. Following an error which led to the Rolfes receiving a three-bedroom house instead of a four-bedroom, the Local Government Ombudsman awarded Peter Rolfe and his family £1000 in compensation earlier this year for the mistake back in 2011, which sparked an interest into the family and a media investigation into the Rolfe’s situation.
Now, Mr Rolfe has been labelled as ‘Britain’s most shameless dad’ by national newspapers as it was revealed he does not intend to work and will continue to claim his £800 a week in benefit handouts – claiming an estimated half a million pounds to date. When they lost nearly £200 a week in benefits due to the nation-wide benefit cap, Mr Rolfe applied for disability living allowance.
Following news that the family were to appear on the Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole show, former Tory MP Anne Widdecombe said:
“This must be Britain’s most feckless father. It is an indictment on Britain that we allow somebody like this to live on the dole while the rest of us work hard… He shouldn’t get a tent, let alone a council house”.
On the show tonight the Rolfe family, who reside in Gunville, were shown to live in cramped conditions due to the large number of people living under one roof, with clothes being hung from the curtain rails.
One of Peter’s daughters – Roseanne – quit her job because she simply didn’t like it and had an outstanding unpaid fine from the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court, plus a birthday party for daughter Kelly, 9, was thrown in style. A large industrial wheelie bin was seen outside the property due to the amount of waste the household produces, way in excess of other residents in the road.
The above photograph shows the property before it was occupied by the Rolfe family.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council has said:
“We are continuing efforts to identify accommodation large enough for the family. The council has been exploring a number of options, including identifying two properties next to each other which could be reconfigured. To date no suitable accommodation has been found.”
The story, that has reached national headlines throughout the week, has caused outage on social network websites with discussion rife about the Rolfe family, their past and their future.
Mr Rolfe appeared on ITV’s This Morning breakfast show today and wore sunglasses throughout, with a notable change in appearance. One of the show’s hosts, Phillip Schofield, raised the point that the older children living with 64-year-old Rolfe should be moving out and into the world on their own soon. One of Peter’s children has recently had twins, adding to the family’s size, however at the time of filming none of the children held down jobs.
It is currently unknown if the family have received any appearance fees for their television appearances.
Photos/grabs: Channel 5
