DWP announces new crackdown on benefit cheats to stop £9 billion in fraud
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced it is stepping up efforts to catch benefit cheats. It says it has saved the taxpayer over £1.3 billion in the past year and in the next stage of its crackdown it aims to stop £9 billion of losses by 2028.
Measures include hiring 2,500 new staff to check millions of Universal Credit claims, a new civil penalty to punish fraudsters and investing £70 million in advanced data analytics that scan the system for possible problems. In addition, the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill currently before Parliament will enable banks to spy on claimants' accounts and report any signs of potential breaches such as having too much stashed away in savings to qualify for benefits.
Keeping an eye on people's accounts is expected to save the taxpayer £600 million over five years, in addition to the £9 billion projected to be saved from the wider plan, the DWP said. This includes a new Fraud Bill which will allow it to treat benefit fraud in the same way HMRC treats tax fraud, with new powers to make arrests and carry out searches and seizures.
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Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride said: "We are scaling up the fight against those stealing from the taxpayer, building on our success in stopping £18 billion going into the wrong hands in 2022-23. With new legal powers, better data and thousands of additional staff, our comprehensive plan ensures we have the necessary tools to tackle the scourge of benefit fraud."
The DWP says it is hiring over 2,500 external agents on a temporary basis as part of a 'targeted case review' to help spot errors in Universal Credit claims. Combined with DWP's own benefits review staff, this will mean nearly 6,000 people are examining people's benefit entitlements.
There will also be automatic monitoring of self-employed income, new online prompts for claimants to re-declare their circumstances (such as moving in with a partner) so that changes are taken into account, and increased checks on capital when people apply for Universal Credit.
These measures will be supported by advanced data analytics, using machine learning to identify and prevent fraudulent claims. Final decisions on accepting or stopping any claim will continue to be made by a DWP staff member.
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