DWP set to be 'grilled' by MPs over 'how it can justify' benefit crackdown

DWP will be questioned on its annual accounts on Wednesday, the cross-party Work and Pensions Committee has confirmed on Monday.
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The Department for Work and Pensions faces questions over how it can "justify" its fraud crackdown. The DWP will be questioned on its annual accounts on Wednesday, the cross-party Work and Pensions Committee has confirmed on Monday.

The Committee "are likely to grill the Department’s representatives among other things on its historic failure to get fraud and error under control," it says. It warned: "For more than three decades, the Department’s annual accounts have been qualified due to higher than acceptable incidence of fraud and error. The current bill stands at £9.7bn per year.

"To put that into perspective, that’s more than half of the annual police budget for England and Wales which currently stands at £18.6bn." Members of the Committee could also ask about underpayments of benefits and state pensions; Pension Credit take up; and the cost and delivery of major programmes such as the Service Modernisation Programme.

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The session starts from 9.30am and will see Sir Peter Schofield KCB, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); Neil Couling CB CBE, Director General for Fraud, Disability and Health, and Senior responsible Owner of Universal Credit, DWP; and Catherine Vaughan, Director General, Finance, DWPm in attendance in Parliament.

It comes after an inquiry called for evidence earlier this year, saying: "Are pension age benefits and the State Pension enough to stop pensioners from falling into poverty? We are looking at the state of pensioner poverty in the UK. Which groups are most affected? What are the health impacts? How do the State Pension and other pension age benefits mitigate the risks? What part is played by measures such as the Household Support Fund? How do these vary in the devolved nations?

"We want to find out what else is needed and how to improve access to and take-up of Pension Credit and other support. The Government’s decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility and to hold a pensions review has raised the question of pension adequacy. "