Written question asked by Jonathan Ashworth (Labour) on Thursday, 18 April 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 (named day). It was answered by Paul Maynard (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Department for Work and Pensions: Fraud

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.

Answer: We are committed to tackling fraud which is why in May 2022 the Department launched a robust plan to drive down fraud and error from the benefits system, alongside investment of £900 million that will deliver £2.4 billion of savings by the end of 2024/25. This plan includes proposed powers to require the transfer of data from third-parties, which has been introduced as part of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (No.2). This legislation is forecast to save up to an additional £600m over the Treasury scorecard period. The Department has set out a target to deliver £1.3bn in savings from our dedicated counter-fraud and error resource in 2023/24 as set out in the department’s Annual Reports and Accounts.

Secondary information