Universal Credit fraud crackdown boosted to save £9billion claimed by benefits scroungers
Mel Stride is hiring 1,000 new agents to assess existing Universal Credit claims and 1,400 fraud investigators
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The Department for Work and Pensions has provided an update on its Fraud Plan, which intends to deliver savings of over £9billion over the coming years.
Benefit fraud has fallen by 10 per cent in the first year since the DWP announced its new £613million plan to fight fraud in the welfare system.
Announcing a further hiring spree of agents to investigate benefit fraud, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride MP reiterated that benefits are to provide “a safety net for vulnerable people, but nobody should be allowed to abuse it”.
The DWP is set to hire 1,000 new agents to identify errors in existing Universal Credit claims, as well as 1,400 investigators as a means of “bolstering” the counter fraud unit.
Mel Stride has hailed the 'real progress' being made
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The latest national statistics show that fraud and error rates fell to 3.6 per cent of claims from 4.0 per cent in 2022.
This constitutes a fall from £8.7billion worth of overpayments in 2022 to £8.3billion in 2023.
Of this total, overpayments due to fraud were 2.7 per cent (£6.4billion) in 2023, compared with 3 per cent (£6.5billion) in 2022.
Total benefit expenditure increased from £215.8billion in 2022 to £233.8billion in 2023, while expenditure on universal credit increased from £40.4billion in 2022 to £43.4billion in 2023.
DWP offices based in Caxton House
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A common example of benefit fraud is faking an illness or injury to get unemployment or disability benefits.
Other examples include failing to report income from a business or employment to make income seem lower than it actually is, or living with someone who contributes to the household income without declaring that income to the authorities.
In a video posted to social media, Stride said: “It’s a year since we published our Fraud Plan and over the last year, fraud has reduced by 10 per cent.
“Our welfare system provides a safety net for many vulnerable people, but nobody should be allowed to abuse it.
Over 20 million people in Great Britain are claiming state pensions or benefits from the DWP
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“We’re continuously improving our systems to keep up with fast changing criminal tactics with new measures such as recruiting 1,000 new agents to identify errors in existing Universal Credit claims, bolstering our counter fraud team by 1,400, investing in a package to further enhance our data analytics, improved customer communication and expanding our capacity to tackle economic, serious and organised crime.
“There’s much more to do, but we’re making real progress. Our Fraud Plan is helping to deliver savings of over £9billion over the coming years.”
Over 20 million people in Great Britain are claiming state pensions or benefits from the DWP.
The news comes following reports that more than two million people are receiving universal credit payments while being assessed as having “no-work requirements."
According to official data, nearly four million people are being paid jobless benefits without ever having to look for work.
The surge comes amid growing claims of mental health issues and joint pains during the pandemic.
Around 3.7 million of the 5.2 million people currently claiming out of work benefits have been granted an exemption from finding a job.