Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Welfare Fraud: Organised Crime

Monday 23 June 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Mr Luke Charters commended the Secretary of State for leading the biggest crackdown on benefit fraud.
  • Mr Peter Bedford noted that organised gangs operate in the welfare system, undermining public confidence.
  • The Minister offered to raise with the Home Office the issue of foreign nationals abusing the welfare system.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Luke Charters Lab York Outer
Benefits & Welfare
Context

Recognising the complexity and scale of welfare fraud perpetrated by organised criminal gangs, Mr Charters highlights the need for effective measures to address this issue. He references his career experience in tackling such challenges.

Question

Having spent my career before entering this place tackling fraud, I recognise the scale of the challenge, so I commend the Secretary of State for her leadership, with the biggest ever crackdown on benefit fraud. Given the success of whistleblower reward schemes in tax and financial crime, does my hon. Friend agree with me that there is merit in exploring similar schemes to uncover organised fraud in the benefits system, so that more funds can be recovered to support those who genuinely need support: our constituents?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. We take all allegations of fraud seriously. People who suspect fraud against the Department for Work and Pensions can use existing channels to report it, including the national benefit fraud hotline. This Government are not complacent. As I mentioned in my substantive reply, we are taking action with the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which will provide a range of new powers to address fraud and error in the social security system, after the Conservative party failed to substantively update our powers to tackle ever-more complex fraud during 14 long years in office. However, I will watch with interest whether there is learning from the schemes my hon. Friend mentioned that could be applied to cases of benefit fraud.

Partly answered

Not addressed: While expressing willingness to consider whistleblower reward schemes, Andrew Western did not explicitly commit to exploring or implementing them.

How: Will Watch With Interest

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Q2 Peter Bedford Con Mid Leicestershire
Immigration Benefits & Welfare
Context

Peter Bedford raises concerns about the impact of organised gangs on public confidence in the welfare system, citing media reports and suggesting a need for stricter measures.

Question

Organised gangs operate in many spheres—sex, drugs and, as reported in the media, our welfare system. This totally undermines public confidence in the system. Will the Minister make representations to the Home Secretary to ensure that foreign nationals who are found to have abused our welfare system are removed from the country?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)

I am very happy to raise with the Home Office the issue that the hon. Gentleman has highlighted, but I would say to him, and indeed to his colleagues on the Opposition Front Bench, that what genuinely undermines confidence in the welfare system is the record of the previous Government, who allowed welfare fraud to spiral towards £10 billion a year and failed to take the powers needed, as we are doing now, to get that number down.

Not addressed: While agreeing to raise the issue with the Home Office, Andrew Western primarily criticises the previous Government's record on welfare fraud.

How: What Genuinely Undermines Confidence, Failed To Take The Powers Needed

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