Commons Sense

House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement

Fraud and Error National Statistics

26 May 2022 · Department for Work and Pensions

Proposed by David Rutley Con Macclesfield

Benefits & Welfare

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

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At a glance

Key points

  • The UK government published statistics on fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year ending 2022.
  • An ambitious plan called 'Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System' was introduced to tackle fraud.
  • The plan includes a 613m investment over three years to prevent 2.1bn of loss in fraud and error.

Issue summary

The statement discusses the statistics on fraud and error in the UK's benefit system for the financial year ending 2022.

Action requested

We published an ambitious plan called ‘Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System’ to deploy more staff, develop data analytics tools, and introduce new legislative powers to combat fraud. This includes a £613m investment over three years to prevent £2.1bn of loss in fraud and error.

Key facts

  • The overall rate of fraud and error was 4.0% or £8.6bn.
  • Fraudulent overpayments were at 3.0% (£6.5bn) while claimant error was at 0.7% (£1.5bn).
  • Official error dropped to 0.3% (£0.7bn).
  • The plan involves deploying 1,400 more staff and establishing a new 2,000-strong team for reviewing Universal Credit claims.
  • An additional investment of £613m over three years is estimated to stop £2.1bn of loss in fraud and error.
  • New powers will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows.
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