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Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Friday 24th June 2022

Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure that there are appropriate sanctions for people who commit benefit fraud.

Answered by David Rutley

On 19 May 2022, we published our plan for Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, setting out how the Department will root out existing fraud in the system and prevent new fraudulent claims being made. The £600 million plan will boost the counter-fraud frontline with 2000 additional staff, and is estimated to save taxpayers £2 billion over three years.

The plan also outlines a range of additional strong measures that we intend to introduce, when Parliamentary time allows, to future proof our work tackle fraud and error. This includes the commitment to introduce a new civil penalty for cases of fraud which can be applied where cases meet a civil burden of proof, sitting below criminal fraud but above error.

This action will ensure that fewer people escape punishment when they have committed wrongdoing, and that the consequence reflects the cost to the taxpayers.

DWP has a published penalty policy [Penalties policy: in respect of social security fraud and error - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), which sets out the range of penalties currently available for benefit fraud. This includes financial penalties, prosecution, loss of benefit penalties and seeking redress through proceeds of crime.

Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Disability
Monday 25th April 2022

Asked by: Rob Roberts (Independent - Delyn)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) officials in her Department and (b) Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of a temporary uplift to disability benefits in order to support people with disabilities with the rising cost of living in the context of those people potentially having to power specialist machinery and equipment as a result of their needs.

Answered by Chloe Smith

I meet regularly with Ministers and officials from across Government to discuss a wide range of issues related to support for disabled people, including rising costs.

The government has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes:

  • A £200 discount on their energy bill this Autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain. This will be paid back automatically over the next 5 years.
  • A £150 non-repayable Council Tax Rebate payment for all households that are liable for Council Tax in Bands A-D in England.
  • £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax Rebate.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 21 Mar 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

"T6. I would like to thank our local DWP officials and work coaches for their efforts to help more people in Delyn into work in the past few months. Some parts of my constituency remain among the most deprived in Wales. Does the Minister agree that improved transport infrastructure is …..."
Rob Roberts - View Speech

View all Rob Roberts (Ind - Delyn) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 26 Jan 2022
Automatic Pension Enrolment

"I find it difficult to believe that the hon. Gentleman started his pension contributions 45 years ago, as he cannot possibly be of that advanced age. He reminisced about how his parents drilled into him the importance of starting early. In his opinion, what has happened since those years? How …..."
Rob Roberts - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 26 Jan 2022
Automatic Pension Enrolment

"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I give credit to my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Gareth Davies) for securing the debate and, indeed, to the Minister; it is always a pleasure to see him responding to a debate. He must get …..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 26 Jan 2022
Automatic Pension Enrolment

"The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point about bringing forward measures, but if we make these changes, is it not really important to give businesses enough lead-in time to plan properly and budget for them, rather than springing a significant change on businesses?..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 08 Nov 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

"T6. Almost exactly a year ago, I had the privilege of serving on the Bill Committee for the Pension Schemes Act 2021, which was widely appreciated by the industry as being an outstanding piece of legislation. One of the best parts of that Bill was pensions dashboards, which enable people …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 25 Jan 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

" What steps her Department is taking to help people whose sectors have been particularly affected by the covid-19 outbreak to switch careers. ..."
Rob Roberts - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 25 Jan 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

"Back in 2013, my constituency of Delyn had an unemployment rate of 5.2%; thanks to successful aspirational Conservative policies, this was down to just 3% before the pandemic took hold, but now sits at around 6%. With some sectors—particularly tourism and hospitality—more severely impacted than others, will my hon. Friend …..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 08 Dec 2020
Future of Pensions Policy

"I beg to move,

That this House has considered the future of pensions policy.

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. There is an old saying that people should not talk about politics or religion; I sometimes wonder whether that extends to the topic of pensions …..."
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