Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether recipients who have not been suspected of benefit fraudulent activity will be subject to having their personal bank account details scrutinised.

Fraud and error in the social security system currently costs the taxpayer almost £10 billion a year and, since the pandemic, a total of £35 billion of taxpayers’ money has been incorrectly paid to those not entitled. The DWP is determined to reduce those levels.

The Eligibility Verification Measure (EVM) in the proposed Fraud, Error and Debt Bill will not give DWP access to any bank accounts, nor any information on how claimants spend their money. The proposed new power instead helps verify benefit eligibility, using very limited information from banks and financial institutions. As set out by the National Audit Office, access to data is key to prevention and detection of incorrect payments.

EVM will require banks and financial institutions to look within their own data to highlight where someone may not be eligible for the benefits they are receiving. The data will only be sent to DWP if there is a possible conflict with the benefit eligibility rules, such as the £16,000 capital limit in Universal Credit or individuals living abroad without notifying the Department.

The information gathered will help DWP identify incorrect payments, prevent debts from accruing for the claimant and help identify where there may be fraudulent activity. No benefit entitlement decision will be made solely because of the data obtained under EVM and a final decision on benefit entitlement will always involve a human agent.

Further details will be set out when the Bill is introduced to Parliament.