Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Verification of Earnings and Pensions service.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) monitors the outcomes after sending Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP) alerts to local authorities (LAs) using management information. By tracking what subsequently happens to the value of a claim we assessed that in 2020-21 there was a significant saving for the taxpayer.

DWP are continually working with LAs to improve the effectiveness of the VEP service.