Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness in reducing levels of (a) fraud and (b) error in benefit awards.

The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) sets out DWP’s approach to reducing fraud and error in the benefit system. The 2023/24 ARA can be found here:

ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023-24 (publishing.service.gov.uk) and states that in 2023/24 DWP has estimated to have saved around £18 billion through preventative activity through frontline controls and detection by counter fraud teams. The 2024/25 ARA will be published shortly providing an up-to-date assessment including our progress in reducing the overall overpayment rate from 3.6% in 2023/24 to 3.3% in 2024/25, with the Universal Credit overpayment rate falling by 21% from 12.4% to 9.7% over the same period.

The Department has committed to significant fraud, error and debt measures at Autumn Budget 2024 and Spring Statement 2025, which OBR has estimated will deliver an additional £9.6bn savings over the next five years.