Member

I have also made it clear throughout the Bill’s passage that no conclusions about fraudulent intent will be made from the EVM information alone as, at the point this information is shared, no one is suspected of any wrongdoing. For example, they may have £50,000 in their account but it may be from an exempt compensation payment and be completely legitimate for them to have it. Nevertheless, to make this clear, government Amendments 45, 46, 51 and 66 seek to provide further assurance by clarifying that the purpose for which an EVN can be issued is only for “assisting” in identifying incorrect payments. That makes it clear that EVM information can help to identify only incorrect benefit payments and the DWP must consider other information which can help verify whether benefits have indeed been incorrectly paid.