Member

Amendment 89 would seriously limit the DWP’s ability to respond to any changes in fraud and error rates—indeed, to respond to any structural changes in the benefit system. We know that universal credit, pension credit and ESA currently have some of the highest overpayment level rates of all benefits. We know that financial institutions hold data that could help us verify a claimant’s eligibility for those benefits; that is why they are in scope of the measure and listed in the Bill. However, we also know that fraud and error trends change over time. Fraud, in particular, goes where there are weaknesses in the system. We need to be aware of that. If the presumption is that some benefits are easier to target than others, we may expect to see fraud moving in those directions.