UK Inquiry Tracker

Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024-25

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 10 Jul 2025 Parliament page

In 2023-24, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spent £268.5bn on benefit and pension payments. That same year, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported that benefit overpayments by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were at £9.7bn, their highest ever level in cash terms, with the majority of … Read more In 2023-24, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spent £268.5bn on benefit and pension payments. That same year, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported that benefit overpayments by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were at £9.7bn, their highest ever level in cash terms, with the majority of overpayments accounted for by Universal Credit. The DWP set out its approach to tackling fraud in 2022, with three main areas of activity: investing in counter-fraud professionals and data analytics, creating new legal powers, and working closely with the public and private sectors. The PAC has examined fraud and error in benefit expenditure extensively. Its January 2025 report on DWP Customer Service and its 2023-24 accounts warned that levels of fraud were unacceptably high, while finding that disability benefits claimants were at increased risk of hardship with underpayments also rising. The PAC considered that there was no reason why the DWP’s perception of an increasing propensity for fraud in society must inevitably lead to increasing losses to the taxpayer, and concluded that it is the DWP’s job to improve its defences and ensure benefit claimants receive the right amount of money. The National Audit Office (NAO) publishes two reports in this area in 2025 – the DWP Report on Accounts 2024-25, which sets out core trends in benefit fraud and error; and a separate study examining the effectiveness of DWP’s approach to tackling benefit overpayments due to fraud and error . Following the NAO’s two reports, the PAC will take evidence from senior DWP officials on topics including progress on reducing overpayments now and in the future, on building trust with claimants, and its use of machine learning to help identify cases of fraud. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Thursday 20 November 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is the Committee which decides what information to publish and how. It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

14 Recommendations

16 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

6 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 10 events

21 May
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Chair to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Work and Pensions relating to Treasury Minute – Tackling fraud and er…

7 Apr
2026

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Sixty-sixth report from Session 2024-26

12 Mar
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Director General Public Spending at HM Treasury relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 29 January 2026 on Governme…

11 Feb
2026

Report published

66th Report - Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024-25

2 Feb
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 04 December 202…

8 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the transcript of the Committee’s evidence session …

8 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 04 December on …

4 Dec
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

4 Dec
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Work and Pensions relating to OBR fraud and error forecast, 1 December 2025

4 Dec
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

4 Dec 2025

View on parliament.uk

Neil Couling CBE · Department of Work and Pensions Sir Peter Schofield KCB · Department for Work and Pensions Vikki Knight · Department of Work and Pensions

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
66th Report - Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 20…	HC 1231	11 Feb 2026	30	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results

1 Conclusion Not Addressed

66th Report - Tackling fraud and e…

Committee scrutinises DWP evidence on tackling benefit fraud and error expenditure

On the basis of two reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (the C&AG), we took evidence from the Department for Work and Pensions (the Department) on tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure.1

Government Response

The government's response rejects an unspecified recommendation related to fraud and error reduction targets and cost-effective control environments, stating it cannot accept it until a position is agreed with the NAO, and highlights ongoing efforts and achievements in reducing fraud and error. The response does not address the actual conclusion.

HM Treasury

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16 Conclusion Not Addressed

66th Report - Tackling fraud and e…

Targeted benefits increase complexity and risk of fraud and error

In many instances, Parliament has targeted benefits to claimants’ needs and circumstances, with the aim of ensuring that resources are used efficiently. However, this can introduce complexity and increase the risk of fraud and error.29

Government Response

The government restates the committee's conclusion without providing a response.

HM Treasury

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19 Conclusion Not Addressed

66th Report - Tackling fraud and e…

DWP's modernisation programme seeks to extend digital fraud prevention to other benefit platforms.

The Department’s modern digital systems for Universal Credit have made it easier to implement fraud and error prevention measures for this benefit.33 We asked the Department what it was doing to improve the digital platforms for other benefits, so it … Read more

Government Response

The government response is a restatement of the committee's conclusion.

HM Treasury

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28 Conclusion Not Addressed

66th Report - Tackling fraud and e…

Independent review found DWP's incorrect guidance caused systemic Carer's Allowance overpayment issues.

The Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments, published in November 2025, found that the prevalence of overpayments related to earnings had been caused not by widespread individual error by carers in reporting their earnings, but by systemic issues preventing them … Read more

Government Response

The government restates the committee's conclusion without providing a response.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 30 of 14 classified

Accepted 19

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 3

Not Addressed 4

Rejected 3

Total 14 recs + 16 conclusions

Correspondence 6 letters

21 May 2026 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Work and Pensions relating to Treasury Minute – Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024-25, 21 May 2026

Parliament page

12 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Director General Public Spending at HM Treasury relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 29 January 2026 on Government Use of Data Analytics to Tackle Fraud and Error, 27 February 2026

Parliament page

2 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 04 December 2025 on Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024–25, 17 December 2025

Parliament page

8 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the transcript of the Committee’s evidence session on 04 December on Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024-25, 17 December 2025

Parliament page

8 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 04 December on Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024-25, 17 December 2025

Parliament page

4 Dec 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Work and Pensions relating to OBR fraud and error forecast, 1 December 2025

Parliament page