Recommendations & Conclusions
20 items
2
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
DWP expects the activities set out in its counter-fraud plan to generate £9.4 billion of additional savings over the next five years. In May 2022 DWP set out its high- level plan to tackle fraud and error following the pandemic in Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System. This includes £895 …
Read more
DWP expects the activities set out in its counter-fraud plan to generate £9.4 billion of additional savings over the next five years. In May 2022 DWP set out its high- level plan to tackle fraud and error following the pandemic in Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System. This includes £895 million of additional investment over the three years to March 2025 in counter-fraud staffing, advanced data analytics, and a project to review millions of Universal Credit claims. DWP estimates that this investment will lead to £9.4 billion of savings over five years by reducing fraud and error. Following a recommendation from this Committee, DWP has published a detailed estimate of the amounts saved through its counter-fraud work, which it estimates was £1.1 billion for 2023–23. It has also set a target to save £1.3 billion through counter-fraud work in 2023–24. This will need to increase each year to achieve its forecast reduction in overpayments if DWP’s other assumptions are correct. Taken together, the forecast, new savings estimate and target improve accountability by providing greater clarity on the cost-effectiveness of DWP’s counter-fraud activities. However, DWP has acknowledged that the savings estimate is experimental and requires refinement. Recommendation 2: DWP should report annually on its savings from detecting and preventing overpayments and its forecast of future overpayment levels, to at least the level of detail set out in Figure 9 of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, while continuing to refine and improve the underlying methodology. 6 The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it is implemented. The Department for Work and Pensions will report on Annual Managed Expenditure savings in its Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, continuing to develop and refine its experimental metric.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
The success of DWP’s plan to reduce fraud and error in Universal Credit is dependent on its ability to review 8 million live claims by 2027–28. The biggest element of DWP’s counter-fraud plan is a project to cleanse the benefit system of incorrect payments by reviewing millions of Universal Credit …
Read more
The success of DWP’s plan to reduce fraud and error in Universal Credit is dependent on its ability to review 8 million live claims by 2027–28. The biggest element of DWP’s counter-fraud plan is a project to cleanse the benefit system of incorrect payments by reviewing millions of Universal Credit claims – which it calls Targeted Case Reviews (TCR). DWP is investing £443 million in TCR over the current Spending Review period up to March 2025 and expects TCR to produce £6.4 billion of savings by 2027–28. To achieve this, it expects that staff will need to review around 8 million live claims, which will involve interviewing and chasing evidence from millions of people. TCR appears to be working as expected at a small scale (with 25,000 claims in 2022–23), but DWP faces a significant challenge in scaling up the project. It plans to increase the number of its TCR staff from 2,000 to around 6,000 and to more than triple the average number of claims each agent reviews each day. DWP acknowledged these challenges but says it is on track. However, it plans to outsource around 40% of TCR reviews to private contractors, which brings with it further risks to maintaining effectiveness, quality and customer service in reviews that are outsourced. Recommendation 3: As part of its Treasury Minute response to this report, DWP should set out how it will report on the efficacy, quality and customer service of Targeted Case Reviews, including separate disclosure where this has been outsourced to contractors. This is to provide public confidence that the review of Universal Credit cases is working, is not overly burdensome, and is not leading to legitimate claims being disrupted.
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it is implemented. The Department for Work and Pensions will report on Targeted Case Reviews in its Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
DWP and HMRC face a significant challenge in making back payments to people who have been underpaid State Pension due to missing Home Responsibilities Protection. In 2021–22, DWP identified underpayments of State Pension due to gaps in the National Insurance records of people who were historically entitled to a benefit …
Read more
DWP and HMRC face a significant challenge in making back payments to people who have been underpaid State Pension due to missing Home Responsibilities Protection. In 2021–22, DWP identified underpayments of State Pension due to gaps in the National Insurance records of people who were historically entitled to a benefit called Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). DWP now estimates that 210,000 people may have been underpaid some £1.3 billion, going back decades. This is in addition to the underpayment of £1.2 billion affecting 165,000 pensioners due to historical errors by DWP that we reported on last year. We are very concerned that DWP has found another systemic underpayment, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands of pensioners out of pocket by an average of £5,000. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) administers National Insurance records and told us it will be very difficult to identify people who have been impacted because it no longer holds the relevant records. It plans to contact people it thinks may be affected and invite them to make a claim for HRP. It will then correct the National Insurance record so DWP can pay back any missing State Pension. HMRC confirmed that any back payments may be subject to a tax charge, but it has not decided how it will deal with this. Neither DWP nor HMRC were able to tell us when this issue will be fully corrected. Recommendation 4: a) DWP should work with HMRC within the next six months to set out a clear plan and timetable for correcting underpayments of State Pension relating to Home Responsibilities Protection and provide clarity on how any tax issues will be dealt with. The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 7 b) DWP and HMRC should regularly publish updates on their progress correcting this issue. This should include key numbers such as the volume of cases identified as at risk, the number of people asking for a review of their case, and the value of payments made.
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees and commits to publishing key management information on the exercise established between DWP and HMRC in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
DWP is not doing enough to assure itself or Parliament that it can rely on National Insurance records to pay State Pension accurately and that it will not find further historic underpayments. The £1.3 billion underpayment of State Pension relating to missing HRP is one of three ongoing historical issues …
Read more
DWP is not doing enough to assure itself or Parliament that it can rely on National Insurance records to pay State Pension accurately and that it will not find further historic underpayments. The £1.3 billion underpayment of State Pension relating to missing HRP is one of three ongoing historical issues reported by DWP. It is in addition to the previous underpayment of £1.2 billion affecting some 165,000 pensioners. DWP now also reports that people who claimed Universal Credit over the period 2017–18 to 2022–23 are missing National Insurance credits due to an IT issue, and that it is working to update records. These underpayments raise serious doubts about the accuracy and completeness of the NI records. There is a risk that similar errors may occur with other benefits, as DWP does not routinely check that claimants are receiving the National Insurance credits they are entitled to. DWP and HMRC told us that their internal audit teams are collaborating on a joint review to provide some assurance over the integrity of the National Insurance records. But is concerning that these issues were able to build up over many years before DWP was alerted to them. DWP also told us it was working towards responding to our previous recommendation that it does more to detect systemic underpayments early before they can have a serious impact on pensioners. Recommendation 5: a) DWP should work with HMRC to provide assurance to the Committee within the next twelve months over the integrity of the National Insurance records and how they interact with DWP’s benefit system. b) DWP should report as part of the Treasury Minute what is done to set up an ‘early warning system’ to detect issues before they grow into significant underpayments. This could involve performing more frequent and in-depth analysis of underpayments identified by frontline staff.
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees and is strengthening its systems by piloting new approaches in selected services, aiming to improve feedback loops and target high-risk areas from 2024-25, with learnings informing future roll-out.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
10
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We questioned DWP on whether it expects the impact of the pandemic on fraud and error to gradually fade or to remain elevated for some time. DWP told us that although it expects the impact of the pandemic to fall away over time, it now believes that there is a …
Read more
We questioned DWP on whether it expects the impact of the pandemic on fraud and error to gradually fade or to remain elevated for some time. DWP told us that although it expects the impact of the pandemic to fall away over time, it now believes that there is a general increase in the propensity to commit fraud in society, and as a result it may be “difficult to get back to where we were pre-pandemic”.16 This assumption is built into DWP’s forecast, which suggests that benefit overpayments will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2027–28.17 However, DWP cautioned that there is “considerable uncertainty” about the baseline level of fraud and error.18
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, providing detailed evidence from various sources, including crime data and Cifas, to justify its assumption of a 5% annual increase in fraudulent behaviour.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
11
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We asked DWP to clarify why it assumes in its forecast that there is an ongoing increase in the general propensity to commit fraud in society. DWP explained that this is a judgement based on estimates produced by a range of other bodies. These include Cifas which has reported an …
Read more
We asked DWP to clarify why it assumes in its forecast that there is an ongoing increase in the general propensity to commit fraud in society. DWP explained that this is a judgement based on estimates produced by a range of other bodies. These include Cifas which has reported an 11% increase in fraud against organisations, the Public Sector Fraud Authority which identifies a 7% increase in fraud outside tax and welfare, and the Office for National Statistics that reports in its crime survey that 41% of all crimes are related to fraud. DWP told us it believes that, on the basis of these comparators, it is appropriate to assume that there will be a general increase in fraud of 5% per year. It also observed that the Office for Budget Responsibility was comfortable with building this assumption into its spring 2023 outlook.19
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, providing detailed evidence from various sources including police recorded crime data, Cifas, and the British Social Attitudes Survey to support its assumption of a 5% annual increase in fraudulent behaviour.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We have reported previously on the historical underpayment of State Pension due to errors by DWP affecting some pensioners who are married, widowed or over-80, most recently when we examined DWP’s 2021–22 Annual Report & Accounts. During that inquiry DWP told us it estimated that 237,000 pensioners had been underpaid …
Read more
We have reported previously on the historical underpayment of State Pension due to errors by DWP affecting some pensioners who are married, widowed or over-80, most recently when we examined DWP’s 2021–22 Annual Report & Accounts. During that inquiry DWP told us it estimated that 237,000 pensioners had been underpaid around £1.46 billion due to human error going back decades.25 DWP’s best estimate is now that 165,000 people have been underpaid a total of £1.2 billion.26 This remans in line with the range of uncertainty that DWP previously set out.27
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and provided details of the scope of the exercise and plans to address outstanding work in its 2022-23 Annual Report and Accounts. It will provide updated details of its plans in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
In January 2021 DWP launched an exercise to identify affected pensioners and make any back payments. We asked DWP to provide an update on its progress in correcting these underpayments. DWP told us that it is on track to complete the married and over-80 groups by the end of 2023 …
Read more
In January 2021 DWP launched an exercise to identify affected pensioners and make any back payments. We asked DWP to provide an update on its progress in correcting these underpayments. DWP told us that it is on track to complete the married and over-80 groups by the end of 2023 as it previously committed to. DWP has reported that it cleared 108,000 cases in Q1 of 2023, compared with around 47,000 in the previous quarter.28 Underpayments relating to Home Responsibilities Protection
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and provided details of the scope of the exercise and plans to address outstanding work in its 2022-23 Annual Report and Accounts. It will provide updated details of its plans in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
16
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
When we examined DWP’s 2021–22 accounts, it told us about another category of historical State Pension underpayment caused by gaps in the National Insurance records of women who had previously claimed Child benefit.29 DWP and HMRC explained to us that between 1978 and 2000, people claiming Child Benefit should have …
Read more
When we examined DWP’s 2021–22 accounts, it told us about another category of historical State Pension underpayment caused by gaps in the National Insurance records of women who had previously claimed Child benefit.29 DWP and HMRC explained to us that between 1978 and 2000, people claiming Child Benefit should have automatically received Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), which lowered the National Insurance contributions needed to receive a full State Pension.30 Up until 2000, the body responsible for Child Benefit did not record a National Insurance number as part of a claim. This led to missing periods of HRP on the National Insurance records of some women and thus an underpayment of State Pension, which is calculated based on National Insurance contributions.31 This is not the first time that DWP has encountered an issue with missing periods of HRP. In 2010–11 DWP worked with HMRC to pay £84 million in arrears to pensioners for the same issue.32 DWP admitted that it was “assumed that the situation had been addressed and solved”.33
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees to the recommendation, stating the correction exercise for Home Responsibilities Protection underpayments began in Autumn 2023 and will continue to be refined by DWP and HMRC, providing clarity on tax treatment for arrears.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
17
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We asked HMRC what it is doing to correct the National Insurance record so that DWP can in turn make any back payments of State Pension. HMRC explained that it no longer holds the relevant records and that identifying all of the people who may be 25 Committee of Public …
Read more
We asked HMRC what it is doing to correct the National Insurance record so that DWP can in turn make any back payments of State Pension. HMRC explained that it no longer holds the relevant records and that identifying all of the people who may be 25 Committee of Public Accounts, The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefit system, Twenty-Sixth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 44, 9 November 2022 26 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 273 27 Department for Work & Pensions, Annual Report & Accounts 2021–22, HC193, 7 July 2022, pages 234, 291 28 Qq 36–37; DWP ARA 2022–23, pages 122–124 29 Committee of Public Accounts, The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefit system, Twenty-Sixth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 44, 9 November 2022 30 Q 50 31 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 292 32 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 292 33 Q 22 14 The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 impacted is “a big problem, and quite a challenging one”. It told us it is performing various scans of its IT systems to find a potential cohort of affected people.34 HMRC intends to write to this group, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands, saying it believes they may have been eligible for HRP and invite them to make a claim.35 Where HMRC believes there is a legitimate claim, it will correct the NI record and notify DWP so any back payments of State Pension can be made.36
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees to the recommendation, confirming the correction exercise for Home Responsibilities Protection underpayments started in Autumn 2023 and outlining how DWP and HMRC will continue to refine plans and address tax implications, with a target implementation date of Summer 2024.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We asked HMRC how it can be sure that it will reach the right people and also avoid paying out any illegitimate claims. It told us that it would apply due diligence to all claims. HMRC also told us that alongside targeted letters it is planning a communication campaign to …
Read more
We asked HMRC how it can be sure that it will reach the right people and also avoid paying out any illegitimate claims. It told us that it would apply due diligence to all claims. HMRC also told us that alongside targeted letters it is planning a communication campaign to encourage people who think they may have missed out to apply. HMRC added that in August 2023 it launched an online checker that customers can use to understand if they have enough National Insurance contributions for a full State Pension – where this is already full, HRP would not make any difference.37 We challenged DWP to justify its assumption, set out in the 2022–23 accounts, that 75% of the next-of-kin of deceased customers will come forward to make a claim for HRP. DWP explained that this is the based on the take-up rates it observes for the ongoing State Pension underpayment exercise. It told us it has set up a next-of-kin portal that people can register with if they think a deceased relative may have been underpaid.38 However, HMRC acknowledged that it is “incredibly difficult” to find and pay back the right next-of-kin. HMRC added that where there are competing claims from multiple next-of-kin it will have to make a judgement, but it has not yet decided how to handle this.39
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's implied concern and commits to working with HMRC by Winter 2024 to set out an approach for assuring the integrity of the National Insurance record, including engaging with a joint Internal Audit review.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We asked DWP how much people could receive in back payments of State Pension. DWP told us it assumes an average back payment of £5,000 for people above State Pension age and £3,000 for the next-of-kin of those who are deceased. DWP’s accounts report that overall 210,000 pensioners may have …
Read more
We asked DWP how much people could receive in back payments of State Pension. DWP told us it assumes an average back payment of £5,000 for people above State Pension age and £3,000 for the next-of-kin of those who are deceased. DWP’s accounts report that overall 210,000 pensioners may have been underpaid some £1.3 billion. Adjusting for take-up, DWP currently expects to pay £1.0 billion to around 187,000 people. DWP warned us that there was a significant amount of uncertainty around these estimates. The possible range of underpayment that DWP will need to pay out was estimated by DWP in its 2022–23 accounts is between £310 million and £1.5 billion.40 We asked DWP what proportion of the affected pensioners will be women and what level of overlap there might be between the HRP issue and previous State Pension underpayments. DWP admitted it did not know because this is an “incredibly complicated” exercise but that it will have to take that into account, along with any interactions with other benefits.41
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees to the recommendation, confirming the correction exercise for Home Responsibilities Protection underpayments began in Autumn 2023, and outlining how DWP and HMRC will continue to refine plans and address tax implications.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
20
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We asked HMRC and DWP when they expect to have a firmer idea of the scale of the issue and the timeframe for making back payments. HMRC told us it intends to send out the letters to potentially affected people over the next 18 months. It added it expects to …
Read more
We asked HMRC and DWP when they expect to have a firmer idea of the scale of the issue and the timeframe for making back payments. HMRC told us it intends to send out the letters to potentially affected people over the next 18 months. It added it expects to turn around 80% of responses within 15 working days, correcting the National Insurance record and notifying DWP.42 DWP told us it does not have a clear, formal delivery plan for completing back payments. The provision in DWP’s 2022–23 accounts 34 Qq 51,61 35 Q 52 36 Q 56 37 Qq 53, 54, 62 38 Qq 59–60; DWP ARA 2022–23, pages 293, 376 39 Qq 61, 63–64 40 Q 58; DWP ARA 22–23, pages 274, 293, 374 41 Qq 68–71 42 Qq 55, 65–67 The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 15 assumes a completion date in 2027–28, but DWP told us it hopes to do it quicker than this.43 It suggested that caseworkers with experience remediating previous State Pension underpayments have the right skillset to roll forward onto HRP, which may help speed the process.44
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees to the recommendation, stating the correction exercise began in Autumn 2023 and DWP will continue to refine its plans with HMRC, providing updates in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts, along with specific rules for handling income tax on arrears.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
21
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
We asked HMRC to confirm whether pensioners receiving lump sum back payments would be liable for a tax charge and whether it would take a sympathetic approach to handling any issues. HMRC confirmed that the tax charge could apply. It told us that “Generally, we will be as generous as …
Read more
We asked HMRC to confirm whether pensioners receiving lump sum back payments would be liable for a tax charge and whether it would take a sympathetic approach to handling any issues. HMRC confirmed that the tax charge could apply. It told us that “Generally, we will be as generous as we can be”, but that discussions were still ongoing within HMRC to understand the level of discretion that can be applied.45 Integrity of the National Insurance records
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees to the recommendation and states DWP and HMRC are working together on the correction exercise, which began in Autumn 2023, and clarifies specific rules for how income tax on arrears payments will be calculated and collected.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
22
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
DWP now reports multiple underpayments relating to issues in the National Insurance record. In addition to the HRP underpayment, DWP has also identified that the National Insurance records for 10 million people claiming Universal Credit have not been updated properly. DWP estimates that 137,000 of these people have already reached …
Read more
DWP now reports multiple underpayments relating to issues in the National Insurance record. In addition to the HRP underpayment, DWP has also identified that the National Insurance records for 10 million people claiming Universal Credit have not been updated properly. DWP estimates that 137,000 of these people have already reached State Pension age, and a smaller proportion may have been underpaid.46 We challenged DWP to explain what it is doing to make sure that underpayments relating to inaccurate or incomplete benefit records do not happen again. DWP explained that both the National Insurance and Child Benefit records are the responsibility of HMRC, but that DWP has an interest in making sure it has an accurate National Insurance record to pay the correct State Pension.47 It told us that it has commissioned a joint internal audit review with HMRC to look at how the National Insurance record is produced and whether there are any issues in terms of quality and assurance. It expects this to be complete by the end of 2023, and told us it will say more on this work in its next Annual Report & Accounts.48
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees and commits DWP and HMRC to work together, engaging with a joint internal audit review, to provide assurance on the integrity of National Insurance records and their interaction with the benefit system by Winter 2024.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
24
Recommendation
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
During our examination of DWP’s 2021–22 Accounts, we were unconvinced that its control processes were adequate to detect underpayments before they build up into major issues.53 DWP has previously acknowledged “an inability to pick up patterns of underpayment, which had been going on for many years”.54 We asked DWP to …
Read more
During our examination of DWP’s 2021–22 Accounts, we were unconvinced that its control processes were adequate to detect underpayments before they build up into major issues.53 DWP has previously acknowledged “an inability to pick up patterns of underpayment, which had been going on for many years”.54 We asked DWP to explain its current approach to detecting systemic underpayments. DWP explained that it relies predominantly on manual sampling, including the annual exercise to produce its fraud and error statistics. Where issues are identified they are passed on to its wider counter- fraud teams who will investigate the underlying causes. It further explained that 2021–22 was the first year it had used an enhanced sampling methodology that involved contacting pensioners directly to discuss their claim, which is what enabled it to detect the HRP issue.55 We asked DWP what it is doing to make sure it is able to detect issues early in future. DWP acknowledged that while its manual sampling has been helpful, there is more that it can do to avoid systemic underpayments. It explained that, in response to recommendations by the NAO, it is working on bringing together a wider range of intelligence about underpayments. It added there is a lot of work to do in this space and that it would report back to us on this point.56 52 Qq 42–47 53 Committee of Public Accounts, The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefit system, Twenty-Sixth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 44, 9 November 2022 54 Committee of Public Accounts, Underpayments of the State Pension, Thirty-Third Report of Session 2021–22, HC 654, 12 January 2022 55 Qq 3–5, 7–10 56 Qq 3, 72 The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 17 3 Specific activities to reduce fraud and error
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states it uses existing quality checks while piloting new approaches to strengthen early detection of underpayments, with evaluation and potential wider roll-out planned from 2024-25.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
DWP set out its plan to tackle benefit fraud following the pandemic in May 2022 in Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System.57 This includes £895 million of additional investment in counter-fraud activities over the Spending Review period covering the three years to March 2025. Details of the plan now published …
Read more
DWP set out its plan to tackle benefit fraud following the pandemic in May 2022 in Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System.57 This includes £895 million of additional investment in counter-fraud activities over the Spending Review period covering the three years to March 2025. Details of the plan now published by the NAO show that DWP expects this investment to generate savings of £9.4 billion by 2027–28 by reducing benefit fraud and error.58 We focused our questioning on two elements of DWP’s counter-fraud plan: • A project to review millions of Universal Credit claims; and • Using machine learning to detect fraudulent benefit claims. Reviewing millions of live Universal Credit claims
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observations on its counter-fraud plan and states the recommendation is implemented. It commits to developing and refining an experimental metric to report on full Annual Managed Expenditure savings in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts, while clarifying the distinction …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
The most significant element of DWP’s counter-fraud plan is a project to cleanse the benefit system of incorrect payments by reviewing some 8 million live Universal Credit claims over five years. DWP expects this project—which it calls ‘Targeted Case Reviews’ (TCR)—to generate £6.4 billion of savings by 2027–28. DWP is …
Read more
The most significant element of DWP’s counter-fraud plan is a project to cleanse the benefit system of incorrect payments by reviewing some 8 million live Universal Credit claims over five years. DWP expects this project—which it calls ‘Targeted Case Reviews’ (TCR)—to generate £6.4 billion of savings by 2027–28. DWP is investing £443 million in TCR over the spending review period to March 2025.59 DWP told us that it considers TCR to be the best way to bring fraud and error back down to pre-pandemic levels, describing it as a “huge, huge intervention”.60
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observations regarding the Targeted Case Review (TCR) and confirms the recommendation has been implemented, stating the department will report on TCR in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
The NAO has reported that in 2027–28 alone DWP expects 2.5 million Universal Credit cases to be reviewed by some 5,900 staff. For comparison, in 2022–23 DWP reviewed around 3,600 Universal Credit claims to produce its fraud and error statistics.61 We challenged DWP to explain whether it has enough people …
Read more
The NAO has reported that in 2027–28 alone DWP expects 2.5 million Universal Credit cases to be reviewed by some 5,900 staff. For comparison, in 2022–23 DWP reviewed around 3,600 Universal Credit claims to produce its fraud and error statistics.61 We challenged DWP to explain whether it has enough people to deliver the project and how it will achieve this ambitious scaling up. DWP told us that it has recruited around 1,700 people since launching TCR in January 2022 and is currently running a “massive” recruitment process. It stressed that it is on track and that it knows how long it takes to recruit the people it needs. It also told us that instead of delivering TCR entirely through civil servants as initially planned, it instead aims to recruit around 3,600 people from the public sector and to outsource the remainder, some 40% of the 5,900 people it needs, to private sector contractors.62
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observations regarding the Targeted Case Review (TCR) and confirms the recommendation has been implemented, stating the department will report on TCR in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Fourth Report - The Department for Work…
Accepted
DWP told us it will take two years for TCR to have a measurable effect.63 We observed that TCR is an expensive intervention and questioned DWP on whether it has been under pressure to deliver the project faster in order to demonstrate a credible return on investment.64 DWP acknowledged that …
Read more
DWP told us it will take two years for TCR to have a measurable effect.63 We observed that TCR is an expensive intervention and questioned DWP on whether it has been under pressure to deliver the project faster in order to demonstrate a credible return on investment.64 DWP acknowledged that it needs to increase productivity significantly to achieve the expected £6.4 billion of savings by 2027–28, and there is therefore some 57 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 96; Department for Work & Pensions, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, CP 679, May 2022 58 DWP ARA 2022–23, pages 296, 297, 304 59 Q 82, DWP ARA 2022–23, pages 107, 305–308 60 Qq 16, 96 61 DWP ARA 2022–23, pages 308, 394 62 Qq 82–83, 91 63 Q 20 64 Qq 88, 92, 97 18 The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 pressure to speed up the pace of reviews. It explained that it does not expect the hit rate of incorrect claims to rise much higher than 30%, and so it expects savings will need to be driven by the volume of cases cleared.65 The NAO has reported that DWP expects newly trained TCR agents to review 0.5 cases per day, ramping up to 2.0 cases per day across all agents by 2027–28.66 DWP noted that it intends to ensure that the quality of reviews is not sacrificed to maximise productivity, so that that learning can be captured from the reviews and fed back into continually improving Universal Credit.67 Using machine learning to flag potentially fraudulent benefit claims
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observations regarding the Targeted Case Review (TCR) and confirms the recommendation has been implemented, stating the department will report on TCR in its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts.
Read full response →
HM Treasury