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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Tackling fraud and error in benefit expenditure 2024-25

Status: Open Opened: 10 Jul 2025 14 recommendations 16 conclusions 1 report

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 …

Clear

Reports

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

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
10 Conclusion 66th Report - Tackling fraud and error … Acknowledged

Official error in benefit payments remains substantial and is increasing

Official error occurs when a benefit is paid incorrectly due to action, delay or a mistake by the Department, a local authority or HM Revenue & Customs.18 In 2024–25, official error overpayments were estimated at £1.0 billion, up from £0.8 billion in 2023–24, and official error underpayments were estimated at …

Government response. The department reports on its plans to improve payment accuracy and address the root causes of fraud and error each year in the Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), including official error overpayments and underpayments.
HM Treasury
11 Conclusion 66th Report - Tackling fraud and error … Acknowledged

DWP’s root cause analysis overlooks official error, focusing on claimant fraud

In its 2024–25 annual report and accounts, the Department published information on some of the work it had done to identify and tackle the root causes of fraud and error, particularly on Universal Credit through activities such as its Targeted Case Review of existing claims.20 Targeted Case Review has helped …

Government response. The department reports on its plans to improve payment accuracy and address the root causes of fraud and error each year in the Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), including official error overpayments and underpayments.
HM Treasury
25 Conclusion 66th Report - Tackling fraud and error … Acknowledged

DWP launches "Tell DWP" campaign and expands online reporting for changing circumstances.

The Department outlined what it was doing to make it easier for people to report changes of circumstances.48 It highlighted a campaign that it would be launching in January 2026—”Tell DWP”—to help customers identify what they need to declare and encourage them to do so. It wanted to support those …

Government response. The department has established a comprehensive evaluation approach to assess the impact of the ‘Tell DWP’ communications campaign on claimant reporting behaviour and will publish findings from these evaluation activities.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
4 Dec 2025 Neil Couling CBE · Department of Work and Pensions, Sir Peter Schofield KCB · Department for Work and Pensions, Vikki Knight · Department of Work and Pensions View ↗

Correspondence

6 letters
DateDirectionTitle
21 May 2026 To cttee Letter from the Chair to the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Work and …
12 Mar 2026 To cttee Letter from the Director General Public Spending at HM Treasury relating to the…
2 Feb 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions rel…
8 Jan 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions rel…
8 Jan 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions rel…
4 Dec 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Work and Pensions rela…