Recommendation 11

DBT does not have definitive figures on the split between fraud and error within the schemes. DBT told us the number of payments classified as fraud by local authorities were 8% of the total number of recovered payments it is aware of from local authority reporting, and 15% by number based on a separate fraud and error survey of authorities commissioned by the Department.17 Using the local authority reporting data, and excluding payments that authorities had not classified as either fraud or error, the National Audit Office calculated that 17% of payments by value were classified as fraud.18