Recommendation 4

The Department cannot demonstrate that it is doing everything that is cost- effective to tackle fraud and error. The National Audit Office’s work in 2019–20 on the Department’s strategy to tackle fraud and error showed that the Department could do more to understand the cost-effectiveness of individual controls. The Department’s recent efforts to improve those controls have focused on using its technology and putting more investment into data and data analytics which it hopes will allow it to prevent fraud and error before it enters the system. The impact of these technologies is still unproven: the Department’s Risk and Intelligence Service (RIS) was launched in April 2018 and the Department reported that it was using ‘increasingly sophisticated data and analytical tools’ to tackle fraud and error; however, the estimated rate of overpayments continues to rise. The Department is investing in technology which will enable it to tailor its interventions based on its risk assessment of a claim. However, we are concerned about the potential for discrimination and bias against claimants based on their protected characteristics e.g. age, sex, race etc. Recommendations: The Department needs to be able to monitor and report on the impact and cost effectiveness of each of its fraud and error initiatives and in particular on the impact of its investment in new technology. The Department should monitor and report any discrimination or bias caused by using artificial intelligence and machine learning on different claimant groups.