Recommendation 36

DWP is implementing machine learning techniques to help it identify fraud in benefit expenditure. It has one machine learning model in operation, for new UC advance claims, alongside several others in development.69 The previous Public Accounts Committee raised concerns about the level of transparency in DWP’s use of these tools and the potential impact on claimants who are vulnerable or from protected groups.70 In December 2023, the previous Committee recommended that DWP should consider explicitly the impact of using machine learning to identify fraud on legitimate claims being delayed or reduced, the number of people affected, and whether this was affecting specific groups of people.71 DWP has since undertaken a fairness impact assessment, but has not published the results so as to conceal from fraudsters how its model operates. It says that the results did not give any cause for concern when considered alongside the safeguards in place to protect claimants.72