Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Accepted
DWP is taking steps to help local authorities challenge fraudulent Housing Benefit claims
Conclusion
DWP told us that it is working closely with DLUHC to help all local authorities to act on fraud. In addition, it set out how the Bill will provide opportunities for local authorities to challenge fraudulent claims by giving more clarity on quality standards and a definition of “care, support and supervision”, which will be linked to Housing Benefit policy.46 DWP also told us it has strengthened Housing Benefit guidance to empower local authorities to challenge service charges that do not look right.47 Funding gap
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation regarding local authorities acting on fraud. DWP will sample Housing Benefit cases from Nov 2023-Oct 2024 to identify fraud types, develop plans for LA referrals, and assess effectiveness of current initiatives in tackling supported housing fraud.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2024 5.2 DWP understands the importance of tackling fraud and error across all benefits. However, Housing Benefit fraud, for example, benefit fraud (from undeclared income, changes in circumstance, or falsified information) needs to be distinguished from unscrupulous provider behaviour as described in the Committee’s report. The former is what DWP will act upon in this recommendation, the latter is covered under responses to recommendations 1 to 4 above. 5.3 DWP already provides LAs with funding to tackle Housing Benefit fraud and error in the main areas of loss, the top area being earnings and employment. DWP has two key initiatives in this regard; Housing Benefit Award Accuracy (HBAA) and Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP). These initiatives provide LAs with funds to carry out full case reviews and action referrals from data matching against DWP’s benefits, tax credits and claimants' earnings information. 5.4 By July 2024 DWP will: • look to understand the total supported housing volumes in the Housing Benefit (HB) caseload following completion in March 2024 of the LA review exercise. This will help DWP to identify the supported housing HB claims for potential fraud and error activities; • DWP’s Performance Measurement Team (the experts who sample benefit claims to check for levels of fraud and error) have just begun its next programme of sampling for Housing Benefit cases that are passported from Universal Credit – i.e. Supported and Temporary cases, to feed into the May 2025 MVFE (Monetary Value of Fraud and Error) publication. DWP will be looking at the early Management Information (MI) from this sample, as the team works through it from November 2023 to October 2024, to see if it provides an indication of specific fraud and error types not currently addressed through its existing Housing Benefit fraud and error initiatives; • further develop plans to support LAs in making quality Housing Benefit fraud referrals for DWP to investigate; and • look at cases LAs have carried out under DWP’s key fraud and error initiatives to understand how effective they are on tackling fraud and error in supported housing HB claims. 5.5 All this will then determine what actions may be required to further support LAs, including consideration of how DWP will allocate existing funding provided to LAs in tackling fraud and error in the future.