Source · National Audit Office

Department for Work and Pensions annual report and accounts 2018-19

The Comptroller and Auditor General has reported on the 2018-19 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Published: 27 Jun 2019 Recommendations: 6 Type: Financial Audit NAO confirmed: 6 Department: Department for Work and Pensions

Dept: Department for Work and Pensions Topics: Fraud and errorMoney and taxWork, welfare and pensions nao.org.uk →

Recommendations

6 items

6 accepted 6 implemented

Recommendation 1

Addressee: Department for Work and Pensions · Source location: Page 169, paragraph 13, first bullet point

The Department should:
• make better use of its data on income from other benefits to identify misreporting of benefit income and eradicate this cause of overpayments and underpayments;

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Q1 2025-26 · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 2

Addressee: Department for Work and Pensions · Source location: Page 169, paragraph 13, second bullet point

• better understand the causes of official error and how it can reduce the resulting overpayments and underpayments, through feedback to staff, training and revised instructions;

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 3

Addressee: Department for Work and Pensions · Source location: Page 169, paragraph 13, third bullet point

• continue work to understand the reasons for the fraud and error rates for Universal Credit, including how the causes of fraud and error compare with those for other benefits and use this to determine its fraud and error strategy for Universal Credit;

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 4

Addressee: Department for Work and Pensions · Source location: Page 170, paragraph 13, fourth bullet point

• further analyse the causes of fraud and error due to misreporting of income and earnings in Universal Credit, including whether Real Time Information data are accurately identifying misreporting of employment and occupational pensions income;

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Q2 2022-23 · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 5

Addressee: Department for Work and Pensions · Source location: Page 170, paragraph 13, fifth bullet point

• explore how it can enable Personal Independence Payment claimants to provide accurate and timely information, by increasing claimant awareness of what information to provide when applying and when and how to report changes in condition when a claim is in payment; and

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Confirmed by NAO

Recommendation 6

Addressee: Department for Work and Pensions · Source location: Page 170, paragraph 13, sixth bullet point

• raise awareness among Housing Benefit claimants of the change in the ‘abroad’ eligibility rule to reduce this cause of fraud and error, learning from the reduction achieved in Pension Credit.

Response position: Accepted

Delivery: Implemented · Confirmed by NAO