Several MPs raised concerns over the new Eligibility Verification Measure.
Reasons your Universal Credit may be cut by DWP
New proposed Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reforms set to deliver the “biggest ever crackdown on fraud against the public purse” have been cleared in Parliament and will now progress to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill seeks to curb multibillion-pound benefit fraud and includes allowing the DWP to recover money directly from fraudsters’ bank accounts.
The Bill would also allow the DWP to have the power to obtain bank statements from people they believe have enough cash to pay back welfare debts but are refusing to do so – but they would not be able to directly access accounts or see how claimants’ spend their money.
READ MORE: DWP confirms start date for Eligibility Verification and ‘monitoring’ bank accounts to stop benefit fraudREAD MORE: DWP measures to stop people fraudulently claiming monthly PIP payments of up to £749
Courts could also suspend fraudsters’ driving licences after an application by the DWP, if they owe welfare debts of more than £1,000 and have ignored repeated requests to pay them back.
However, a group of Labour MPs rebelled to support an amendment designed to curb UK Government powers to verify a person’s benefit eligibility and the Liberal Democrats work and pensions spokesman Steve Darling detailed several “major concerns” from his party, including “Orwellian levels of mass surveillance of those who have means tested benefits”.
Conservative former Brexit secretary David Davis said it could mean more than nine million people are put at risk of “unnecessary” surveillance.
John Milne, the Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham, warned it would be “the innocent and the accidental claimants who fall into the trap”, rather than deliberate benefit fraudsters.
He said: “The implicit assumption is that we should trust in the DWP as a completely error-free organisation across the entirety of its massive operation, but they do make mistakes – they make mistakes all the time, and even when they know they’ve made a mistake, and they’ve been told so, they’re very capable of making the same mistake again.”
Speaking at third reading, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told MPs: “Delivering our Plan for Change means ensuring every single pound of taxpayers’ money is wisely spent and goes to those in genuine need.
“That is what this legislation will help deliver, with the biggest ever crackdown on fraud against the public purse.”
Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) forced a vote on one of his amendments to the Bill in a bid to curb UK Government powers to look at benefit claimants’ accounts.
The amendment would have meant the UK Government could only look into accounts belonging to people who the Government “has reasonable grounds to suspect has committed, is committing or intends to commit” an offence.
Mr Duncan-Jordan received the support of 10 Labour MPs in the division lobby but his amendment was rejected by 238 to 85, majority 153.
Before the vote, Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “The Bill rightly seeks to tackle organised crime and online fraud, but also worryingly ushers in dangerous new powers compelling banks to trawl through financial information.”
He added: “It is the very poorest in our society which are going to be affected most by this legislation. So banks will be able to trawl for financial information even where there is no suspicion of wrongdoing. That’s the key point in this debate.”
DWP Minister Andrew Western had said Mr Duncan-Jordan’s amendment would “undermine” the proposed new power designed to help verify a person’s benefit eligibility.
Mr Western said: “We do require this power because it will enable better data sharing between the private and public sector to help check claimants are meeting the criteria for their benefits and to detect incorrect payments at an earlier stage before any suspicion of wrongdoing has arisen.
“It is not a power to be used to respond to suspected fraud. Information will not be shared with the DWP under the assumption that a claimant is guilty of any wrongdoing. The DWP must look into why the account has been flagged by the bank and ascertain whether an incorrect payment has been made.”
Mr Western said the DWP would also make further enquiries to determine whether a benefit has been incorrectly paid and whether this was due to fraud or error.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the Conservatives “support many of the measures” in the Bill, adding she was “disappointed” that their amendments were rejected by the Labour Government.
They included proposals to create specific offences and lengthy prison sentences to target so-called “sickfluencers” who use social media to help people fraudulently claim benefits.
Ms Whately said: “Why should we tolerate people using social media platforms to help others commit fraud, helping people cheat the tests which are there so support goes to those who need it?
“Why should someone who has committed fraud be able to keep their high-end television or luxury car just because they’ve spent their ill-gotten gains before the department gets to them? We’re clear that both of those things should be tackled but sadly Labour has shown themselves to be on the side of the fraudsters instead.”
Eligibility Verification Measure
It’s important to be aware that the DWP will not have direct access to the bank accounts of millions of people on means-tested benefits including Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.
The DWP will work with banks to identify people who may have exceeded the eligibility criteria for means-tested benefits, such as the £16,000 income threshold for Universal Credit – and get that information to then investigate that claimant to prevent possible overpayments and potential cases of fraud.
The legislation only allows banks and other financial institutions to share limited data and excludes the sharing of transaction data, which means DWP will not be able to see how people on benefits spend their money.
In fact, the factsheet explains how banks and other financial institutions could receive a penalty for oversharing information, such as transaction information.
It adds: “Any information shared through the Eligibility Verification Measure will not be shared on the presumption or suspicion that anyone is guilty of any offence.”
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New DWP measures to tackle fraud
The new Bill will deliver on the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to safeguard taxpayers’ money – ensuring every pound is spent wisely and effectively:
- New powers of search and seizure – so DWP can control investigations into criminal gangs defrauding the taxpayer.
- Allowing DWP to recover debts from individuals no longer on benefits and not in PAYE employment who can pay money back but have avoided doing so.
- New requirements for banks and building societies to flag where there is an indication that there may be a breach of eligibility rules for benefits – preventing debts accruing.
- All the powers will include strong safeguards to ensure they are only used appropriately and proportionately – including new inspection and reporting mechanisms.
- DWP will have a clearly defined scope and clear limitations for the use of all the powers it is introducing, and staff will be trained to the highest possible standards.
The measures in this Bill will enable the Public Sector Fraud Authority to:
- Reduce fraud against the public sector by using its expertise to take action on behalf of other departments, against those who attack the public sector.
- Better detect and prevent incorrect payments across the public sector through new information gathering and sharing powers.
- Use strong non-criminal sanctions and civil penalties to provide an alternative to criminal prosecution and to deter fraud.
- Improve the government’s ability to recover public money, through new debt recovery and enforcement powers.
- Use new powers of entry, search and seizure to reduce the burdens on the police in the most serious criminal investigations.
- Improve fraud management in future emergencies by creating specialist time limited powers to be used in crisis management situations – building on lessons learned during COVID-19.
The Public Sector Fraud Authority will implement a ‘test and learn’ approach when utilising these powers, piloting different approaches and expertise to find the best way to tackle public sector fraud.