Senior officers from the division have been grilled by MPs over profit funds
DWP everlasting secretary Peter Schofield speaking concerning the division’s work (Picture: Parliament TV)
The DWP has spoken about main modifications referring to Common Credit score. Senior officers from the division had been requested about many elements of their work in an look earlier than the Work and Pensions Committee.
They spoke about their efforts to make sure prospects get the correct amount of advantages, together with efforts to proper historic points round state pension underpayments and overpayments for different advantages, akin to Carer’s Allowance. One other subject the committee had been eager to get an replace on was the division’s work to stop wrongful and fraudulent funds.
DWP bosses had been requested particularly about Common Credit score, the place the overpayment price was 9.7 % for the 2024/2025 tax yr, with greater than £6.3billion wrongfully paid out. It is a greater than threefold improve in comparison with 2019/2020, when £1.7billion was erroneously paid.
DWP everlasting secretary Peter Schofield assured the MPs he’s working onerous on the difficulty. He stated: “Completely this can be a huge focus for us within the division. Popping out of the pandemic, we set out a tackling fraud and error plan, to actually drive down fraud and error, and plenty of measures that we took.”
He stated that wanting on the percentages, the overpayment price for Common Credit score was at 9.4 previous to the pandemic, rising to its peak to 14.7 % in 2021/2022, and but it had fallen to 9.7 % in 2024/2025.
Mr Schofield stated additional work is underway to crack down on overpayments: “We have additionally had the Finances, new measures introduced, we have had the act of Parliament, that provides us new instruments.”
New laws has are available with a raft of recent anti-fraud powers, together with checking account checks to confirm the eligibility of individuals on Common Credit score. These checks may also apply to these on Pension Credit score and on Employment and Help Allowance, and so they might be expanded to different advantages.
Mr Schofield stated they hope to make additional progress: “The OBR as a part of their forecast within the Autumn produced their evaluation of the place all our measures would get us going ahead. That confirmed us happening with fraud and error in Common Credit score happening to 4.7 % in 2028/2029. That is effectively beneath the pre-pandemic stage.”
The highest civil servant defined how this is applicable to the broader advantages system: “For those who apply that throughout the entire advantages system, then that may take fraud and error in the whole advantages system to 2.8 %, which on a comparable foundation is decrease than it has ever been earlier than. That’s what I am aiming for, that’s my goal.”
The DWP boss additionally spoke about how he plans to extend efforts to deal with faulty funds of Pension Credit score. Mr Schofield informed the committee: “The place we have centered on fraud and error actually onerous – and we have began with Common Credit score as a result of it was the most important space of loss we have seen huge enhancements – we are able to now flip our consideration to Pension Credit score as effectively. We’re additionally doing a focused case assessment, so I can add that to the record on Pension Credit score.”
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Focused case assessment includes DWP officers taking a look at a claimant’s eligibility or funds, in addition to figuring out modifications in an individual’s circumstances that they haven’t reported. Mr Schofield stated some £300million has been invested on this undertaking for the present yr, with round 4,000 brokers taking a look at instances.
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