16 December 2004 - Fraud halved as DWP war on fraud saves over £1 billion
Fraud has been slashed by half as official statistics published today show DWP has beat its target to cut fraud and error in the main benefits by a third.
Anti Fraud Minister Chris Pond said today: "Our tough action against fraud and error is paying off for the taxpayer and I'm delighted that we have reached this milestone.
"Since 1997 we have saved the equivalent of over £1 billion on what DWP would have paid out if we had not achieved these great results.
"These official figures show that we have cut fraud in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance by half. We have also exceeded our target to reduce fraud and error by 33 per cent by March 2004 - so far we have cut it by 37 per cent.
"This shows we are getting results in preventing, detecting and deterring fraud. But we’re not complacent. We must maintain this hard work to achieve our next target - cutting both fraud and error by half by 2006.
"We also need the public to help us by letting us know if they suspect someone of committing fraud. Fraudsters steal from the public pocket and the saving of £1 billion is equivalent to 14,000 doctors, 32,000 teachers or 22,000 police officers.
"Our efforts in the future will focus on building on what we have achieved so far, having an effective criminal investigation structure for fraud and strong controls on day-to-day processing of benefit claims. Our strategy is designed to deliver more prevention and better detection and we will be testing further improvements in Yorkshire and the Humber and East Midlands from January onwards."
The estimated overpayment of Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance at March 2004 was recorded as 6.4 per cent - the lowest ever recorded figure for loss in these benefits. The overpayment figure is down from 10.4 per cent of expenditure in 1997/98.
Over the same period, fraud has gone down from 7.2 per cent of spending to 3.1 per cent.
Notes for editors
- Official statistics released today show that the DWP has successfully achieved its target of 33 per cent reduction in fraud and error by March 2004.
- The target compares current performance to fraud and error levels in 1997/98. Over the years since the target was introduced the Department would have paid out £1 billion more if it had not acted robustly to cut fraud and error to current levels.
- The benefit fraud hotline number is 0800 854 440.
For more information contact: John Fennessy on 020 7238 0762
Press office: 020 7238 0866
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk / http://www.targetingfraud.gov.uk