24 February 2005 - New figures show fall in Housing Benefit fraud and error
Housing Benefit fraud and error has been cut by around £60m official estimates published by DWP today show.
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, in partnership with local authorities, we have achieved this reduction over just the first year of our continuous measurement programme.
"I am particularly encouraged by these results because they only cover the period up to March 2004 and we know there have been many improvements in preventing, detecting and deterring fraud since then. In April 2004 we introduced major changes to the way that local authorities tackle fraud in Housing Benefit.
“This is already paying dividends. The new risk-based system is twice as effective as the annual renewal system it replaced in detecting fraud and error. Our expansion of data-matching from April 2004 is detecting fraud and error sooner – we have already seen a 25 per cent reduction in the average value of detected overpayments. And we have also seen a 45 per cent increase over the last recorded year in the number of benefit fraud sanctions and prosecutions carried out by local authorities.
“These improvements suggest to me that we will see further falls in Housing Benefit fraud and error as we move towards our target of a 25 per cent reduction by March 2006.
“Our efforts in the future will focus on building on what Housing Benefit fraud investigators have achieved so far, having an effective criminal investigation structure for fraud and strong controls on day-to-day processing of benefit claims.
"We are also asking the public to help us by letting us know if they suspect someone of committing fraud. Some of the most common reasons for fraud are working and claiming and having undeclared savings. Fraudsters steal from the public the resources which could otherwise be used to improve frontline services, such as schools and hospitals.”
Estimates show roughly £600m of Housing Benefit was overpaid from April 2003 to March 2004 which is 4.9 per cent of the total expenditure. In 2002/3 around £700m was overpaid. These figures are rounded to the nearest £50m so the actual difference between the two figures is around £60m.
Notes for editors
- The figures are based on data collected for the Housing Benefit Review which is a continuous survey of 10,000 cases a year. Around £500m of Housing Benefit is estimated to have been overpaid due to fraud and error in the Housing Benefit caseload within the scope of the survey and using a rough extrapolation a further £100m is estimated to have been overpaid outside the scope of the survey. But alternative assumptions for the extrapolation could have achieved an estimate that was £50m higher or lower.
- The figures are contained in “Fraud and Error in Housing Benefit April 2002 to March 2004” a National Statistics publication which can be found at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fraud_hb.asp
- DWP has a Public Service Agreement target to reduce the level of Housing Benefit fraud and error paid to working age claimants by 25 per cent by 2006.
- The Verification Framework (VF) was introduced in May 1998 as a voluntary scheme for Local Authorities which sets out the information that must be collected and verified before benefit is paid. It also specifies the minimum standards of evidence and the checks that must be made during the life of the claim. LAs receive additional funding from the Department in the form of start-up funding and then ongoing funds for each of three modules (new claims, reviews and visits). Whilst 95 per cent of Local Authorities have now applied for or have received funding to implement the Verification Framework, we want to work with the remaining authorities to achieve 100 per cent coverage by March 2006. There are now only 19 out of 408 LAs who have, as yet, not applied for funding to take on the scheme. These authorities are: the London Boroughs of Bexley, Camden, Hammersmith, Havering, Hounslow, and Tower Hamlets; Blyth Valley; Bury; Coventry; Daventry; Isles of Scilly; Mid Bedfordshire; Sefton; South Bedfordshire; Tamworth; Wansbeck; West Berkshire; Rhondda,Cynon,Taff; and Vale of Glamorgan.
- The benefit fraud hotline number is 0800 854 440.
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