Social Security Benefits
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 October 2024 on DWP Fraud, Error and Debt Bill, HCWS114, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the £1.6 billion saved over the next five year period will be due to tackling (a) fraud, (b) error and (c) debt in each of the next five years.
Answered by Andrew Western
The savings from the Eligibility Verification Measure (EVM) come from both fraud and error, and it is not possible to separate the components.
The measures referred to have now been scrutinised by the Office for Budget Responsibility and included in the Budget (table 2.1 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/672b98bb40f7da695c921c61/Autumn_Budget_2024_Print.pdf) that sets out the year by year savings and estimates £1.5bn over five years from 25/26.
The proportions coming from a) fraud and error which comes from EVM and b) debt which comes from the new debt recovery powers in each year is as follows:
| 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 |
F&E | N/A | 33% | 55% | 64% | 65% |
Debt | N/A | 67% | 45% | 36% | 35% |
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