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Social Security Benefits: Fraud and Maladministration

Asked by Rupert LoweRestore BritainDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled Answered 1 December 2025UIN 93194

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefit expenditure was lost to (a) claimant fraud, (b) official error and (c) customer error in each of the last five years.

Answered by Andrew Western

Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain.

Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2024-25 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK and cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK

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