To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of her Department are employed to investigate benefit fraud; what the estimated cost to the public purse is of such fraud; and if he will make a statement.
Answered on
23 July 2018
Many staff within DWP play vital roles in combating fraud and error in the benefit system, including front line and processing staff.
In terms of specialists, there are (as at July 2018) 1,405.3 full time equivalent staff employed in an investigative role.
The Monetary Value of Fraud and Error estimates provide information on overpayments and underpayments in the benefit system. In 2016/17, the monetary value of overpayments classified as fraud was £2.0bn which equated to 1.2% of total benefit expenditure.