- Details
The DWP is to get the power to arrest claimants, search premises and seize evidence as well as being able to fine claimants where they do not have enough evidence to bring a criminal case for fraud, the government has announced.
The new measures, many of which will not be possible to introduce without an Act of Parliament, are aimed primarily at cutting fraud in Universal credit (UC).
In total, the DWP are to spend £200 million a year on the new initiative, which will see 1,400 more staff in frontline counter-fraud teams plus a new 2,000 strong team solely for checking universal credit claims.
The sweeping new powers will mean that designated DWP staff will be able to arrest claimants, search premises and seize any evidence they find without needing to use the police. The DWP say this will put them on a par with HMRC and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).
There will also be new powers for the DWP to force other organisations, especially banks, to provide data about claimants on a much wider scale than is currently legally allowed.
At the moment the DWP can only require organisations to give them information about named individuals where there is already a suspicion of fraud. The DWP want much broader powers to access information.
They say that a “small test” has been run with a bank to assess the potential of using a feed of banking data to identify possible fraud and error, “with very encouraging results”.
The DWP will be able to impose civil penalties on claimants based on a percentage of any overpayment, where the DWP does not have enough evidence to prosecute. This will be in addition to having to repay the whole amount of the benefit the DWP consider to have been fraudulently obtained.
The DWP already have the power to impose civil penalties, but they have to have evidence sufficient to meet the standard for criminal prosecution before they can do so. Under the new proposals, a lower level of evidence would be needed in order for the department to impose a penalty.
The DWP will also be able to impose penalties on organisations which the it considers are “promoting benefit fraud schemes online, creators and sellers of fraud toolkits on social media or someone supplying fake ID.”
More details about the anti-fraud plans are available on the .gov.uk website.
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Waas · 4 months ago
Is it true the dwp can now have access to your social media messages as a way of proving you have earned money??
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Mark · 1 years ago
Surely this is a breach of GDPR. There is a group of lawyers that are already investigating ICO for biased incident where council's and their contractors who fine people with parking tickets are in breach after getting the names and addresses of the driver concerned from the DVLA . This means that the Council is in breach for asking , the DVLA are in Breach for accepting the request and in breach again for sending the requested private information . It also means that the council's or parking groups are in breach then for accepting the information from the DVLA . This is an ongoing investigation by a private bunch of lawyers. Let's hope they win as there is clearly a law for one and not the other.
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sandraella · 1 years ago
What happened to innocent until proved guilty. Can't prosecute not enough evidence but will impose the sentence anyway
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G · 11 months ago
@sandraellaThat’s what I was brought up to believe…..I can assure you it does not exist……I, a law abiding Citizen was forced to go to caught to defend myself……and ‘ set aside’ a false judgement against me……..at a cost of thousands of pounds……..due to a malicious claim……..I won….of course but……..the time (9 months),stress, when I was congratulated……..I said for what, going through this for nothing…..it should have happened!!!
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whippetgood · 1 years ago
I’m interested in the “feed of banking data” in instances where a person’s benefits are paid into a joint account. Surely the right to a private life (Article 8) of the other account holder would be violated if data concerning a joint account is made available to the DWP when there is no suspicion of fraud. Obviously with means tested UC it’s likely that a claimant’s partner’s financial info is already known to the DWP, but non means tested benefits aren’t excluded from this proposal.
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FayeM · 1 years ago
I agree with so many of the comments below. As so many of us know from experience the DWP as a whole is very far from being the fair, efficient, humane organisation, fully funded and well trained, that it needs to be just to handle the powers and duties it already has (with a few individuals excepted). Being given the legal rights to use even more coercive and frightening methods of investigation and punishment (without the need for proof), alongside their woeful record in providing swift support for often desperate people, is bound to result in many further miscarriages of justice. (Let's not forget what happened to all those sub postmistresses and masters when the Post Office mis-used their powers.) Surely there needs to be a strong backlash against this proposal from MPs and organisations as well as individuals. Rooting out the fraudsters needs to be done but it is likely to be ordinary, needy people who suffer and not the organised, sophisticated business people and crime gangs, as comments below suggest.
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Kay · 1 years ago
Yet again the disabled community are labelled guilty before innocent. It's a joke they can afford the thousands of new front line staff but yer the £20 a week uplift was scrapped. Also the known fraud during lock down 3 to 4 billion is just wiped off and forgotten about. Absolutely disgusting. Let's see how long it takes for the DWP to get it wrong and some poor innocent person takes their life in fear of prison. The government don't have a clue.......totally disillusioned....and totally fed up. All eyes on us.....AGAIN....The easy soft target.
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Anna · 1 years ago
I'm all in favour of prosecuting those who perpetrate benefit fraud, but the actual methods of doing it are probably identity theft. That coupled with the DWP track record of making mistakes that cost people their lives, make this piece of news extremely worrying. There is precious little recourse to hold them to account at the moment.
How can they fine people when there is insufficient evidence to take them to court? Whatever happened to our access to justice and the idea that someone is innocent until proven guilty? This smacks of disability discrimination at its worst to me.
I can't help wondering if the extra money spend on counter fraud measures, which is only a very small percentage of overall claims, would be better spent on catching up on the backlogs in renewals that are causing us legitimate (vast majority) claimants such additional stresses. Maybe they should get their house in order before taking on more strong arm tactics to make our lives even harder.
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Hetty. · 1 years ago
Imagine how many people could be supported into work, or just helped to get by if they are unable to work, (that's if the English government were at all interested in helping people or in decent job creation, which they are not) with the £millions being spent on hounding people who are going to be labelled fraudsters, purely for needing financial support, just to access the very basic needs to survive, (access to basic needs, food, shelter, heating, are a human right, though the EngGov are about to scrap the HRA as well, scarily).
To award DWP staff powers of arrest, with no recourse to the actual laws of the land, (depending on which country you live in, I live in Scotland where Scots Law is independent and different in many ways to English law. For eg, you can't be imprisoned for debt) is absolutely abhorrent in a democracy. I would think this could be challenged, it needs to be scrutinised if this passes in the English parliament, because it smacks of a vigilante or witch hunt style of action against what is most likely to be perfectly innocent people who are otherwise unable to access basic funds to live.
Universal Credit, is it not almost impossible to get that measly financial help without ridicule, humiliation and the denial of a persons basic rights being honoured, and to be to be treated in a humane manner.
I am fearful that this will result in innocent people being castigated with no recourse to any laws which are meant to deliver a just and fair system to all citizens no matter their financial status.
How this new assault on peoples' rights to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness, is to be imposed is open to question. What criteria will be used, and by what measure will those imposing this (I would think unlawful) draconian treatment on the poorest and most desperate people in our society, be held to account?
People need to stand up for themselves and if they can't, get together and as with sites like this, support, question and ensure that people do not end up victims of a nasty, backward, witch hunt type of trial in a kangaroo court (?). I am sure organisations like CAB will be very busy if this atrocious inhumane and unlawful bill/act of the English parliament is passed. ( I call it the English parliament because Scotland does not get to choose the government in power at WM at any one time).
Lastly, as has been pointed out, perhaps the EngGov should look into their own backyard for utterly so much disgraceful criminal and fraudulent (but successful) claims made to the public purse, as well as tax evasion which as we all know is happening on a vast scale in the UK.
Everyone pays tax, even if not 'working', via VAT. Everyone pays into the public purse and should be able to access support when life takes a downturn for whatever reason that may be. Not many people want to be dependent and unable to contribute to society for the good, in some way or another, well, I can think of a few but they are not poor!
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Jo Woolnough · 1 years ago
This is awful news they already push people into poverty & beyond & now they will have the right to arrest people too. How do we know it will only be fraudulent cases as they have already shown they use underhand practices to push people out of their benefits this will be a license to finish us off - it’s disgusting!!!
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Paul · 1 years ago
Need advice
my wife is on low income as a career
we live totaly on her wage
my self just been finished from employment due to lower back problems and been accepted for pip
iv heard rumours if my wife is earning im awarded reduced pip any advice please-
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Oggi · 1 years ago
@PaulHi Paul.
Your PIP should not be affected as it is not an income related benefit.
Benefits like income related ESA, UC etc would be affected by any household income your wife brings home. Also if you receive contributions based ESA this would not be affected by your wife's income.
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Frank Birchenough · 1 years ago
No sign of increased tax inspectors yet? The Tory government has slashed the number of fraud investigators in HMRC, culminating in the massive frauds being perpetrated during lockdown. They have written off vast sums gifted to their friends, as even the Daily Mail reported, albeit rather quietly (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10410325/Treasury-writes-4-3bn-taken-fraudsters-furlough-business-support-lockdown.html) But we have yet to see widespread prosecutions for this. With a few exceptions, the most the government has been able to bring themselves to do is use different bodies they control to ban directors from being directors. Depressingly typical is this from last year - "Director banned for £150k Bounce Back Loan fraud"
"A Rotherham-based director has been banned after setting up three companies with the sole purpose of fraudulently obtaining £150,000 worth of Bounce Back Loans" -(https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/business/finance-strategy/director-banned-for-ps150k-bounce-back-loan-fraud) -
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scott · 1 years ago
Does arrest go both way,the DWP owe me over £4k so I can go to my local JC and arrest the
manager ? what would the police or courts think
about that.I doubt the queen would give royal
consent to a hair brained scheme like this.
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Frank Birchenough · 1 years ago
@scott Dear Scott, she has no power to interfere. The fiction that the monarch "approves" legislation is one that should be removed to expose the government to scrutiny. The fact is we live in a county with no effective constitution, as ably demonstrated by the actions of Boris Johnson. You may remember a furore about parliament being prorogued. This is done by an order in council, with ministers using the supposed power of the monarch to shut down parliament. The Queen has no say in this. She has to agree. All a farce to deflect criticism from the real people in power.
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anonymous · 1 years ago
Disgusting - considering the already hostile environment the DWP and Tories have created now they'll be able to threaten claimants with prison to withdraw benefit claims. Considering how frequently they illegally doctor reports and assessments this is one power they should never have as it is wide open to abuse and antagonise legitimate claimants with threats of prison or a huge fine when they have done nothing wrong. What's stopping them making threats off the record to stop claimants making a claim in the first place - it will happen as soon as this is brought in. Considering they already drive people to suicide and destitution I can imagine they'll be rubbing their hands in glee with this new tool in their arsenal to force claimants to commit suicide or stop a claim.
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AndyB · 1 years ago
If you're going to give extra powers for prevention of fraud then you need to demonstrate that there is sufficient fraud to justify the extra expenditure. Frankly I'd like to see the numbers broken down better as the powers are as much aimed at UC where we quite rightly point out that only DLA/PIP has such a low fraud rate.
Before the powers are granted, there needs to be a rigid framework of oversight on the DWP to ensure the extra power is properly used. Current powers are used with zero oversight or liability so further powers should be withheld.
Certainly the police have been significantly improved over recent years given enhanced transparency and oversight - still a ways to go yet.
Any organisation which can stop your benefits based on non-return of a form, which had been sent in five weeks prior (but acknowledged mail opening over six weeks delayed) should surely not be trusted with powers of search and seizure if they can't even open the mail!
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ELinda · 1 years ago
This is terrifying news. We have already heard about claimants being bullied or claimants comments being ignored to reduce successful claims. With these powers how do we know they won't start falsifying evidence to gain convictions? Especially if they are paid on a commission or bonus scheme. Who will police them?
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Amanda · 1 years ago
I get PIP. Several years ago I tried a part time job (minimal hours) to try and boost my confidence to try working. I wrote to DWP, told them everything and said I was going to do 'permitted' work before I started. I knew I was within the criteria for earnings and hours worked. Months later I got a fraud letter, asking me in for fraud interview. I was in bits. I went for the interview. Long story short.... They say they never received my letter, then said I never showed up for the fraud interview (which I did). They then said as I had not complied with any of their requests (which I had) they stopped all my benefits for three months (in the kids summer holidays). I'm a single parent. I was traumatised. Months later they said.... Oh yeah we found your original letter you sent and confirmed I had turned up for the fraud interview. But no apology! I had a panick attack at the job and left. Never would I try 'permitted work' again. Imagine if they had these powers of arrest!!!
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