Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the 18% of Universal Credit claims which contain an element of fraud.

The 18% figure shown in Table 12 of the estimates on Fraud and Error in the benefit system during the financial year 2022 to 2023 is based on a randomly selected sample of UC claims. More detail on the causes of fraud and error in Universal Credit can also be found in Tables 3 and 4 of those statistics.

The full estimates for fraud and error in the benefit system for 2022/2023, including the relevant tables, can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2022 to 2023 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)