Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether clause 128 and schedule 11 of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill would apply (a) only to recipients of Pension Credit and (b) to all recipients of the State Pension.

Fraud is a growing problem across the economy, accounting for over 40% of all crime and the welfare system is not immune to this. Although down by 10% in 2022-23, £8.3bn was overpaid in fraud and error last year in the benefit system and it is vital that the Government takes measures to see that fall further so the right support is provided to the right people.

The DWP third-party data gathering measure, contained in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, will give the department better access to relevant data which will help us identify fraud and error in the system. We expect this to save up to £600m in the next five years.

The proposed powers cover all DWP benefits, grants and other DWP payments as set out in paragraph 16 of the schedule. This is to ensure that, where fraud and error arises, the Department has the power to address it. The power does not, however, give DWP access to millions of pensioners’ bank accounts, either those claiming the State Pension or Pension Credit. What this power does is require third parties to look within their own data and provide relevant information to DWP that may signal where some DWP claimants may not meet the eligibility criteria for the benefit they are receiving. This data may signal fraud or error and require a further review by DWP – through business-as-usual processes - to determine whether wrongful payments are being made. No personal information will be shared by DWP with third parties and only the minimum amount of information on those in receipt of DWP payments will be provided by banks to the Department to enable us to make further enquiries.

In 2022/33, £100m was overpaid in the State Pension and £330m was overpaid in the Pension Credit. This compares to over £5,540m that was overpaid in Universal Credit. Only those people flagged as potentially being ineligible for the support they are receiving would be flagged through this measure and we are clear we will focus the powers in areas where there is a significant and pressing fraud and error challenge. In the first instance, we will be focusing the use of this power within Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit