Fraud, Error Debt & Grants

Public Accounts Committee calls for greater focus on preventing over- and underpayments

Department for Work and Pensions accounts qualified again as NAO says fraud and error in the benefits system "remains unacceptably high"

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) launched the Global Fraud Risk Register, its new global initiative for tackling fraud across the public sector.

At least 2% of the government’s benefits expenditure has been taken up by fraud and error since 2005, according to new figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The government will save an additional £2.3bn by reducing fraud, error and debt, chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement last week.

The efforts of Companies House (CH) to tackle fraud should be based on “strengthening the current model rather than radically changing company law”, its chief executive has told CSW, to ensure that anti-fraud work doesn’t weaken transparency in business information or create additional burdens on business.

Fraud is widespread at government contractors A4e and Working Links, their former head of audit, Eddie Hutchinson, has said.

A poll by CSW, carried out in partnership with analytics company SAS, has found that 74 per cent of senior civil servants and 73 per cent of all civil servants believe that departments and agencies would be better incentivised to tackle fraud and error if they were allowed to keep some of the savings.

All departments, agencies and non-departmental bodies will have to commission private companies to conduct ‘spend-recovery’ accounts in search of fraudulent or mistaken payments, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude announced on Monday at the launch of the government’s Fraud and Error Strategy.