Government understates benefit fraud for 2007-2008

The DWP has issued estimates for benefit fraud from April 2007 - March 2008. The link in the DWP's press release is wrong - the report is here.

Figure 4A summarises the main categories of benefit fraud -

• Income support - £220m (2.5% of amount paid out)
• Jobseeker's allowance - £60m (2.8%)
• Pension credit - £80m (1.1%)
• Housing benefit - £190m (1.2%)
• Instrument of payment - £10m
• Disability living allowance - £50m (0.5%, last reviewed 2004-5)
• Retirement pension - £0m (last reviewed 2005-6)
• Carer's allowance - £50m (3.9%, last reviewed 1996-7)
• Incapacity benefit - £10m (0.1%, last reviewed 2000-1)
• Interdependencies - £10m (last reviewed 2007-8)
• Unreviewed - £80m
• Council tax benefit - £40m (0.6%)
  

But that total of £800m remains a huge understatement.

For instance, the National Fraud Initiative identified probable fraud in council tax single person discount at a "cautious" £200m. Clearly that is nowhere in those figures. And the estimate for incapacity benefit is laughably small.

Swansea council have estimated that benefit fraud costs around £100 a household each year - over £2 billion nationally.