Press Release - Department for
Work and Pensions: Resource Accounts
2008-09
20 July 2009
The head of the National Audit Office, the
Comptroller and Auditor General, has today qualified the accounts
of the Department for Work and Pensions for the 20th
consecutive year. The accounts have been qualified because of
the material level of fraud and error in expenditure on state
benefits, except for State Pension which has a low level of error
and therefore this element of the accounts has not been
qualified. The total loss due to fraud and error is an
estimated £2.7 billion.
Across the £135.9 billion of benefits administered by DWP, a total
of £900 million was lost to fraud, £900 million to customer error,
and £900 million to official error. The total sum lost
represents two per cent of overall benefit expenditure; this is a
decrease in the percentage of benefits being overpaid which was 2.1
per cent in the previous year and is the lowest ever
recorded. In monetary terms the estimated actual loss has
remained the same over the last four years. Total
underpayments in 2008-09 are estimated to be £1.2 billion.
The benefits system is very complicated and
some benefits are prone to error; therefore the DWP faces
significant challenges in reducing fraud and error. The
Department has, however, developed a number of initiatives to help
tackle fraud and error and bring the level of overpayments
down.
Amyas Morse, the head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
“I have had to qualify my opinion on the Department for Work and
Pensions accounts because of the levels of fraud and error: an
estimated £2.7 billion of overpayments and £1.2 billion of
underpayments. While it is promising that the total
proportion of fraud and error continues to fall and the Department
has put in place measures to try to reduce this still further, the
Department should be aware of the risks of further fraud and error
due to the pressure on the benefits system because of the current
economic downturn.”
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from
the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at
http://www.nao.org.uk/. Hard copies can be
obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas
Morse, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some
900 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of
Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government
departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he
has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy,
efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other
bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 47/09
All enquiries to Sarah
Farndale, NAO Press Office
Tel: 020 7798
5350
Mobile: 07985 274
421