Press Release - Department for Work and Pensions Resource
Accounts 2006-07
25 July 2007
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, has today
qualified his opinion on the Department for Work and Pensions
accounts for the eighteenth consecutive year. This is because an
estimated £2.5 billion has been lost to fraud and error in benefit
payments, and because of uncertainties over the debts created by
customers being overpaid.
Across the benefit schemes operated by DWP a total of £690
million was lost to fraud, £1,010 million to customer error, and
£850 million to official error. The sum represents 2.1% of benefit
expenditure. The estimated loss is down from £2.7 billion (2.3%) in
the previous year.
In his report Sir John Bourn notes that the past year has seen
further real progress towards removing or tackling these
long-standing qualifications of the Department’s accounts. In
particular, Sir John acknowledges that the Department has made real
progress in introducing new systems and procedures that both reduce
fraud and error and properly value and record identified debts.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
“Once again I have had to qualify my opinion on the
Department for Work and Pensions accounts because of the
significant sums lost to fraud and error: £2.5 billion or 2.1% in
the last year.
“At the same time I have been able to remove two aspects
of the qualification of the Department’s accounts which is a clear
tribute to the leadership evident within the Department in tackling
these issues.”
Notes for Editors
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard
copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850 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 40/07
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