To pay the right amount, to the right person, at the right time, government needs effective processes. Where these fail, fraud, error and outstanding debts to government all increase. In addition, new ways of delivering services bring new processes and controls, and create new risks and new opportunities. For example, more data sharing between government bodies can reduce fraud and error, but can also enhance the risk of cyber crime and accidental loss of confidential customer information.
Fraud and error affects many departments and almost all government bodies have debt owed to them, such as overdue tax liabilities and outstanding fines. Government could save £10 billion every year through better management of fraud, error and debt – especially by DWP and HMRC, which deal with the largest payments to and from the public.
Key NAO publications: Fraud landscape review (Feb 2016); Fraud and Error Stocktake (Jul 2015); Understanding fraud and error: a primer (PDF - 281KB) (Jul 2015); and Managing debt owed to central government (Feb 2014).
This investigation covers a single, major cause of underpayment error in ESA. This error relates to people whose existing benefit claim was converted to ESA and who were entitled to income-related ESA but were only awarded contribution-based ESA.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has qualified his audit opinion on the regularity of the 2016-17 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. This is owing to the high level of fraud and error in benefit expenditure excluding State Pension, resulting in over and underpayments to claimants.
4 July 2017
Online fraud is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales, but has been overlooked by government, law enforcement and industry.
The NAO have investigated concerns that online sellers outside the EU are avoiding charging VAT.
The NAO has conducted an investigation into DFID’s approach to tackling fraud, following an increase in the potential risks after the government committed to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid.
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today issued a report on the 2015-16 accounts of HM Revenue & Customs.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Amyas Morse, has qualified his audit opinion on the regularity of the 2015-16 accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions. This is owing to the unacceptably high level of fraud and error in benefit expenditure, other than State Pension where the level of fraud and error is lower.
The exact scale of fraud within government is unknown. The quality and completeness of fraud data is often variable.
HMRC has met its targets to raise more tax revenue in the short-term; however, an estimated £16 billion is lost to tax fraud each year. HMRC needs to improve the way it uses data and analysis to understand the effect of its actions to tackle fraud.
The government continues to lose large amounts of money through fraud and error overpayments and many vulnerable people get less support than they are entitled to.