The Department for Work and Pensions has reported a year-on-year decrease in the level of fraud and error in benefits payments.
Permanent secretary Sir Peter Schofield said he was “pleased to report” the overpayment rate for core benefit Universal Credit had “reduced by over a fifth compared to last year”.
However he acknowledged that the department still needed to “go further” to return to pre-pandemic levels of fraud and error.
National Audit Office head Gareth Davies again qualified DWP’s annual report and accounts because of “the estimated level of overpayments attributable to fraud, claimant error and official error”. The department's accounts have been qualified for every year of its existence.
According the annual report and accounts, DWP paid out £290.8bn in benefits and the state pension in the year to 31 March 2025.
Of that figure, a total of £9.3bn related to overpaid benefits and £200m was overpaid state pension. In 2023-24, the figure for overpaid benefits was £9.7bn.
Universal Credit accounted for two-thirds of all benefits overpayments in 2024-25, according to the Office for National Statistics.
However, the overpayment rate for Universal Credit dropped to 9.7% in 2024-25, down from 12.4% the previous year.
A projection included in the annual report and accounts suggests DWP is on course to return to pre-pandemic levels of fraud and error in benefits payments by 2028-29.
DWP’s annual report and accounts commentary said much of the reduction in the Universal Credit overpayment rate was a reflection of improvements including staff checking claims as part of Targeted Case Review programme.
In May the department said the 5,900-strong TCR “taskforce” had notched up £1bn in savings across its first three years and was on course to save £13.6bn by 2030 through probing claimants’ entitlements for errors.
Perm sec Schofield said 2024-25 had seen DWP register successes across its detection activity and exceed its annually managed expenditure savings target to deliver around £2bn in total savings.
“We have continued to improve payment accuracy and continued to learn and develop our understanding of the root causes of all types of fraud and error, taking steps to use this learning to ensure payment accuracy,” he said.
“We are making better use of data and continuing to detect and address inaccuracy where it already exists, in an effective and efficient way, to minimise the impacts of debt on our claimants.”
DWP’s latest annual report and accounts also records that Schofield’s pay bracket increased by £10,000 during the last financial year.
His salary is listed as £205,000-£210,000 in 2024-25, up from £195,000-£200,000 the previous year.
The annual report and accounts reveals that Schofield also received a bonus of £10,000-£15,000 in both years.