State pensioners exempt from new DWP bank account checks under Labour's fraud crackdown

The Department for Work and Pensions has disclosed that one benefit is SAFE from bank account checks. The DWP confirmed it will be given new powers by the new Labour Party government, enabling it to deduct money directly from payslips and accounts.

However, DWP minister Liz Kendall has assured that state pensioners are SAFE. Benefit fraud investigators will soon have the ability to recoup debts from those who have overclaimed, directly from their bank accounts, under new powers granted by the Labour government.

Officials have previously attributed an 'increasing propensity' for dishonesty across British society as the reason for the continued rise in scams since Covid. Ms Kendall has pledged to modernise her department's 20-year old powers, labelling their current investigatory capacities as 'absurd'.

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The DWP will be given new powers to take money directly from the pockets of benefit fraudsters, as the government promises to clamp down on welfare scams. It was revealed that DWP officials anticipate a 5 per cent increase in fraud each year.

£9.7billion of taxpayers' money was overpaid in benefits - due to fraud and error - during 2023-24, which accounted for 3.7 per cent of total benefit expenditure. This compares to £8.3billion and 3.6 per cent in 2022-23, as the rate of benefit overpayments continues to remain significantly above pre-Covid levels, reports Birmingham Live.

Writing to the Telegraph, Ms Kendall expressed concern about outdated practices in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), saying: "We're in an absurd situation where DWP's powers have not been updated for 20 years, meaning fraudsters have new ways of taking public money, and we need to keep pace with them."

She further highlighted the inefficiency in her comments to the national newspaper over the weekend, stating: "My team are still, in 2024, sending letters to gather evidence for those suspected of welfare fraud, slowing them down to snail's pace when they could be shutting down serious fraud cases."