Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to make it easier to report benefit fraud allegations.

Esther McVey

The public can report benefit fraud by telephoning the National Benefit Fraud Hotline which is a confidential free phone service that anyone can use anonymously to report their suspicions. The service is widely used handling over 350,000 referrals in 2013/14. Alternatively an allegation can be made using an online facility, by letter, or by telephoning a Jobcentre Plus office.

We recently ran a communications campaign pilot to test the effectiveness of communications in reducing fraud and error and we are looking to expand this activity. Our communication campaign aims to challenge and change attitudes and behaviours towards benefit fraud. This includes improving awareness of the need for claimants to report changes in their circumstances and encouraging the general public to report potential benefit fraud.

We are actively looking at ways to improve fraud referrals, in particular, focusing on making better use of digital channels and technology.