Benefit cheats could be stripped of driving licences

Convicted benefits cheats who neglect to wage backmost the payer could beryllium stripped of their driving licences, nether authorities plans to ace down connected fraud.

Those who repeatedly cheat the strategy and person debts of £1,000 oregon much could beryllium punished with a driving prohibition of up to 2 years.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the authorities would mean "greater consequences for fraudsters who cheat and evade the system".

The plans besides see caller powers to unit banks to manus implicit relationship accusation astir payment claimants to assistance people investigations, echoing a strategy announced by the erstwhile Conservative government.

But this is apt to look beardown absorption from the banks and privateness campaigners.

The draught instrumentality would besides springiness much powers to the Public Sector Fraud Authority, giving it much clip to analyse analyzable cases of fraud that took spot during the pandemic.

Current laws mean that repetition payment cheats tin already beryllium imprisoned successful the astir superior cases.

Ministers person estimated greater entree to banking information could prevention taxpayers £1.6bn implicit 5 years, by helping DWP investigators place fishy claims much effectively.

But run groups person warned that it volition invade claimants' close to fiscal privacy, and could pb to morganatic claimants being wrongly investigated.

In a missive to Kendall successful September, the directors of Big Brother Watch and Age UK described the plans arsenic "mass fiscal surveillance powers" which they said would "represent a terrible and disproportionate intrusion into the nation's privacy".

Currently, the section tin lone petition specified fiscal accusation wherever it has crushed to fishy fraud, and lone successful idiosyncratic cases.

The erstwhile authorities argued broader powers to get banking accusation successful bulk would assistance investigators drawback antecedently undiscovered fraud cases.

But a Tory measure to present the strategy failed to marque it done Parliament earlier July's election.

Under that plan, fiscal institutions would person been required to nonstop accusation to the DWP astir slope accounts receiving payment payments that indicated a "potential risk" of fraud oregon error, oregon look fines for not complying.

An authoritative appraisal of the instrumentality said the strategy would beryllium "fully automated, moving wrong existing banking systems" and beryllium rolled retired gradually from 2027.

At the time, Labour attacked the Tory authorities arsenic "poorly delineated" – portion Tory ministers argued wide-ranging powers were indispensable to guarantee they could use to each types of aboriginal banks, including accounts with newer, online-only providers.

Conservative shadiness enactment and pensions caput Helen Whately said the government's measure was a "continuation" of enactment started by the erstwhile authorities and Labour "must bash much to tackle the spiralling payment budget".

Since entering government, Labour has pledged that lone "very constricted information" volition beryllium shared with the section nether its equivalent plan, but is yet to acceptable retired successful item however its strategy volition work.

DWP curate Andrew Western confirmed past twelvemonth this volition see cases wherever claimants are "living abroad" without notifying the department, though a timeframe for this has yet to beryllium specified.

Accounts could besides beryllium flagged if they are holding much than £16,000, the accustomed savings bounds for being capable to assertion Universal Credit.

In a alteration from Tory plans, the authorities has said the caller powers volition not beryllium utilized to people payments of the authorities pension.

Ministers person sought to reassure critics by emphasising that the DWP volition not person powers to "access" slope accounts.

But campaigners person told the BBC they judge this is simply a "misdirection", arsenic the measures would springiness DWP the powerfulness to instruct banks to entree the accusation connected its behalf.