Benefit cheats to be banned from driving in 'biggest crackdown on fraud in a generation'
22 January 2025, 00:54 | Updated: 22 January 2025, 00:59
‘Benefit cheats’ could lose their driving license for two years if they don’t repay their debts in a new Government scheme to curb welfare fraud.
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People convicted of benefit fraud could lose their license for up to two years if they fail to pay back money they owe in what the Government has called 'the biggest fraud crackdown in a generation.'
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be able to apply to courts to suspend people's driving licenses if they owe more than £1,000 in benefit debts and repeatedly ignore requests to pay it back.
The DWP will get increased powers to recover debts, including taking money directly from fraudsters' bank accounts.
It will also have the ability to get bank statements from people they think have enough cash to pay back their debts, but are refusing to do so.
They will be able to search people's homes and seize items - such as computers and smartphones - as evidence against fraudsters.
The DWP however insists it will not have direct access to people's bank accounts.
"We are turning off the tap to criminals who cheat the system and steal law-abiding taxpayers' money," Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said.
She added: "This means greater consequences for fraudsters who cheat and evade the system, including as a last resort in the most serious cases removing their driving licence.
"Backed up by new and important safeguards including reporting mechanisms and independent oversight to ensure the powers are used proportionately and safely.
"People need to have confidence the government is opening all available doors to tackle fraud and eliminate waste, as we continue the most ambitious programme for government in a generation - with a laser-like focus on outcomes which will make the biggest difference to their lives as part of our Plan for Change."
The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which would put the measures into law, is due to be introduced in Parliament on Wednesday.
The government estimates it will help save the taxpayer £1.5 billion over the next five years.
In an attempt to quell fears around the Bill, ministers will bring forward codes of practice for DWP workers, as well as oversight and reporting mechanisms.
Last week, a civil liberties campaigner told LBC that giving the DWP the power to access benefit claimants' bank accounts amounts to 'unprecented intrusion'.
Silkie Carlo, Director of British civil liberties NGO Big Brother Watch - told LBC's Paul Brand: "We're talking about many people who are living on the poverty line who are navigating a very complicated system.
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"There's no reason that this group of people should have fewer rights than the rest of the population."
She added: "We're not talking about fugitives, we're talking about benefit recipients, many of whom will be carers or have serious illnesses or are pensioners".
Elsewhere in the Bill, the Public Sector Fraud Authority will be given more powers to tackle Covid-era fraud, doubling the time limit for civil claims against Covid fraud from six to twelve years.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, welcomed the measures, claiming they were a "continuation" of the Conservatives' work in power.
"Having knowingly appointed a convicted fraudster to his cabinet, Keir Starmer cannot be trusted to get tough on fraud," she went on to say.
"Labour must do more to tackle the spiralling welfare budget, and explain why they are yet to match our £12 billion in savings - raising the prospect that Rachel Reeves will be back again later this year with another tax raid on working people."
