Overview

• The Government will begin rolling out the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill’s measures from 2026 to combat benefit fraud and aims to save £1.5 billion over five years.
• The Eligibility Verification Measure enables banks and other third-party organisations to flag claimants who may breach benefit criteria without granting the DWP direct access to transaction histories.
• Financial institutions must share only limited data under strict safeguards and face penalties if they overshare personal or transaction information.
• New enforcement powers grant the DWP authority to recover debts directly from fraudsters’ bank accounts and impose driving bans of up to two years on repeat offenders.
• The Public Sector Fraud Authority will use a test-and-learn approach to pilot new information-gathering methods and expand search, seizure, and civil-penalty capabilities.