US EditionDWP could start checking bank accounts in major cash crackdown - Liverpool Echo
- On April 29, 2025, the House of Commons passed new legislation granting the Department for Work and Pensions enhanced powers to detect and address benefit fraud.
- The Bill seeks to tackle multibillion-pound benefit fraud through measures including compelling banks to share selected financial data and enabling direct fund recovery from offenders' accounts.
- Critics raised concerns about privacy, mass surveillance risks for over nine million benefit recipients, and potential wrongful suspicion similar to past Horizon scandals involving banks.
- The government claims the new powers, called the Eligibility Verification Measure, would save £940 million over five years while upholding privacy safeguards and legal compliance under the Human Rights Act.
- The Bill now progresses to the House of Lords and could significantly increase DWP's ability to prevent and recover incorrect payments, despite ongoing debate about proportionality and privacy.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?
13 Articles
13 Articles
All
Left
2
Center
5
Right
2
DWP snooping powers to check claimants' bank accounts passes key hurdle
MPs have approved the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill at third reading - meaning they are now one step closer to being able to carry out the "biggest ever crackdown on fraud against the public purse"
·Leicester, United Kingdom
Read Full Article
Coverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution56% Center
Bias Distribution
- 56% of the sources are Center
56% Center
L 22%
C 56%
R 22%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
Ownership
To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage
