Powers that will give the Department for Work and Pensions powers to force banks to monitor benefit claimants' accounts have been announced
With the Labour Party Conference in full swing and the new party of government tentatively laying out its plans for Britain after 14 years of Conservative rule, the Department for Work and Pensions has revealed new legislation that would grant the department sweeping new powers to crack down on fraud - and they look familiar.
These powers were contained in the Tory's Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, which was scrapped when then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the July election that resulted in a historic Labour landslide. But now, alongside powers to search homes and seize assets, the DWP is full steam ahead with its attempt to claw back some of the estimated £10 billion that is overpaid or fraudulently claimed each year.
Explaining why the DWP needed these powers, the department argued the surveillance of claimants' bank accounts would bring "greater fairness" into the system by allowing it to "recover debts from individuals who can pay money back but have avoided doing so, bringing greater fairness to debt recoveries."
Disability Benefits Benefits Labour Party Conference Labour Party Conservative Party
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