Tory DWP surveillance powers get Labour green light with bank account monitoring planned

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 (DWP) has revealed new legislation that would grant the department sweeping new powers to crack down on fraud - and they look familiar.

Despite recent changes at the DWP to overhaul disability benefit assessments and look at claimants as "individuals", the new bill proposed by the Government looks set to feature some Conservative plans to crack down on claimants who are being paid too much, either by accident or through fraud. Including an unpopular policy that would enhance the DWP's bank monitoring powers.

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.

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The DWP says the Fraud, Error and Debt Bill will allow them to better investigate fraudsters, with bank account surveillance allowing the government to keep up with the "more sophisticated" nature of modern benefit fraud. The department also argued search and seizure powers would allow it to "take greater control investigations into criminal gangs defrauding the taxpayer."

Bank account monitoring might also potentially remove the growing issue of unintentional benefit overpayments, which has seen many carers fall afoul of the roughly £150 a week threshold to claim Carer's Allowance, with some left owing thousands. Instead, the government would be notified when earnings went over this limit, preventing the payment from going through.

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."

It was estimated in 2023 when these plans were first floated by the Conservatives, that this could result in roughly nine million Brits having their accounts monitored with mostly Universal Credit, ESA, and Pension Credit claimants under the microscope. However, the Benefits and Work forum has argued that this number could be significantly higher due to the recent surge in Pension Credit applications.

It was also confirmed that, similar to the previous Bill, these powers would result in the DWP requiring banks to carry out this monitoring, rather than it being carried out by them directly. The full details of how these powers will function will be spelled out when Labour's Fraud, Error and Debt Bill is presented to parliament.

Reassuring the public, the DWP said: "The Bill will also include safeguarding measures to protect vulnerable customers. Staff will be trained to the highest standards on the appropriate use of any new powers, and we will introduce new oversight and reporting mechanisms, to monitor these new powers. DWP will not have access to people’s bank accounts and will not share their personal information with third parties.”