Written questions by Lowe.

Whether his Department routinely records the nationality and immigration status of claimants in cases of proven benefit fraud.

The Monetary Value of Fraud and Error Statistics are not disaggregated by nationality and immigration status.

How many cases of benefit fraud identified in the last five years involved individuals whose immigration status was later found to be (a) overstayer, (b) illegal entrant or (c) failed asylum seeker.

The Monetary Value of Fraud and Error Statistics are not disaggregated by nationality and immigration status.

If she will publish an annual breakdown of benefit fraud and error by nationality and immigration status of the claimant.

The Monetary Value of Fraud and Error Statistics are not disaggregated by nationality and immigration status.

What mechanisms are in place to ensure that individuals whose immigration status no longer entitles them to public funds are automatically removed from benefit systems; and how many such removals have taken place in each of the last five years.

Universal Credit systems carry out daily automatic checks against Home Office data to identify any changes in immigration status, and subsequently, DWP caseworkers stop claims where the individual no longer has an immigration status that permits recourse to public funds. However, the department does not hold data on the number of benefit claims disallowed after a review.

Whether she has considered restricting access to non-contributory benefits for non-UK nationals until they have completed a minimum qualifying period of lawful residence and tax contribution.

On 20 November my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary launched a consultation on proposals for a fairer pathway to settlement, the point at which foreign nationals generally gain access to public funds. These plans include doubling the standard qualifying period for settlement from 5 to 10 years, with the opportunity to reduce this period based on their contributions to the UK economy and society and longer periods for those who contribute less. The consultation also covers proposals that benefits might not be available to those who have settled status, reserving them, instead, for those who have earned British citizenship. You can find more details in here: “Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy (accessible)”, and in “Open consultation: Earned settlement”. In conjunction with these reforms, my Department will consult in due course on a change to taxpayer-funded benefits to prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK.

Whether he has made an estimate of savings from halving levels of benefit fraud and error by 2030.

Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain. Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2024-25 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK and cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK

What proportion of benefit expenditure was lost to (a) claimant fraud, (b) official error and (c) customer error in each of the last five years.

Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain. Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2024-25 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK and cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK

How much benefit expenditure was lost to fraud and error in the most recent year for which figures are available by benefit type.

Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain. Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2024-25 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK and cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK

How many staff in his Department were employed in tackling benefit fraud in (a) 2025 and (b) 2020.

Since Autumn Budget 24, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 25, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in GB. The Government is committed to ensuring that public funds are spent appropriately and deliver value for taxpayers. Fraud against the welfare system undermines public services and takes resources away from those who need them most. Within the Department for Work and Pensions, tackling fraud and error is a shared responsibility across all roles, from Work Coaches in Jobcentres to colleagues in Service Centres. Because this work is embedded throughout the organisation, it is not possible to provide a precise breakdown of staff numbers or costs dedicated solely to preventing and detecting fraud

How many people with (a) asylum seeker status, (b) refused asylum seeker status and (c) no lawful immigration status are in receipt of benefit support; and what the annual cost of that support is.

People without valid UK immigration status are prohibited from accessing public funds benefits, including asylum seekers and those refused asylum in the UK. People with a pending asylum application may be able to claim asylum support provided by the Home Office, which is separate to the mainstream welfare system.

How many benefit claims were terminated in the last 12 months as a result of fraud investigations; and what the estimated value of those claims was.

Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in the welfare state in Great Britain. Information on the outcomes of our fraud investigations was published this year and can be found using the below link (pg 114-115): DWP Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 25

How much Universal Credit was paid to (a) foreign nationals and (b) households with refugee status in October 2025.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many telephone operators work on the Universal Credit helpline by the nationality of those operators.

We do not centrally hold the nationality of Universal Credit call handlers and to provide the information would incur disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83169 Universal Credit: Telephone Services, how many and what proportion of calls to the Universal Credit helpline dropped in each of the last five years.

DWP does not maintain a telephony reporting measure for “dropped calls”

How much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.

I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2025 to PQ 81251.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to question 82834 on Social Security Benefits: English Language, how many claimants have been required to attend English language courses as a work preparation activity in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82834 on Social Security Benefits: English Language, what the total cost was for English language courses as a work preparation activity in each of the last five years.

This information is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 83176 on Universal Credit, how many and what proportion of claims were made by people with the support of a paid interpreter; and what was the the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation for supporting claimants in each of the last ten years.

The Department does not retain data on how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims were made by people requiring the support of paid interpretation services. The breakdown of costs for translation and interpretation across all benefits including Universal Credit, from 2019/2020 to present is shown below. This data is not available prior to 2019. Translation Costs (including Pension Credit Customers)Interpretation Costs2019/20£ 472,539£ 2,219,6132020/21£ 398,270£ 3,537,8722021/22£ 518,927£ 6,823,1402022/23£ 641,747£ 5,668,8222023/24£ 677,614£ 6,195,0532024/25£ 919,390£ 8,676,773

How much was overpaid to Universal Credit recipients in each of the last ten financial years.

This information was published earlier this year and can be found via the following link:Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK.

What the cost to the public purse was of Universal Credit payments made to people with refugee status in each of the last ten financial years.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.