To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to tackle fraud involving disability benefit claimants undertaking undeclared work; and how many such cases have been identified in the last 12 months.

Where a concern is raised about an individual’s entitlement to benefit, whether through a public referral or through other intelligence, the department will always take appropriate action.

Benefit fraud occurs where an individual dishonestly makes a declaration to DWP, or dishonestly fails to report a change in circumstances, which affects their entitlement. This may include dishonestly reporting that they are unable to complete activities which does not reflect their actual ability.

The department cannot disclose the methods it uses to identify claims where there is a concern about entitlement, as doing so could prejudice its ability to prevent and detect benefit fraud.

The department publishes the outcomes delivered by its counter fraud teams annually in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts.

Due to the way fraud investigations progress, the department is unable to break this data down further. This is in part because additional offences may be identified during the course of a fraud investigation that were not recorded in the original fraud referral.