Technology can drive the Government’s crackdown on welfare fraud, writes Rob Sinclair, CEO of the Nottingham-based investigative and intelligence software developer Altia, pictured.
The recently elected Labour Government delivered its first Autumn Budget in 14 years, setting out its ambitions to deliver on its promise of fiscal responsibility to the country. At the top of the agenda was a core focus on cutting costs and ensuring the efficient use of public funds. Among the Government’s pledges was a timely commitment to tackling a longstanding issue which drains billions from the public purse each year. Coming a few weeks before the world recognises International Fraud Awareness Week (November 17 to 23), Labour highlighted how it intends to throw the kitchen sink at perpetrators of welfare fraud.
As Chancellor Rachel Reeves addressed parliament, she laid out plans to make the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) counter-fraud team more robust, strengthening their presence with the adoption of new investigative methods and unprecedented legal powers, granting authorities direct access to bank accounts to recover debt as she aims to save £4.3 billion over the next few years. If this ambition is to be realised, specialist software, such as Altia’s Financial Investigation Toolkit, will play a critical role in driving the Government’s anti-fraud efforts.
Strain of fraud on public purse
International Fraud Awareness Week serves as a reminder of the scale and sophistication of welfare fraud. Indeed, welfare fraud remains a substantial challenge in the UK and in the 2024 financial year alone, it was estimated that 3.7 percent, some £9.7 billion, of total benefit expenditure was lost to fraud and error.
After factoring in recoveries, this left a net loss of 3.2 percent, £8.6 billion. It’s not just the cost of welfare fraud, but the significant strain on time and resources also. Investigators often need to analyse large volumes of data, cross-checking claims with financial and employment records, which can be incredibly labour-intensive. Additionally, cases require thorough legal scrutiny to ensure sufficient evidence for prosecution, leading to a lengthy process, often compounded by interdepartmental collaboration and resource allocation which can delay justice.
Alleviating pressure with technology
Reducing these eye-watering financial numbers and time constraints requires sophisticated technology which will deliver seamless investigative processes, helping counter-fraud teams to detect fraud patterns and streamline their operations.
Tools such as Altia’s Financial Investigation Toolkit play a vital role in this regard, offering a suite of features tailored for efficiency, accuracy, and accountability in fraud detection. From automated bank record retrieval to transaction analysis and fraud pattern recognition, they provide investigators with a comprehensive solution to identify irregularities quickly and with precision. Software which provides tools to securely access and analyse transaction records, highlight patterns, and anomalies, can indicate fraudulent activity. And with the added ability to connect to multiple data sources, it becomes easier to cross-reference information and detect potential fraud.
By automating time-consuming tasks, it allows investigators to focus on high-risk cases and ensure that resources are used effectively. And this is a game-changer in welfare fraud prevention, where complex fraud patterns often go undetected due to limited investigative bandwidth.
Meanwhile, features to ensure transparency and accountability, such as audit trails that document each investigative action not only supports the integrity of Government operations, but also makes it easier to secure legal outcomes if fraud is detected.
Additionally, specialist investigative software can help organisations enhance fraud detection by utilising analytical techniques and methodologies to connect individuals to digital transactions. Capturing anything from social media posts and news articles to public databases and forums, they enable organisations to leverage this wealth of available data while adhering to ethical standards and privacy regulations. Investigators can then carefully track digital breadcrumbs, piecing together clues to identify those involved, and bolster their financial investigations. Tools such as OSINT Investigator and Insight support users to do this, helping them to identify patterns and manage streams of information.
Supporting authorities
At Altia we have been putting our Financial Investigation Toolkit’s effectiveness to the test, with councils across the UK deploying it to identify fraudulent claims and recover properties for those genuinely in need. It has worked to great effect, seeing the time to process tenancy fraud cases reduced by 90 percent, with reviews taking 10 minutes on average rather than several hours in some boroughs. It can do the same in tackling welfare fraud.
For the Government to achieve its ambitious fraud reduction goals, technology must be at the core of its strategy. By placing its faith in the most innovative technologies, it can streamline its processes, achieve cost savings, and ensure that much needed welfare funds reach those who genuinely need them. With the world recognising International Fraud Awareness Week, never before has the role of technology been greater in safeguarding public funds, and reinforcing the Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in welfare support.
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