The DWP could be given powers to speak to airlines over people's travel plans and banks to find out details of your personal finances as it looks to crack down on benefit fraud. It would mean they could gather information from banks on where people are spending their money and obtain travel details of where claimants are going and for how long.
In a report on Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, the DWP says its current information-gathering powers were first put in place decades ago and need updating because they are no longer flexible enough to tackle the types of fraud seen today. It said: "Some of the key legislation DWP relies on is now over 20 years old. We plan to modernise and strengthen our powers.
What are the six new potential DWP powers against fraud? The survey found that two of the potential new powers were seen as "completely unacceptable" by more than 10 per cent of the overall number who took part. These were the power to make arrests along with the power to collect information when it was explained using the example of contacting an airline to see where a claimant is going and how long for.
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