DWP: Payments industry collaboration can help improve Universal Credit accuracy
Further integration will improve RTI capabilities, says Lord Freud
DWP welfare reform minister Lord Freud has called on the payments
industry to provide data to help improve the accuracy of Universal
Credit's real-time benefits calculations.
HMRC's RTI system is used by DWP to provide information on PAYE changes,
and relies on collaboration with payments industry to validate payment
data. Speaking at Tech UK's Payments Innovation 2014 event in London
today, Lord Freud said that wider integration with payments systems
could help to reduce fraud among working claimants as Universal Credit
is rolled out more widely.
"DWP is talking to the banks about this richer data capability, and I
consider this to be an opportunity for the payments industry to lead the
way in adapting an existing asset that you both own and safeguard on
behalf of the UK, to better meet the requirements of all customers,
including the government," he told delegates.
"Enabling the government to receive such data need not involve major heart surgery to the existing mainstream payment system."
Lord Freud said that improvements to RTI could improve the ability to
detect when claimants were lying about working, as well as providing
people whose work circumstances had recently changing with the relevant
payment without the need for any adjustment.
"If we apply the RTI principles to aspects other than earnings, like
childcare and housing costs, through a richer data solution, it will
enable those claimants to make the payments and report them to us at one
and the same time.
"This would reduce the administrative burden both on us and on the
claimant. From our perspective it would be simpler and would reduce the
possibility of errors creeping in."
Computer World
