A crackdown on benefit fraudsters and a cash injection into science and technology are promised as the country awaits the Chancellor’s spending review. The Treasury hopes that action to tackle fraudsters will save taxpayers nearly £10billion over the next five years.
A source claimed “out of control levels of fraud and error” means a “shameful” £39billion was taken from taxpayers during the last Parliament.
The “biggest ever package” of measures to stamp out welfare fraud and error will see the Department for Work and Pensions gain powers to take fraudsters’ driving licences away, recover debt directly from bank accounts and get new information on banking activity.
A Government source said: “If people aren’t entitled to benefits, they shouldn’t be getting them. We have been clear we will not tolerate fraud, error or waste in the broken welfare system – especially as it’s always hard-working taxpayers who foot the bill.
“By rooting it out and stopping these fraudsters, we will deliver our plan for change and save taxpayers money.”
The spending review – which allocates Government cash across department – will be closely watched for winners and losers. Police chiefs have warned of serious consequences if their funding is cut.
But the Government is promising an £86billion boost to science and technology to “turbocharge” the economy. The cash will go towards projects ranging from new drug treatments to longer-lasting batteries and Artificial Intelligence in a bid to “generate billions for the UK economy”.
A research and development funding package worth more than £22.5billion a year by 2029/30 is promised. It is designed to empower “local leaders” to develop “innovation clusters” throughout the country through a “local innovation partnerships fund”.
This is expected to boost “drug discovery” in Liverpool, defence technology in Belfast and semiconductor development in South Wales. In addition, nearly £5million is being invested to “kick-start” a new partnership between the Manchester and Cambridge regions, which are considered “hubs of innovation”.
According to the Treasury, every £1 invested in R&D generates up to £7 in benefits to the UK economy.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Britain is the home of science and technology. [We] are investing in Britain’s renewal to create jobs, protect our security against foreign threats and make working families better off.”
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle added: “R&D is the very foundation of the breakthroughs that make our lives easier and healthier – from new medicines enabling us to live longer, more fulfilled lives to developments in AI giving us time back, from easing our train journeys through to creating the technology we need to protect our planet from climate change. Incredible and ambitious research goes on in every corner of our country, from Liverpool to Inverness, Swansea to Belfast, which is why empowering regions to harness local expertise and skills for all of our benefit is at the heart of this new funding – helping to deliver the economic growth at the centre of our plan for change.”