<p><strong> </strong></p><p>The table below provides the average staffing (full-time equivalent) utilised for investigating benefit fraud for the years requested.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Average staff </strong><strong>(full-time equivalent)</strong><strong> investigating benefit fraud</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>1359.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>1245.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-20</p></td><td><p>1358.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-21</p></td><td><p>128.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021-22</p></td><td><p>543.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022-23</p></td><td><p>1022.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023-24*</p></td><td><p>1076.6</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><p>*Average (full-time equivalent) over April and May 2023</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For years 2020-21 and 2021-22, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted DWP’s Fraud Investigation Service, with large numbers of staff redeployed to support the unprecedented demand for financial support.</p><p> </p><p>These numbers do not include our Compliance staff, who carry out robust and challenging interviews to ensure benefit claimants receive their correct entitlement, nor staff employed on preventative fraud work, for example our Enhanced Review Team, who are delivering significant savings for the Department as part of our shift to disrupting fraud at the outset.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Our fraud plan, ‘Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System’, published May 2022, sets out our plans to recruit additional staff into our counter-fraud teams, and we continue to recruit and train new fraud investigators in order to maximise our headcount post Covid. It should be noted that training an investigator can take anywhere between 12 and 18 months.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p>