A report warns that the IT system used with Universal Credit could expose it to fraud.

MPs have raised fears that the Government's welfare shake-up will leave the benefits system more vulnerable to fraud. A report by the Communities and Local Government Committee highlighted several concerns about Universal Credit, which will be implemented nationally from October and replaces a string of benefits including child tax credits. The committee revealed concerns raised during an inquiry into the changes that the IT system under Universal Credit will have trouble distinguishing between genuine and fraudulent claims. One council told the committee its understanding was that the system would not work from local authority property databases so it would not be able to detect automatically - as local systems do now - when several people made a housing benefit claim from the same property. A new fraud detection service, called Iris, is being built into Universal Credit which has a similar database to that used by local authorities for detecting housing benefit fraud. But the committee's report said it is "worrying that the system still seems to be at the development stage". It also raised concerns that during a transition period there will be an exodus of experienced local authority housing department staff, who will quit due to uncertainty over their future prospects, which "will leave the system more open to fraud".....Read more here