The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall, has announced that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will not have access to individuals' bank accounts in their efforts to detect fraud and errors in the benefits system. Instead, banks will be required to examine their own datasets and only share "very minimal" information with the DWP. The decision comes after earlier complaints from privacy campaigners over the DWP's plans to access people's bank data under the previous government's now-defunct Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI). The new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill (FED) will require banks and financial institutions to monitor their own datasets and only share data that may indicate potential benefits overpayments. Secretary Kendall stressed that the new powers are intended to verify benefit eligibility and will not grant the DWP access to any bank accounts or information on claimants' spending.
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