Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill 2024-25: Progress of the bill
An overview of the progress of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill through the House of Commons prior to report stage.

This House of Commons Briefing Paper provides background to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill’s provisions; summarises the key measures; and includes relevant comment. The Bill is scheduled to receive its Second Reading on 20 July 2015.
Welfare Reform and Work Bill [Bill 51 of 2015-16] (2 MB , PDF)
The Welfare Reform and Work Bill will implement some, but not all, of the measures announced in the Chancellor’s Summer Budget 2015 on 8 July. The overriding aim of the welfare benefit measures in the Bill, including changes to Support for Mortgage Interest and reductions in social housing rents, is to reduce expenditure and “help to achieve a more sustainable welfare system.” A related aim is to support efforts to increase employment and “support the policy of rewarding hard work while increasing fairness with working households.”
It is essentially a Bill of three parts. First, it will introduce a duty to report to Parliament on:
Second, it will repeal almost all of the Child Poverty Act 2010 and introduce a new duty for the Secretary of State to report annually on “life chances”: children living in workless households and educational attainment at age 16, in England. The name and remit of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission is changed so that it becomes the Social Mobility Commission.
Finally, the Bill allows for the introduction of extensive changes to welfare benefits, tax credits and social housing rent levels. These will account for around 70% of the £12-13 billion in welfare savings identified in the Summer Budget 2015. The welfare/housing measures include:
Some of the measures in the Bill had been widely trailed, such as the reduction in the benefit cap to £23,000, while others, including the social housing rent provisions, were unexpected.
Some of the provisions in the Bill apply across the UK while others apply in England, Wales and Scotland only. Some provisions apply in England only. The territorial extent of each clause in the Bill is summarised in section 11 of this paper.
Welfare Reform and Work Bill [Bill 51 of 2015-16] (2 MB , PDF)
An overview of the progress of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill through the House of Commons prior to report stage.
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