Over £9 billion in benefits are estimated to have been overpaid over the past year due to fraud and error, a figure one government minister has called "staggering".
Official statistics reveal the total overpaid benefit expenditure reached £9.5 billion in the year ending March, with fraud accounting for the majority. Meanwhile, an estimated £1.2 billion was underpaid during the same period, according to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures.
