Petition Make it standard practice to take the names of people reporting benefits claimants for 'fraud'.

The current success rate for the Benefit Fraud Hotline is just 0.31%. Currently, anybody can maliciously report someone for benefit fraud when no such fraud is taking place, and as their name and address are not taken, when the report is proven to be false, nobody is punished for wasting the time and money of both the claimant and the Department for Work and Pensions.

I was told by a Compliance Officer that names are not taken because "if they were, fewer people would come forward". It is my belief that those who had genuine reason to suspect benefit fraud would still come forward, but those who are falsely reporting would think twice.

We call on HM Government to make it compulsory for people reporting benefit fraud to give their names, so that they can be duly punished if it is proven that they have made such a report maliciously.