Following recent laws that have empowered the benefits agency with additional abilities to collect information to tackle fraud, the organisation is seeking to equip itself with new and modern tools
The Department for Work and Pensions is planning to sign a multimillion-pound deal with suppliers of surveillance technology, including covert cameras and live-streaming tools.
A newly released commercial notice reveals that, later this year, the DWP is planning to appoint one or more suppliers to an initial three-year contract to support the department’s “live surveillance strategy”.
In recent years civil society groups have shed light on – and often roundly criticised – the department’s use of surveillance techniques including covert filming of those suspected of defrauding the benefits system.
Laws passed last year will also “modernise and strengthen [the department’s] existing information-gathering powers… to allow DWP’s fraud investigators to compel relevant information from any third party when conducting a criminal investigation into a case of suspected fraud on an identifiable individual”, according to government policy documents.
Alongside these beefed-up powers, a new set of tech providers will be tasked with delivering a range of surveillance technologies, beginning with “vehicle-based video storage and recording equipment [which] allows video footage to be captured and securely stored on discreet equipment”. The tools being sought by the DWP must “continuously record during deployments and retain high-quality video evidence even when network connectivity is unavailable”.
The installed technology will include “covert cameras integrated discreetly inside and outside the vehicles… [that] are designed to remain hidden from public view while providing clear, reliable footage, with the ability to provide high-quality footage in all weather conditions and during hours of darkness.
Alongside the cameras, the DWP is seeking to deploy an “encrypted live streaming capability [that] provides secure, real-time transmission of video from the vehicle to authorised users on a viewing platform”.
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This will be enabled by an “application for viewing and controlling… [footage which] serves as the central interface for authorised users to monitor live video feeds and remotely manage connected in-vehicle devices on DWP devices, [and through which] users can control cameras, initiate or stop recordings”.
The final requirement stipulated by the DWP is digital storage systems providing “a secure, central repository for video content transmitted from live streaming operations”.
The notice adds that the department requires a “storage environment [that] ensures that all uploaded footage is retained in accordance with data governance, audit, and evidential standards, [and] also enables authorised users to access, review, and manage recordings as part of investigations or operational decision-making”.
Between now and 18 May, the DWP is conducting a programme of supplier engagement through which it intends to “conduct one-to-one sessions with interested suppliers” who are able fulfil one – or potentially all – of the department’s surveillance tech needs. Firms wishing to take part are asked to email DWP and register via an online portal, the notice indicates.
The department currently intends to issue a contract notice opening bidding on the opportunity around mid-May, with a deal expected to come into effect in early September. It is expected that the engagement will offer a possible two-year extension, which would take its conclusion to 2031.
The DWP did not comment for this article, beyond indicating that the commercial exercise is currently only in preliminary investigative stages and that all subsequent stages are not yet guaranteed.
