Bulgarian nationals had their welfare benefits unfairly suspended without explanation, a UK government review of an automated benefits system revealed.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) faced scrutiny after Bulgarian and some Polish nationals reported unexplained suspensions of their Universal Credit benefits, prompting Edmonton MP Kate Osamor to raise concerns about potential nationality-based targeting for benefit fraud investigations.

Most of those affected were single mothers working part-time in low-paid jobs, who relied on universal credit to supplement rent payments, Osamor said. 

The suspensions lasted for 'protracted periods', and those impacted said to have suffered poverty, homelessness, and were forced to use food banks. 

Timeline ⏰

• July 2020. DWP begins widespread deployment of automated fraud detection tools.

• May 2021. Arrests of a high-profile Bulgarian organised crime group involved in a GBP 50m benefit scam; this context likely influenced subsequent algorithmic "risk" profiling.

• Late 2021. MP Kate Osamor and charities report a surge in unexplained benefit suspensions specifically affecting Bulgarian and Polish constituents.

• December 2021. DWP officials tell Parliament the system is "not an algorithm" but "data matching."

• February 2024. DWP directors admit in a UK Parliamentary select committee meeting that the systems "do have biases in."

• June 2024. Freedom of Information requests reveal that 200,000 people were wrongly flagged by a DWP algorithm over three years.

• December 2024. Internal DWP documents are released confirming "statistically significant" bias based on nationality and disability in the Universal Credit AI model.

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/06/mp-raises-concern-over-bulgarian-nationals-uk-benefit-suspensions

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/23/uk-risks-scandal-over-bias-in-ai-tools-in-use-across-public-sector

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/23/uk-officials-use-ai-to-decide-on-issues-from-benefits-to-marriage-licences

• https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/uk-government-ai-use-benefit-payments-bias-b1115692.html

• https://enfielddispatch.co.uk/benefit-fraud-team-unfairly-targeting-bulgarian-roma-people-in-edmonton/