The UK Government has narrowly lost a vote in the House of Lords, with peers voting for more stringent measures to tackle fraud involving public funds. The upper house supported a Tory proposal to grant additional powers to the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) to investigate suspected fraud, with 200 votes in favour and 194 against, a majority of six.

The proposed legislation aims to combat multibillion-pound benefit fraud and includes provisions for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to recover money directly from fraudsters' bank accounts. It would also empower the DWP to obtain bank statements from individuals believed to have sufficient funds to repay welfare debts but who are refusing to do so.

Courts could also suspend the driving licences of fraudsters following an app

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