§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are his Department's current estimates for unemployment benefit fraud; and how the figures are arrived at.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. John Battle, dated 26 July 1993:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about the current estimates for unemployment benefit fraud; and how the figures are arrived at. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.We do not know how many people claiming unemployment benefits are doing so fraudulently and we do not make approximations. However, you may be interested to know that in the last financial year my fraud inspectors saved the taxpayer £44.71 million net as a result of over 61,000 people withdrawing their claims to benefit following investigation.I hope this is helpful.As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Paliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many officers have been employed investigating unemployment benefit fraud(a) in local offices and (b) in regional teams for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. John Battle, dated 26 July 1993: 690W
Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about how many officers have been employed investigating unemployment benefit fraud, in local offices and regional teams, for each year since 1979. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.The ES fraud investigation organisation was restructured in 1984 and, unfortunately, comparative figures for earlier years are not available.The number of ES Inspectors employed are as follows:
Year Number 1984–85 450 1985–86 650 1986–87 720 1987–88 785 1988–89 820 1989–90 820 1990–91 820 1991–92 780 1992–93 780
ES inspectors are of Executive Officer grade and are supported by clerical and managerial staff.I hope this is helpful.As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.