HC Deb 15 December 1969 vol 793 cc895-7
6. Mr. Fortescue

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what further action he is taking to tighten the administration of his Department with the object of eliminating unwarranted payment of sickness benefit and supplementary benefit.

Mr. Ennals

Claims for sickness benefit must be supported by medical evidence of incapacity for work and are subject to systematic checks. In 1968 we referred 546,000 claimants to the Regional Medical Service for examination and made 432,000 home visits.

As for unwarranted payments of supplementary benefits, there are a variety of means of dealing with abuse and fraudulent claims. I am glad to announce that, in addition to increases made in 1968 and 1969, there will be a further increase of about 100 specialist staff in 1970 for unemployment review officers and special investigators.

Mr. Fortescue

In June of this year the Secretary of State said that he was mounting a special inquiry into the unwarranted and alarming increase in sickness benefit payments, and in reply to me he said that he would consider making a similar inquiry in respect of unemployment benefit. What has happened to those inquiries? Have they been mounted? If so, what result has come from them?

Mr. Ennals

The study of sickness benefit claims is proceeding and I am not yet able to make a statement, though it should be realised that two of the reasons for the increase in the amount of money paid out in sickness benefit are, first, the increased cost of the benefit and, secondly, the fact that about half of all days of incapicity relate to people who have been sick for six months and more. I have no statement to make yet about the unemployment benefit study.

Mr. William Hamilton

Every hon. Member would want to curtail and eliminate abuses in payments of this kind. Can my hon. Friend give any idea of the proportion of the total amount incurred in supplementary benefits which has been found to be fraudulent in the last three years and how many hon. Members have brought cases to his attention which were proved later to be fraudulent claims?

Mr. Ennals

In many cases there has been much unfortunate publicity. There are two forms of abuse. One is the sort of abuse of the Supplementary Benefits Commission which has been indulged in by some sections of the Press. Last Sunday the News of the World had a four-inch heading which said that one in every four women on benefit was drawing money illegally. This was a monstrous statement.

The vast majority of women drawing benefits are pensioners and widows. In 1965 we conducted a study of 152,000 case papers of deserted wives, divorced women with children, and women with illegitimate children. Even in this area, in which abuse might be thought to be a likely one, we found a fraud rate not of 25 per cent, but of less than 7½ per cent.

Mr. Dean

Does the Minister realise that the reports of abuse, whether confirmed or otherwise, can easily do great harm to those who are entitled to benefits? Can he give an assurance, in view of the statement he has just made, that where there appears to be fraud these matters will be investigated more promptly than has been the case hitherto?

Mr. Ennals

Very many cases of fraud are investigated and many of them are brought to court. In other cases allowances are reduced where we find that a claim has been a wrong one. I agree that this type of publicity can do a great deal of damage. The decision I announced to increase the staff both of special investigators and of unemployment review officers is an indication of our determination to deal with what is a small degree of abuse but a very disturbing and often very widely publicised one.

Mr. Crowder

How many prosecutions have been instituted during the past year or two years as a result of the Department's investigations?

Mi. Ennals

I do not have that statistic available here. I will write to the hon and learned Gentleman, or perhaps he would care to table a Question seeking the information.