Fraud (Hansard, 26 April 1993)

§ 7. Mr. Trend
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what further action his Department is taking to reduce fraud.

§ Mr. Lilley
In this financial year, I am introducing financial incentives to encourage local authorities to fight housing benefit and council tax benefit fraud. I am also allocating additional resources to allow the Benefits Agency to deploy more specially trained investigators and to make greater use of new information technology to identify false claims.

§ Mr. Trend
Does my right hon. Friend agree that every pound lost to fraud means less for those in real need? Does he agree that the Government have a moral commitment to pursue vigorously fraud and abuse, which hurts the very people whom the social security system is designed to help?

§ Mr. Lilley
I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. It is important that we strive as much as possible to prevent fraud. That is why I set a target last year for the Benefits Agency to identify and stop some £500 million of fraud. I am glad to say that provisional figures suggest that we shall have exceeded that target. In the current year, for both the Benefits Agency and local councils handling housing and council tax benefit, we are setting a combined target of identifying and stopping almost £1 billion of fraud. It is no surprise that, as a result, I was able to 717 confirm an extra £1 billion for those on the lowest incomes through the income-related benefits. If we do not take tough action on fraud, we cannot ensure that the money is channelled back to the people to whom Parliament intended it to go.

§ Mr. Frank Field
As one of the Members who have pressurised this lethargic Government to take action against fraud, may I ask the Secretary of State to accept that there are two abuses of the social security system? There are those who claim benefits to which they are not entitled and there is the even greater number of people who do not claim benefits to which they are entitled. Does the Secretary of State give equal time to those who are eligible but do not claim? Will he outline to the House which major new initiatives he has taken to ensure that some of the poorest in our society claim the benefits that are due to them?

§ Mr. Lilley
I have to acknowledge that the hon. Gentleman takes an even-handed view and recognises the importance of tackling fraud and I pay tribute to him for that. But I agree that we must also ensure that those who are entitled to benefits and are ignorant of their entitlement get to know about them. In the next few days I shall make a further announcement about measures that we are taking, especially on family credit, which is one of the most important benefits in helping people off permanent reliance on benefit and into work. We shall encourage people to claim family credit and improve the advertising so that they do so.

§ Mr. Streeter
Does my right hon. Friend agree that far too much taxpayers' money is spent not only on those who claim fraudulently, but on supporting people who lead grossly irresponsible lives and do not deserve to be supported by the rest of us? Is his Department also examining that aspect?

§ Mr. Lilley
I recognise that people feel that benefit has a moral dimension and are reluctant to see some of the payments that we make. But, above all, we have to give priority to children. That sometimes means helping children in family circumstances of which hon. Members may not approve. The rights of the child have to come first, even though we naturally want to ensure that we do nothing to undermine the strength of the family, the right to which is, of course, the greatest right that a child has.