§ 37. Mr. Wallasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he intends to take to prevent further abuses of social security payments subsequent to the disclosures in Southend.
§ Sir K. JosephI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department of Employment to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. John Page) on 9th February. The work of prevention and detection of abuses of social security payments receives constant attention in both Departments, and procedures are kept under close review. The provisional number of prosecutions for all types of benefit fraud in 1971 was 9,648 as against 7,707 in 1970.
The whole question of abuse of benefit is at present the subject of a special inquiry by a committee under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Fisher.—[Vol. 830, c. 380.]