§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what procedures are instituted in order to establish whether or not a widow is cohabiting;
(2) what criteria are used for establishing whether or not a widow is cohabiting.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe main criteria taken into account are set out in paragraph 17 of the Supplementary Benefits Handbook, published by the Supplementary Benefits Commission in November 1972, a copy of which is in the Library. If information is received which suggests that cohabitation exists inquiries are made to establish the facts. In the course of these inquiries the widow will usually be interviewed and, in some circumstances, the man. These criteria and procedures apply equally in the supplementary benefits and national insurance fields.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many widows have had their pension withdrawn for cohabiting by the local office and had it subsequently reinstated on appeal in the last year for which figures are available;
(2) how many widows have had their widow's pension withdrawn for cohabiting in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. O'MalleyIn 1973, 1,146 widows had their national insurance widows' pensions withdrawn for cohabitation. Subsequently, 40 had them restored after appeal to the national insurance local tribunal and one after appeal to the National Insurance Commissioner.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the marital status, widowed, divorced, separated or unmarried, of those women 176W whose books were withdrawn on suspicion of cohabitation between 1969 and 1973; in what age groups they fall, whether 20 or under, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, and over 50 years of age; and what was their regional distribution;
(2) how many widows had their books withdrawn on suspicion of cohabitation between 1969 and 1973.
§ Mr. O'MalleyI regret that, because of the way in which the records are kept, no information is available about those women who lost their supplementary benefit on account of cohabitation. The following information relates to widows who were disqualified for receiving national insurance widows' benefits because of cohabitation:
Nine months ended 31st December 1970 460 Full year 1971 840 Full year 1972 1,140 Full year 1973 1,146 No age or regional breakdown is available.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what percentage of appeals by widows accused under the cohabitation rule before the Supplementary Benefits Tribunal and the National Insurance Tribunal, respectively, were successful in those cases where the appellants were represented;
(2) how many widows in receipt of State benefit and accused of cohabitation were represented at local national insurance tribunals, supplementary benefits appeals tribunals, and appeals to the National Insurance Commissioner between 1969 and 1973; and how many of these representatives were legally qualified.
§ Mr. O'MalleyStatistics analysing representation in appeals against the refusal of supplementary benefit on the grounds of cohabitation are only available for 1973 onwards. The figures do not differentiate between the sex or marital status of the claimant; but, before supplementary appeal tribunals in such appeals, in 1973, of the 149 claimants who were represented 52–35 per cent.—were successful. In 17 of the 149 cases the representative was a solicitor.
The only information about representation in appeals against the disallowance of national insurance and industrial injuries widow's pensions on grounds of cohabitation relates to appeals to the 177W National Insurance Commissioner. Twelve appeals were made to the Commissioner in 1973. Two claimants were represented in the resultant hearings, but in neither case was the representative legally qualified.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of cases investigated between 1969 and 1973 by Department of Health and Social Security special investigators relate to allegations of cohabitation.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe percentage of cases investigated by special investigators which involved allegations of cohabitation in each of the years in question was:
Percentage 1969 … … … … 40 1970 … … … … 37 1971 … … … … 38 1972 … … … … 36 1973 … … … … 36
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many officials were dealing with cohabitation allegations as part of their normal fraud detection duties between 1969 and 1973.
§ Mr. O'MalleyAllegations of cohabitation relating to supplementary benefit claimants, including a small number who also receive widow's benefit, are normally dealt with by special investigators who spend about one-third of their time on this work. The average number of these officers in post in each of the years in question was:—
1969 … … 171 1970 … … 226 1971 … … 259 1972 … … 287 1973 … … 293 Allegations in respect of widows not receiving supplementary benefit are investigated by inspectors. No detailed information is kept but there are about 2,000 inspectors and they spend about 5 per cent. of their time investigating national insurance benefit fraud of which cohabitation forms a very small part.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) in how much benefit is estimated to have been overpaid to widows suspected of cohabitation;
178W(2) how much money per annum is recovered from widows alleged to have been cohabiting.
§ Mr. O'MalleyI am afraid that the information for which my hon. Friend asks is not available.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what percentage of those accused under the cohabitation rule exercise their right to have their case heard by an independent tribunal;
(2) how many widows accused of cohabitation and having had their books withdrawn appealed to the National Insurance Commissioner in the latest year for which figures are available;
(3) how many widows who had their books withdrawn appealed to local national insurance tribunals and how many to a supplementary benefit appeals tribunal in the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. O'MalleyI regret that, because of the way in which the records are kept, the information is not available in relation to recipients of supplementary benefit. In 1973 approximately 2,080 widows in receipt of national insurance or industrial injuries widows' pensions had their cases considered on account of cohabitation; benefit was disallowed in 1,146 cases and there were 119 appeals to the national insurance local tribunal. This figure represented 5.7 per cent. of the cases considered and 10.4 per cent. of the cases where benefit was disallowed. There were 12 appeals to the National Insurance Commissioner.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many widows per annum are prosecuted for fraudulently obtaining benefit, on grounds of cohabitation; how many of these were fined, conditionally discharged, found not guilty, put on probation, or gaoled, respectively; and how many of these appealed against the court's decision.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe total number of completed prosecutions of widows for fraudulently claiming national insurance widows' benefits on grounds of cohabitation in 1973 in England, Wales and Scotland was 22. Departmental records do not show the results of each 179W of those prosecutions but, in 1973, there were 38 prosecutions for offences of all types concerning national insurance widows' benefits, including cohabitation, with the following results:
Fines … … 23 Conditional discharge … … 5 Acquittal … … 2 Probation … … 6 Imprisonment … … 1 Admonished … … 1 It is not known whether there were any appeals against the courts' decisions. Figures for prosecutions in relation to supplementary benefit are not available for widows as a separate group.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of time widows, who had their books withdrawn upon suspicion of cohabitation, were without their books; and how many who eventually appeal have their order books returned.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe only available information relates to the withdrawal of national insurance widow's benefit order books. The time taken from the impounding of an order book until the notification conveying the insurance officer's decision on cohabitation depends on the circumstances of the case and may take up to eight weeks. If the claimant appeals a further eight weeks may elapse until the local tribunal's decision is known. If there is an appeal to the National Insurance Commissioner this may take a further four to five weeks.
Of the 120 claimants who appealed in 1973, 40 had their order books restored after appeal to the national insurance local tribunal and one after appeal to the National Insurance Commissioner.
§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the official definition of cohabitation for the purpose of administering the social security system.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThere is no statutory definition. What has to be decided is whether the relationship between a man and a woman who live together is such that they are to be regarded as living as man and wife in the ordinary sense of the terms.