§ Mr. MarlowTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many claimants were found in the recent fraud investigations in the west midlands to have been making claims for benefit to which they were not entitled; what proportion this represents of the total number of benefit claimants in the west midlands; and what is the latest figure for the total number of claimants nationally.
§ Mr. LeeIn the two recent very successful fraud investigations in the west midlands, a total of 558 claimants withdrew their benefit claims following investigations by my Department. This represents 0.2 per cent. of the total number of people unemployed and claiming benefit in the west midlands region. The national total in March 1988 was 2,564,000.