§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list the number of cases in which funds have been recovered by the Compensation Recovery Unit during the last year for which figures are available; what were the administrative and other costs of the unit during that period; and what was the gross and net sum ingathered after allowing for those costs;
(2) how many staff are presently employed in the Compensation Recovery Unit.
§ Mr. Roger EvansThese are matters for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available.
Letter from Mr. Michael Richard to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 7 March 1995:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the number of staff currently employed in the Compensation Recovery Unit: the administrative and other costs of the unit; the number of cases handled by it and the gross and net sums ingathered after allowing for these costs during the last year for which figures are available.The total number of people employed in the Compensation Recovery Unit at the present time is 196; this includes 46 part time staff.During the period from I April 1994 to 28 February 1995. the number of cases in which sums have been recovered amounts to 60,821 and the sum recouped was £91,750.000. After taking into 224W account costs of £4,070,000, the net amount recovered equates to £87,680,000.I hope you find this reply helpful.