§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of reports to the benefits cheat information line have proved unfounded to date; and what redress is available to those wrongly accused. [8073]
§ Mr. HealdIt is too early to give any indication of the number of unfounded or successful referrals generated by calls from the public to the hotline. Fraud investigations often take some time to process, to ensure that fraud is proven before someone has their benefit stopped.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Chancellor's Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Streeter), to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 17 October 1996, Official Report, columns 1086–87.
§ Mr. Kevin HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the annual cost of running the national benefit fraud hotline; [8924]
(2) what has been the total cost of the national benefit fraud hotline since it was set up. [8923]
§ Mr. HealdThe annual cost of running the national benefit fraud hotline will be approximately £1.5 million per annum. Information regarding running costs to date is not available.
§ Mr. HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much has been spent on advertising the national benefit fraud hotline in 1996–97. [8926]
§ Mr. HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average number of calls made to the national benefit fraud hotline each month. [8921]
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the cost of setting up and running the benefit fraud hotline; and if he will make a statement. [9444]