§ Mr. SarwarTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons were prosecuted for making a false declaration in respect of benefit in(a) 1986 and (b) 1996. [25643]
§ Mr. McLeishThe available information is set out in the table. Prior to 1989, information held centrally does not separately identify the relevant statutory offences and information for 1996 is not yet available. In addition to prosecutions for the statutory offences listed in the table, some prosecutions under the common law offence of fraud involved an offence of making a false declaration in respect of benefit.
Persons proceeded against by main offence, Scotland, 1989 and 1995 Main Offence Date of sentence/ acquittal 1989 1995 Social Security Act 1975, Section 146 78 1 Supplementary Benefits Act 1976, Section 21 240 0 Social Security Act 1986, Section 55 604 26 Social Security Administration Act 1992, Section 112 — 1,328