§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the Prime Minister referred to "benefit fraud estimated at £4 billion a year" (The Times, 5 January), to what areas of the benefit system and to what estimate was he referring; and whether Her Majesty's Government are now in a better position to make a better estimate. [HL972]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)The figure of £4 billion is the previous administration's estimate of the level of benefit fraud. The estimate was based on the findings of the ongoing programme of benefit reviews. Copies of completed benefit reviews are available in the Library.
The Government are examining this estimate. We are not convinced that the current analysis of benefit review results enables us to distinguish fully between wrongly made payments arising from fraud, incorrect claims, misunderstandings by benefit claimants on when to report changes of circumstances, or the weakness in the design of benefits. We have asked for further work to be done on the methodology of, and analysis of, all current reviews.