§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the amount of(a) erroneous
Table A: Overpayments Value of official error Value of customer error Benefit 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 Contributory Benefits1 17,218,844 22,382,564 14,800,517 21,282,055 28,484,420 33,869,503 Income Support 67,923,629 94,419,967 71,461,623 170,419,299 198,510,053 220,643,950 Unemployment Benefit2 50,235 159,781 7,804 947,214 909,263 263,872 Jobseekers Allowance 739,134 10,071,179 9,530,671 702,776 19,057,220 31,933,785 Attendance Allowance 2,003,042 2,158,956 2,109,577 1,485,358 4,080,296 5,116,223 Disability Living Allowance 5,392,505 11,078,403 11,238,154 3,666,447 7,231,337 8,273,408 Invalid Care Allowance 1,981,510 4,553,788 6,140,968 8,090,321 25,026,090 21,726,441 Child Benefit Directorate3 — — 9,599,275 — — 13,927,975 Disability Working Allowance 61,671 102,279 65,006 62,183 87,597 126,510 Family Credit 1,704,039 910,535 881,523 2,677,865 5,093,301 6,918,817 Pensions Directorate4 9,509,276 11,544,820 12,332,892 1,639,642 2,656,646 8,328,301 Earnings Top Up5 — 10,010 4,543 — 12,560 39,557 1 Includes contributory benefits processed in District offices: Sickness Benefit, Invalidity Benefit, Retirement Pension, Widows Benefit, Attendance Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Mobility Allowance, Family Credit, Invalid Care Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Disability Working Allowance, Child Benefit, Industrial Injuries Death Benefit, Maternity Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Industrial Injuries Death Benefit, Earnings Top Up, Reduced Earnings Allowance, Guardians Allowance. 2 Unemployment Benefit ceased to be paid on the introduction of JSA in 1996 although some retrospective overpayments are still identified. 3 Includes Child Benefit, One Parent Benefit and Guardians Allowance—records not kept in 1996–97 or 1997–98. 4 Includes Retirement Pensions, Widows Benefit, Attendance Allowance and Overseas Benefits. 5 Introduced in October 1996 but no overpayments recorded until 1997–98. Note:
Figures include non-recoverable overpayments written-off under an Easements Package agreed with Treasury
656Wunderpayment and (b) erroneous overpayment arising as a result of error by (i) officials and (ii) customers, for each benefit administered by his Department for each of the last three years. [114669]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 14 March 2000]: The administration of benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my right hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Frank Field, dated 22 March 2000:
657WThe Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what was the amount of (i) erroneous underpayment and (ii) erroneous overpayment arising as a result of error by (a) officials and (b) customers, for each benefit administered by his Department for each of the last three years.The figures for overpayments represent the value of debt which has to be recorded. For most benefits (or grouping of benefits) I can provide the information you have asked for in full and this is set out in table A. Where I can provide you with partial data this is explained in the note to table A.From the figures in table A you will note that the value of overpayments is increasing. This increase in the value of debt reflects an increase in the identification and processing of overpayments which, in turn, results from increased activity on programme protection initiatives to drive down the levels of fraud and error. The number of overpayment cases processed (for all benefits) has increased from 0.9 million cases in 1996/97 to 1.2 million cases in 1998/99.When an underpayment is found the payment is corrected straight away and noted on the individual file. However, the information is not collated centrally. The information I can provide you with is therefore limited, and confined to those benefits where the Agency conducts checking regimes which provide a statistically valid estimate of underpayments. This information is set out in table B which also carries explanatory notes.I hope this is helpful.
Table B: Underpayments £ million Benefit of official error Value of customer error Benefit 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 Income Support 192.8 165.4 210.9 n/a n/a 40.0 Jobseekers Allowance 1— 20.1 22.2 n/a n/a 4.0 Incapacity Benefit 106.4 64.8 77.6 n/a n/a 2— 1 Jobseekers Allowance was introduced during 1996–97. 2 Incapacity Benefit is not subject to Area Benefit Reviews. Notes:
1. These figures are estimates of the monetary value of underpayments based on a statistical sample of each benefit which is checked for customer error or official error.
2. The estimate of customer error is obtained from Area Benefit Reviews. 1998–99 is the first full year of these reviews.
3. The estimate of official error is obtained from Quality Support checks.
4. The values are estimated to 0.1 per cent. of million.