§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many extra(a)internal and (b)claimant fraud investigators have been taken on by his Department in the last year. [47384]
§ Malcolm WicksAlthough the Department has replaced internal investigators as they have left, no extra internal investigators have been recruited. Information on the number of staff employed by the Department in claimant fraud investigation is in the table.
Quarter ending Total number of fraud staff March 2001 4,531 June 2001 5,047 September 2001 5,210 December 2001 5,294 Note:
Figures include investigators and administrative support staff.
Source:
Professional Standards Unit.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were successfully prosecuted for(a)housing benefit and (b)council tax benefit fraud in each local authority in 2000–01. [33624]
§ Malcolm WicksWe are working in partnership with local authorities to tackle fraud and error. From April 2001 we introduced a comprehensive new incentive scheme that encourages authorities to focus more effectively on the full range of anti-fraud measures of 231W which prosecution is only one. 63 local authorities are already on the new scheme and the rest will join in April 2002.
Local authorities' investigations in 2000–01 rooted out 100,000 cases of fraud and claimed a weekly saving. It is not possible to give separate figures for prosecutions for housing benefit and council tax benefit fraud. Information on the total numbers of successful prosecutions for benefit fraud reported by each local authority in 2000–01 has been placed in the Library.