§ Mr. BaconTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent annual estimate is of the accrued amount of benefits overpaid due to (a) customer error, (b) official error and (c) fraud if the cases where there was (i) high and (ii) low suspicion of fraud were well founded. [45252]
§ Malcolm WicksOur most recent estimate is that the total amount of benefits overpaid due to customer error and official error taken together is around £1 billion and the total amount due to fraud is around £2 billion. These are broad order estimates. They are made up of estimates from the continuously measured benefits (income support and jobseeker's allowance), from National Benefit Reviews and from estimated levels of loss in the unmeasured benefits.
Estimates of high and low suspicion fraud have been provided for most of the benefits reviewed. The Department has, however, tightened its approach to recording such cases since the earlier reviews of the 1990s and now makes much greater effort to resolve cases either way.
Further information on the handling of suspicion of fraud in the benefit review process is in The Results of the Area Benefit Review and the Quality Support Team from April 2000 to March 2001, Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance, a copy of which is in the Library.
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§ Mr. BaconTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases there were and what the value of cases was where his Department had deemed that there was (a) high and (b) low suspicion that an overpayment in (i) housing benefit, (ii) jobseeker's allowance and (iii) income support was made due to fraud, but where that suspicion was eventually cleared altogether, in the years (A) 1998–99, (B) 1999–2000 and (C) 2000–01. [45274]
§ Malcolm WicksThe information is not available for housing benefit.
We do not have complete information on the number of cases in the Area Benefit Review process which were initially thought to be suspicious between 1998 and 2001. However, analysis of the data we hold from this period provides information on the proportions of high suspicion cases resulting in different outcomes. The analysis indicates that 42 per cent. of those initially deemed 'high suspicion' and subjected to a full further investigation, were found not to require or merit a change to benefit in payment. The corresponding proportion by monetary value is 49 per cent. A further 26 per cent. (21 per cent. by value) were found to be fraudulent. In the remaining 32 per cent. of cases (30 per cent, by value) it was not possible to prove that fraud had occurred, but a strong suspicion remained. It is this final category which is reported as high suspicion in the National Statistics reports "The Results of the Area Benefit Review and the Quality Support Team, Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance".
Low suspicion cases are not subjected to further investigation and are not, therefore, liable to be re-categorised. Since October 2001, in order to streamline data collection processes, the Department no longer records low suspicion as the information is of limited value.