§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount of recoverable benefit overpayments caused by fraud and error in each of the past five years; and how much of these overpayments has been recovered. [99067]
§ Malcolm WicksOur most recent estimate is that the total annual amount of benefits overpaid due to customer error and official error taken together is around £1 billion and the total annual amount due to fraud is around £2 billion.
We have not made an estimate of how much of these overpayments would be recoverable.
Information on actual overpayments established and recovered for all benefits' over the last five years is in the table.
1 Except overpayments in respect of housing benefit and council tax benefit, because they are recorded and recovered by local authorities.
People claiming incapacity benefit at the dates shown England Scotland Wales 31 March 2001 1,819,600 283,600 189,900 31 March 2002 1,857,600 287,200 191,600 Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
Source:
Figures are based on 5 per cent samples of the incapacity benefit computer system and will exclude a small number of clerically held cases.
169W
People claiming jobseeker's allowance at the dates shown England Scotland Wales 13 March 1997 1,387,500 165,600 84,500 12 March 1998 1,099,200 137,600 69,800 11 March 1999 1,040,900 134,400 67,300
People claiming jobseeker's allowance at the dates shown England Scotland Wales 9 March 2000 916,900 121,500 58,200 8 March 2001 784,300 106,500 53,400 14 March 2002 759,600 103,100 47,100 Notes:
1. Figures are seasonally adjusted.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
Source:
100 per cent. count from the jobseeker's allowance computer system.
Number of families with children claiming child benefit at the dates shown England Scotland Wales November 1998 6,007,900 603,800 354,400 November 1999 6,021,100 602,900 354,500 November 2000 6,026,200 598,500 354,000 November 2001 6,016,000 596,800 355,400 November 2002 6,017,400 594,700 353,900 Notes:
1. Data prior to 1998 are unavailable broken down by country.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
Source:
Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of the child benefit computer system.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many roadside stops have been conducted by the Benefit Fraud Investigation Service in each of the last three years; and how many(a) investigations and (b) successful prosecutions resulted. [88447]
§ Malcolm WicksThe information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Details of amounts defrauded by the four people had been convicted of benefit fraud on two separate occasions since April 2002 £ Case Benefit Amount Total 1 First conviction Housing benefit/council tax Benefit (HB/CTB) 2,088.58 2,312.69 Second conviction HB/CTB 224.11 2 First conviction Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) 73.75 127.70 Second conviction JSA 53.95 3 First conviction JSA 103.86 316.01 Second conviction JSA 212.15 4 First conviction JSA 269.70 345.35 Second conviction Income Support 75.65 Source:
Two Strikes Database, Professional Standards Unit