§ Mr. DoddsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the implementation of automated credit transfer for benefit and pension payments in Northern Ireland. [156582]
§ Mr. SpellarAt 13 February 2004, the Social Security Agency has invited 536,234 benefits and pensions customers to convert to Direct Payment. Of these, 273,045, or 50.9 per cent. have already provided their account details.
Suspended Cases Dismissed Cases Prosecuted Cases Convicted Cases 1998 3 A, B, C 3 C, E, G — — — — 1999 — — 1 B 2 B, C 2 B, C 2000 2 F, H 2 D, I 1 F 1 F 2001 — — — — 1 D 1 D 2002 — — 2 A, K — — — — 2003 1 J — — 1 E 1 E Information on the amounts of benefit fraud in each case is as follows:
£ Case Amount Involved A n/a B 9,000 C 32,000 D 190,000 E 147,000 F 700 G 12,000 H n/a I 851 J 6,000 K 1,231