§ Mr. Oswaldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of known fraudulent claims made for social security benefits in the Edinburgh area during the last three years; and how many prosecutions arose from the said claims.
§ Mr. DeanSeparate statistics are not kept for the Edinburgh area, and the information is not available in the form asked for. The estimated number of claims for social security benefits in Scotland which appeared to the Department to have been made with fraudulent intent in each of the last three years, and the number of prosecutions arising from them were as under:
1968 1969 1970 (provisional) Claims … 4,700 5,100 5,400 Prosecutions … 602 785 665