§ Mr. Barnesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total amount recovered in social security payments since 1948 as a result of investigations into fraudulent claims; and how much this figure represented as a proportion of total payments of benefits in each year.
§ Mr. DeanThe information is not available in the exact form requested, but the following figures relate to recoveries of overpayments of supplementary benefit. Comparable figures are not available for other benefits.
TABLE SHOWING RECOVERIES OF OVERPAYMENTS OF SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFIT SINCE 1948 AS A PROPORTION OF BENEFIT PAID Year (1) Gross payments of supplementary pensions and allowances* (2) £ Recoveries of overpayment† (3) £ (3) as percent age of (2) (4) 1948–49 65,000,000 301,000 0.46 1949–50 78,000,000 421,000 0.54 1950–51 87,000,000 345,000 0.40 1951–52 96,000,000, 409,000 0.43 1952–53 120,000,000 444,000 0.37 1953–54 122,000,000 505,000 0.42 1954–55 127,000,000 541,000 0.43 1955–56 116,000,000 617,000 0.53 1956–57 124,000,000 612,000 0.50 1957–58 131,000,000 551,000 0.42 1958–59 135,000,000 655,000 0.49 1959–60 161,000,000 480,000 0.30 1960–61 182,000,000 478,000 0.26 1961–62 175,000,000 525,000 0.30 1962–63 204,000,000 511,000 0.25 1963–64 222,000,000 589,000 0.27 1964–65 228,000,000 547,000 0.24 1965–66 252,000,000 589,000 0.23 1966–67 305,000,000 575,000 0.19 1967–68 397,000,000 625,000 0.16 1968–69 442,000,000 816,000 0.18 1969–70 485,000,000 947,000 0.20 1970–71 540,000,000 1,193,000 0.22 * Assistance grants and non-contributory old age pensions before 28 November, 1966. † The figures relate to recoveries of overpayments from all causes, including fraud. About one quarter of overpayments discovered is attributable to fraud.