§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the annual cost to his Department of fraudulent claims for social security benefits of all kinds.
§ Mr. DeanI regret that information is not available to enable a reliable estimate to be made of the amount lost by fraudulent claims, including those which remain undetected.
§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the number and annual cost are of officers in his Department employed mainly or wholly in dealing with fraudulent claims for social security benefits of all kinds.
§ Mr. DeanAll staff in local offices of my Department are concerned to some extent with the prevention of fraudulent claims for social security benefits. Their general experience, coupled with their alertness and the intelligent application of the prescribed procedures for dealing with claims, forms the first stage of defence against fraud and abuse of benefits.
On 1st October 1972 there were 294 special investigators employed by my Department wholly or mainly on the investigation of suspected fraudulent claims at an estimated annual cost of £1.25 million. In addition, there are certain other staff who could be regarded, at least at certain times, as mainly engaged on work connected with fraud investigation, but records are not available to make such posts readily identifiable without undue expenditure of staff time.