§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he has taken in the light of the pilot studies on social security abuse, undertaken by his Department at Cowdenbeath and elsewhere.
§ Mr. DeanThe special drives during the summer were undertaken against working while drawing benefit and supplemented the normal continuous efforts to counter this type of fraud, which accounts for more than half of the benefit fraud discovered each year. About 800 cases of fraud were detected and about 200 prosecutions have so far been authorised. The experience gained is being used in assessing the effectiveness of measures to deal with this form of abuse.