§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what extent, at seminars held by his Department during the past two years, discussions ensued on abuses of the social security system generally and the case of Mr. Deering and similar cases in particular; and with what results.
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§ Mr. OrmeThe need for effective measures against fraud and abuse, including the lessons to be learned from individual cases, have been fully discussed at numerous conferences and training sessions for staff whose concern this is—e.g., senior directing staff, managers of local offices and fraud investigators.
The number of prosecutions for fraud rose from 11,900 in 1973 to 15,300 in 1975, and in the first five months of 1976 prosecutions were taken at an estimated rate of well over 17,000 per annum.