§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is his Department's latest estimate of the total cost to public funds of social security abuses;
(2) what further action his Department is taking to prevent social security abuses;
(3) how many successful prosecutions were brought in cases of social security abuse during 1977, and for the first three months of 1978 or for such period of 1978 for which figures are available.
§ Mr. OrmeI assume that by "abuse" the hon. Member has in mind claims to benefit which are not fully justified—e.g. malingering in the case of a claim to incapacity benefit or not seriously seeking employment while claiming unemployment benefit—as opposed to deliberate fraud such as, for example, working while claiming unemployment benefit. These cases do not generally lend themselves to prosecution and there is no estimate available of the cost to public funds. Benefit procedures take into account the need to identify cases where abuse is a possibility, and, if it is found, to terminate the claim as quickly as possible.