§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to prevent the abuse of the social security system by young people who claim unemployment benefit while still attending school.
§ Mr. EnnalsMy Department is aware of occasional cases of supplementary benefit fraud by young people who have returned to school, and has taken action to deal with them. We have no evidence of any widespread fraud by schoolchildren, but as part of our continuing efforts to tackle fraud my Department and the Department of Employment are examining present procedures for handling social security claims by ostensibly unemployed young persons to ensure that such procedures are adequate to prevent or detect fraud.