HC Deb 30 January 1979 vol 961 cc375-6W
58. Mr. Richard Page

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many prosecutions for fraud have been brought by his Department in the last four years.

Mr. Orme

The number of prosecutions for social security fraud by my Department, including those undertaken on behalf of the Department of Employment, were as follows:

1974 10,221
1975 11,404
1976 13,113
1977–8 18,842

As from February 1977 the figures given above relate to a period from February to February which is the Department's statistical year.

These figures exclude social security frauds prosecuted by the police or Post Office in 1977–78; these amounted to 7,216.