§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will list in the Official Report the number of individuals prosecuted for fraud by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage of those were acquitted
§ Mr. RossiThe information for the three latest available years is as follows:
Year ended * 1977 1978 1979 Number of prosecutions † 18,827 21,885 20,002 Acquitted 1.99 per cent. 2.07 per cent. 2.27 per cent. (375) (454) (454) * Some data refer to a February—February period but the effect is marginal. † Including prosecutions authorised by the Department of Employment, but excluding those authorised by the police and the Post Office which were included in the figures given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Prentice) the former Minister for Social Security in his reply to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Lewis) on 15 January.