§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list by type of benefit the numbers of claimants to whom overpayments were made or who were found to be making fraudulent claims, who were not prosecuted for the period 1981–82 or the latest available data.
§ Mr. Rossi:For the latest available period, 1981–82, the number of cases where fraud was discovered and proceedings were not authorised is as follows:
Department of Health and Social Security 54,376 Department of Employment 33,457 Total 87,833 It is not possible to provide a further breakdown of these statistics.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if there is a sum for which a prosecution for a social security fraud is not brought.
§ Mr. Rossi:No. Each case is considered individually and in exceptional circumstances a prosecution could be brought where no overpayment had in fact occurred, that 442W is, for an attempted fraud. Normally, however, proceedings would not be taken where the overpayment was less than £50.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in relation to the claimants prosecuted for social security fraud, he will list the average sum involved.
§ Mr. Rossi:No central records are kept of the information requested and the cost of obtaining the information would be disproportionate.