§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list for each of his Department's offices the number of people whose claims were disqualified because of(a) fraud and (b) suspected fraud for the years 1983 to 1987:
516W(2) if he will list the sums discovered to have been obtained by (a) fraud and (b) suspected fraud for each office of his Department for each of the years from 1983 to 1987;
(3) if he will list for each of his Department's offices the amount expected to be detected by managers in respect of claims that are either fraudulent or as suspected of being so in 1987 and 1988.
§ Mr. ScottI regret that the information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average numbers of days that his Department assumes that a person ceases to claim benefit after having a claim refused by reason of proved or suspected fraud or other wrongful claims.
§ Mr. ScottWhere the amount of benefit in payment is reduced or extinguished following a fraud investigation, it is estimated that on average the changed position will continue for 32 weeks. This is based on a study by the Department's operational research services, a copy of whose report is in the Library.