§ Mr. LeightonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average duration of unemployment of those denied benefit after fraud investigations in the year to April; what are the net savings to the taxpayer; and how these are calculated.
§ Mr. CopeRecords are not kept separately of the number of unemployed people whose claim to benefit is disallowed by the independent adjudicating authorities in fraud cases. Where a person voluntarily withdraws a claim to unemployment benefit following a fraud investigation it is assumed, on the basis of DHSS research, that the person refrains from claiming benefit on average for a period of 22 weeks. Net savings to the taxpayer for the year up to 31 March 1988 amount to £54.6 million and are calculated by multiplying by 22 the total amount of weekly benefit in payment at the time that a claim is withdrawn and deducting the costs of the fraud operation.
§ Mr. LeightonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the numbers flowing through unemployment in the year to April is represented by those denied benefit after fraud investigations.
§ Mr. CopeRecords are not kept separately of the number of unemployed people whose claim to beneift is disallowed by the independent adjudication authorities in fraud cases. In the year ending 31 March 1988, a total of 80,088 people voluntarily withdrew their claims to unemployment benefit following a fraud investigation. This figure represents 1.83 per cent. of the total number of people who withdrew their claims in that year.