§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what information he has on dealers at car boot sales fraudulently claiming benefits;
(2) if he will list the occupations most frequently claimed by those fraudulently claiming benefit.
§ Mr. HagueThe administration of benefit fraud is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend with such information as is available.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Douglas French, dated 7 December 1993:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the occupations of people fraudulently claiming benefit; including in particular dealers at car boot sales.I regret that I am unable to provide the information you request as statistics are not kept on the occupations of those who are found to be fraudulently claiming benefit.I can tell you, however, that from October this year I have established a new Security Branch with a responsibility to ensure a co-ordinated and strategic approach to fraud and security matters; and to protect future expenditure against fraud and abuse.221WPart of this co-ordinated response is to maintain statistics that allow analysis of the fraud effort in terms of prevention, deterrence and detection. At the same time we must ensure that statistics are not kept for their own sake and to this end the new Branch is currently examining what statistics are necessary to achieve the three aims I have outlined.I am sorry that on this occasion I cannot be more helpful.