§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Secretary of State's setting of a target for savings on social security fraud is compatible with the presumption that an accused person is innocent until proved guilty, and if so, how such compatibility is achieved.
Viscount AstorSetting a target for savings on fraud work reflects the estimated amount of benefit which would have been paid but for the intervention of fraud staff. It implies neither guilt nor innocence—that is a matter for the courts.