§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will detail for the latest available year the value of stolen order books;
245W(2) how many income support order books were reported stolen while in transit in the last year for which figures are available.
(3) how many claimants reported the loss of income support order books in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe recording of instrument of payment losses is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Frank Field, dated 21 February 1995:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the value of all stolen order books, the number of Income Support (IS) order books stolen in transit and the number of IS order books reported lost by customers.In 1993/94, order books with a potential value of £26.6 million were reported stolen.In 1993/94, 29,817 IS order books were reported lost in transit. Losses in transit may occur between the issuing office and the post office, between the post office and the customer, or between the issuing office and the customer. This figure will include stolen books, though there is no separate record of thefts.In 1993/94, 52,931 IS order books were reported as lost or destroyed by customers while in their possession. There is no separate record of how many customers made these reports.I hope you find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many officials of his Department in each of the last 30 years have been prosecuted for making fraudulent benefit claims.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe figures requested are not available for any of the past 30 years. However, the Benefits Agency recently conducted a special survey to ascertain how many staff were prosecuted for benefit fraud during 1994. There were 16 such prosecutions.