§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what inquiries to detect fraud by cross-checking his Department's payroll with details of those claiming benefit he has undertaken; when these exercises took place; and how many staff were(a) suspended, (b) dismissed and (c) prosecuted as a result. [37707]
§ Mr. Moss[holding answer 17 July 1996]: Responsibility for the subject has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alex Wylie and I have asked him to arrange for a response to be given.
669WLetter from Alec Wylie to Mr. Frank Field dated 17 July 1996:
I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the detection of social security fraud by cross-checking Department's payroll with details of those claiming benefit.The Social Security Agency has not carried out any data matching exercises where Departmental payroll information has been cross-checked against benefit details. Northern Ireland Departments currently respond to enquiries made by the Agency's Fraud and Prosecutions Branch and relevant information appropriate to an investigation is provided where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual member of staff has been involved in benefit fraud. No separate records are kept on these cases.670WI hope this explains the position for you but I would be happy to provide any further information you require.