§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people are employed, and at what cost, to deal with social security fraud.
143WA
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)Tackling fraud and abuse is a top priority for the Department of Social Security. Everyone working in the department has a responsibility towards the identification and prevention of fraud.
In 1996–97 the department is employing a total of around 7,000 staff on fraud duties at a cost of approximately £265 million.
Additionally, local authorities employ staff to tackle housing benefit and council tax benefit fraud. In 1994–95 the total full time equivalent number of staff engaged on fraud duties in local authorities was 1,000.