§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate she has made of the amount lost to the Government through benefit fraud for the year 1996–97 in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Scotland. [19233]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 8 December 1997]: The previous Administration estimated the level of fraud at £4 billion a year. This figure relates to Great Britain as a whole. There is no separate estimate for Scotland.
The Government are currently examining the estimate of fraud in the light of further analysis of the findings of the on-going programme of benefit reviews.