HC Deb 05 February 1998 vol 305 c796W
Mr. Swinney

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make a statement on the basis on which estimates of the annual cost of benefit fraud are made. [27923]

Mr. Denham

The previous administration based estimates of the level of benefit fraud on the findings of the on-going programme of Benefit Reviews. Copies of published Benefit Reviews are available in the Library. The Government are currently examining the estimate of fraud in the light of further analysis of the results of the Benefit Review programme.