§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the extent of benefit fraud for each of the benefits provided through the Benefits Agency in the current year; and if he will make a statement on plans to tackle fraud. [53252]
§ Mr. DenhamFigures estimating the extent of benefit fraud for each of the benefits provided through the Benefits Agency (BA) are not available for the current year. Reliable estimates of the level of fraud within individual benefits are informed by the BA's Benefit Review programme. These reviews are a snapshot of the level of fraud at the time the review was carried out, and these estimates can change. The first review of each benefit sets a baseline to establish the nature and extent of incorrectness, including fraud and abuse, and repeat
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Estimates of the extent of fraud in benefits provided through the Benefits Agency Benefit Percentage of claims where fraud is confirmed or strongly suspected Estimated level of fraud Results announced Income Support (First Review) 9.7 £1.4 billion July 1995 Unemployment Benefit 7.8 £86 million July 1995 Retirement Pension up to 0.13 up to £40 million March 1996 Invalid Care Allowance 6.5 £37 million July 1996
§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the receipts from National Insurance contributions split between (i) employers and (ii) employees in(a) cash terms and (b) at June 1998 prices for each year since 1982–83. [53209]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information is in the table.
exercises enable the Benefits Agency to identify changes in those patterns over time. The programme of Benefit Reviews of all major benefits began in 1994 and the table details the findings of all the reviews of BA benefits completed so far.
The Government are determined to reduce the level of fraud and have set out their new comprehensive anti-fraud strategy in the Green Paper "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business: Securing the Future". The strategy will focus on minimising the opportunity to commit fraud in the first place with improved benefit design and tighter operational procedures. We will also seek to establish an environment conducive to anti-fraud work and to work in partnership with others across central and local government and in public bodies and the private sector. A key element is the development of better measures of the amount of fraud, and the savings which flow from particular preventive and detective activities.
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Estimates of the extent of fraud in benefits provided through the Benefits Agency Benefit Percentage of claims where fraud is confirmed or strongly suspected Estimated level of fraud Results announced Disability Living Allowance 12.2 £499 million February 1997 Income Support (Second Review) 11.1 £1.77 billion July 1997 Child Benefit/Child Benefit (Lone Parent) 15.4 2£184 million July 1998 1 Presented as 1.7 per cent, 'fraud' and 3.7 per cent, 'high suspicion of fraud' in the Child Benefit (CHB) review report 2 Presented as £51.6 million 'fraud' and £132.5 million 'high suspicion of fraud' in the CHB review report Notes:
1. Information is based on the results of Benefit Reviews completed so far
2. The total figures from each of the reviews cannot be added together to give total overpayments. This is because an unquantified proportion of the estimate for fraud will not result in losses/overpayments overall. For example, non-entitlement to Invalid Care Allowance can result in payment of a higher rate of another benefit such as Income Support
3. As explained in the Green Paper "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business: Securing the Future", estimating fraud in Disability Living Allowance presents particular difficulties. This is because entitlement depends upon care and mobility needs which are not easily estimated other than through the formal adjudication process. As a result, the estimates of confirmed and strongly suspected fraud for DLA will include errors by customers
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the performance of the London Organised Fraud Investigation Team indicating(a) the number of cases (i) investigated, (ii) completed, (iii) rejected and (iv) resulting in prosecutions and (b) the level of (i) claimant fraud, (ii) landlord fraud, (iii) landlord and claimant fraud and (iv) overpayment; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the team against its agreed objectives; and if he will make a statement. [53582]
§ Mr. DenhamThe London Organised Fraud Investigation Team (LOFIT) was established in December 1996 as a specialist dedicated team to investigate and combat organised fraud in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit in London.
The latest available performance figures are for the period from 2 December 1996 to 31 March 1998. During this period, 73 cases were referred to LOFIT. Of these cases, 47 have been, or are being, investigated; 13 cases have been completed; 26 cases were rejected; and 4 reached prosecution stage. The table shows investigation cases categorised by type of fraud and total amount of overpayment identified.
Number of cases Overpayments identified (£) Claimant 13 192,890 Claimant and landlord collusion 10 729,340 Landlord 18 407,144 Multiple identity cases not included above 6 87.719 Total 47 1,417,093 The planned end of year Value For Money study by the Audit Commission is in its final stages and will be published shortly. We have also arranged for the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate to undertake a joint study with the Association of London Government to evaluate the effectiveness of LOFIT in tackling organised fraud and in working with other organisations in the field.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases of benefit fraud have been detected in each month since 1 May 1997. [53109]
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§ Mr. DenhamTackling fraud and abuse is a top priority for the Government. Questions on Benefits Agency operational matters are the responsibility of its Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Iain Duncan Smith, dated 28 July 1998:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of cases of benefit fraud which have been detected in each month since 1st May 1997.The figures in the attached table detail the number of successful investigations carried out by Benefit Fraud Investigation Service month by month since May 1997.Benefits Agency Security Investigation Service (BASIS) investigates fraud of an organised or systematic nature which tends to involve longer periods of investigation and results are only available for the year. BASIS carried out 1,742 successful investigations for the period April 1997 to March 1998.I hope you find this reply helpful.
Benefit fraud investigation service successful investigation figures1 since 1 May 1997 Number May 1997 45,409 June 1997 42,961 July 1997 48,059 August 1997 41,565 September 1997 47,875 October 1997 48,822 November 1997 46,389 December 1997 42,028 January 1998 48,486 February 1998 41,913 March 1998 39,631 April 1998 46,513 May 1998 38,145 June 1998 41,531 1 Figures are provisional and subject to change