§ Mrs. LaitTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many disability benefits claimants have had their benefits withdrawn following knowledge by the Benefits Agency of their smuggling and bootlegging of tobacco and alcohol activities; and how much money has been saved in each year since January 1993 and in each month in 1997 and 1998; [31518]
(2) how many claimants have had benefits stopped following knowledge by the Benefits Agency of their smuggling and bootlegging of tobacco and alcohol activities; and how much money has been saved in each year since January 1993 and in each month in 1997 and 1998. [31517]
§ Mr. DenhamTackling fraud and abuse is a top priority for the Government. Questions on Benefit Agency operational matters are the responsibility of the Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. He will write to the hon. Member.
274WLetter from David Riggs to Mrs. Jacqui Lait, dated 25 March 1998:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked Peter Mathison to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about how many disability benefits claimants have had their benefits withdrawn/stopped following knowledge by the Benefits Agency (BA) of their smuggling and bootlegging activities of tobacco and alcohol; and how much money has been saved in each year since January 1993 and in each month in 1997 and 1998. As Mr Mathison is away from the office on leave, I am replying.The BA Ports Project in conjunction with HM Customs and Excise are becoming increasingly involved in tackling bootleggers at Dover and plan to deploy more staff into this developing area of work.The information is not available in the format requested. The Agency routinely collates and reports performance across all benefit types. Performance since 1992/3 is shown on the attached table.It is not possible to identify whether any claimants of any particular benefit have had their benefit or benefits stopped or withdrawn because of bootlegging or smuggling activities.During 1996/97 you may interested to know, that the BA ports project made weekly benefit savings totalling £704,418.I hope you find this reply helpful.
Total benefit savings and total number of successful investigations Year Total benefit savings Successful Investigations* 1992/93 £558m 219,000 1993/94 £654m 312,000 1994/95 £717m 392,000 1995/96 £1222.3m over 400,000 1996/97 £1509m over 525,000 * Following a fraud investigation, one or more of the following conclusions occurs: benefits is reduced or stopped, an overpayment is calculated or a prosecution instigated. *These figures are provisional and subject to change.