§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many local authorities have taken up the Government's offer of computer terminals to provide access to "Benefits Agency data", set out in the Green Paper, "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business", paragraph 8.5. [65451]
§ Mr. TimmsOf the 409 Local Authorities (LAs) approached, 355 (87 per cent.) have applied for installation of a remote access computer terminal (RAT) and we are currently installing them; by the end of December 1998 some 120 LAs were operating RATs and we are aiming to install the balance by the end of March this year.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans the Government have to replace the London Organised Fraud Investigation Team with a new anti-fraud body. [65445]
§ Mr. TimmsWe are carrying out a review of how organised fraud within Social Security benefits, including fraud in those benefits that are primarily administered by local authorities, can be countered.
The Government are pursuing this within the anti-fraud strategy announced earlier this year in the Green Paper, "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business: Securing the Future".
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the code of practice for data-matching between different agencies, mentioned in the Green Paper, Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business, paragraph 5.2.7 was published. [65449]
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reports have been completed by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate; how many have been submitted to ministers; and how many have been published. [65450]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) have completed eight reports. Of these, five have been submitted to Ministers and published. The remaining three completed reports are to be submitted to Ministers and published shortly.
We expect to receive and publish 12 more BFI reports by the end of March 1999.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the progress made so far on implementation of the personal details computer system for the Benefits Agency. [65452]
272W
§ Mr. TimmsThe Personal Details Computer System (PDCS) will provide the Department with a consistent set of customer personal details for use by all benefit systems. This will improve the accounting and security of benefit expenditure.
All personal details formerly held on the individual Child Benefit and Income Support computer systems, and all personal details from new claims to these benefits, are already being maintained on the PDCS. Additionally, new personal details for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and benefits maintained on the pensions computer system (including Retirement Pensions, Incapacity Benefit, Widows Benefit and Maternity Allowance) are being entered directly onto the PDCS.
Presently there are 11.8 million customer records on PDCS. This number will rise to 23.6 million during 1999 following the transfer of existing JSA and pensions computer system records.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many local authorities have implemented the new verification framework to protect against housing benefit fraud; and how many authorities he expects to implement it in the near future. [65453]
§ Mr. TimmsIn 1998–99 funds were made available to help 85 local authorities to implement the verification framework. On 23 December 1998, we announced that extra funding was available to enable all local authorities to implement the framework over the coming year. £100 million extra will be made available to run the framework over the next three years.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many benefit fraudsters have been punished to date by administrative penalties; and how many have been given formal cautions. [65444]
§ Mr. TimmsOf those offered by the Benefits Agency, 599 administrative financial penalties, and 544 cautions have been accepted. Such information is not collected centrally for local authorities.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what progress has been made on the creation of a comprehensive performance measurement framework for fraud and anti-fraud activity; [65441]
(2) if he will make a statement on the results of the Benefits Agency trials of new performance indicators to measure anti-fraud activity; [65442]
(3) what progress has been made on the development of a national framework for the use of sanctions by agencies involved in social security administration; and when the Government plans to publish the framework; [65443]
(4) what the results have been of the Government's exploration of risk-management techniques to analyse benefit processing in order to shape anti-fraud policies; [65454]
(5) what recent changes have been made to the rules governing replacement of lost Giro cheques; [65446]
(6) when the Government plans to repeat the research aimed at benchmarking public attitudes to benefit fraud, as set out in the Green Paper, "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business", paragraph 4.18; [65458]
273W(7) if the development of common core skills and training for fraud investigators has been completed; and when the Government plans to implement the further principles of good practice and continuous learning and development for investigators set out in "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business", paragraphs 7.6 and 8.4–5; [65460]
(8) if he will make a statement on the measures taken to strengthen the vetting procedures for staff involved in issuing national insurance numbers; [65462]
(9) what steps have been taken to implement methods of cross-checking records within the National Insurance Recording System; and whether the delays in respect of NIRS2 have affected the timetable for implementation; [65464]
(10) if the Government have come to a conclusion on the value of investing in a national intelligence system to counter serious fraud; [65447]
(11) what conclusions the Government have reached as a result of its review of data protection legislation, mentioned in the Green Paper, "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business", paragraph 5.2.7; and what further possibilities for data-matching beyond his Department have been identified; [65448]
(12) when the Government plans to publish the results of its review of the most commonly broken benefit rules, mentioned in the Green Paper, "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business", paragraph 5.1.8; [65455]
(13) what progress has been made towards developing a public communication strategy for fraud and welfare reform; [65457]
(14) what conclusions have been reached by the Government in its review of benefit funding arrangements with regard to security against fraud; [65459]
(15) what new steps the Government intends to take to combat landlord housing benefit fraud; and what research it is undertaking or plans to undertake into this problem. [65463]
§ Mr. TimmsWe will publish shortly, our strategy for combating Social Security fraud in the light of the consultation on the Green Paper "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business: Securing the Future".
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of debt owed by fraudsters to his Department is currently being recovered; what is the average length of time between successful prosecution and recovery of debt; and what the equivalent figures were for each of the previous five years. [65439]
§ Mr. TimmsThe information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. A new Debt Accounting and Management system to improve management, control and accounting of debt is being designed and developed during 1999.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what dates the ministerial group established to oversee anti-fraud strategy, announced in the Green Paper, "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business", has met. [65461]
274W
§ Mr. Timms"Questions of Procedures for Ministers" makes it clear that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet or Cabinet Committees is not normally made public, in order to protect the principle of collective responsibility.