§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many members of BASIS's Business Development Team are(a) under investigation for suspected fraud and (b) not discharging duties for some other reason. [108960]
§ Mr. RookerThis is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Frank Field, dated 11 February 2000:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about how many members of BASIS's Business Development Team are (a) under investigation for suspected fraud and (b) not discharging duties for some other reason.The Business Development Team provides a number of support services for the rest of BASIS and currently has 27 staff.All allegations and suspicions of fraud on the part of Benefits Agency (BA) staff are properly considered and fully investigated. Whilst some investigations do unearth irregularities on the part of the staff and result in various penalties for those involved, many establish that the individuals have acted with propriety and are not involved in inappropriate activities.434WIt is important that investigations of this kind remain confidential, not only to protect innocent staff, but also to avoid alerting fraudulent staff to the fact that their activities are being examined.I hope you will accept therefore that it would be inappropriate to provide you with any details of investigations of suspected fraud by BA staff that may currently be underway. Information on fraud detected on the part of BA staff is available in Her Majesties Treasury Return published in January 2000.There are no members of the BASIS's Business Development Team that we would regard as not discharging their duties.I hope this is helpful.