§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the proportion of claims for the children's premium in income support and jobseeker's allowance which have been(a) fraudulent and (b) incorrect. [25988]
§ Mr. McCartneyThere is not a 'children's premium' in income support or jobseeker's allowance. People claiming either benefit may claim for dependent members of their household. The latest information on the levels of fraud and error is in "The Results of the Area Benefit Review and Quality Support Team from April 1999 to March 2000: Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance", a copy of which is available in the Library. However, it is not possible to disaggregate the number of cases in which fraud and error are attributable solely to incorrect claims for dependent children.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the expected saving in 2001–02 from the security and control programme. [19002]
§ Malcolm WicksThe security and control programme has been replaced by our comprehensive strategy to reduce fraud and error. This strategy is set out in our paper: A New Contract for Welfare: Safeguarding Social Security (Cm 4276; March 1999). We are tightening up the system to make sure that the right amount goes to the right person from the outset of a claim.
We have set firm targets to reduce the amount of fraud and error in income support and jobseeker's allowance by 25 per cent. by 2004 and 50 per cent. by 2006. Latest results show that from our baseline period in 1998 to March 2001 we have achieved an 18 per cent. reduction and we expect this good progress to continue.