§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the expected reduction in the monetary value of error(a) in income support and (b) jobseekers allowance in 2001–02. [18980]
§ Malcolm WicksWe have set firm targets for reducing the amount of fraud and error in income support and jobseeker's allowance. The latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics on 29 November 2001 show that we have met our first milestone of a 10 per cent. reduction by March 2002 almost twice over. We are currently on track for meeting the targets for 2004 (25 per cent.) and 2006 (50 per cent.).
Information for 2001–02 will be available later next year.