§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) Benefits Agency staff, (b) Jobcentre Plus staff and (c) council officers have been (i) disciplined, (ii) suspended, (iii) dismissed, (iv) prosecuted and (v) convicted for matters relating to benefit fraud in each of the last five years; and how much benefit was defrauded in each case. [71779]
§ Malcolm WicksWe treat any suspicion of involvement in benefit fraud by the Department's staff very seriously and all cases are thoroughly investigated and appropriate action taken where necessary.
The Department does not hold information in respect of council officers.
The information available on individual cases is in the table.
808W
Outcome Monetary loss (£) 1997–98 Prosecuted and convicted1 5,000.00 Prosecuted and convicted 99,000.00 Prosecuted and convicted 2,500.00 Prosecuted and convicted 2,874.99 Prosecuted and convicted 340.00 Prosecuted and convicted 7,000.00 Prosecuted and convicted 9,600.00 Prosecuted and convicted 9,097.04 Prosecuted and convicted 25,455.08 Prosecuted—found not guilty 7,683.38 Prosecuted and convicted 983.00 Prosecuted and convicted 2,896.00 Total 172,429.49 1998–99 Disciplinary action—formal reprimand 0 Resigned 2,000.00 Dismissed without prosecution 16,969.45 Disciplinary action—formal reprimand 0 Dismissed without prosecution 0 No action—insufficient evidence 0 No action—insufficient evidence 1,185.95 Resigned 0 Disciplinary action pending 0 Disciplinary action—formal reprimand 0 Dismissed without prosecution 2,400.00 No action—insufficient evidence 0 No action—insufficient evidence 0 Total 22,555.40 1999–2000 Prosecuted and convicted 8,820.77 Prosecuted and convicted 30,000.00 No action—insufficient evidence 0 Prosecuted and convicted 1,118.00 Prosecuted and convicted 957.56 Dismissed without prosecution 0 Prosecuted and convicted 210.00 Prosecuted and convicted 7,799.10 Dismissed without prosecution 3,255.54 Prosecuted and convicted 1,753.00 Dismissed without prosecution 75.80 Dismissed without prosecution 723.83
Outcome Monetary loss (£) Pending 4,462.97 Prosecution pending 17,880.80 Pending 1,947.08 Resigned 134.40 Resigned2 0 Prosecution pending 11,184.08 Dismissed without prosecution 3,690.80 Prosecuted and convicted 4,224.28 Total 98,238.01 2000–01 Dismissed without prosecution 534.64 Prosecuted and convicted 9,335.84 Dismissed without prosecution 6,683.46 Pending 887.18 Pending3 0 Prosecuted and convicted4 0 Pending5 4,272.33 Prosecuted arid convicted6 0 Pending 0 Pending 10.00 Disciplinary action—formal reprimand 426.14 Pending 218.57 Pending 1,807.10 Total 24,175.26 2001–02 Pending 2,346.00 Dismissed without prosecution 2,660.72 Pending 0 Resigned 0 Pending 5,000.00 Pending 2,904.00 Pending 0 Prosecution pending 0 Resigned 0 Pending 0 Pending 0 Pending 3,005.00 Pending 0 Pending 150.00 Pending 2,700.00 Pending 126.00 Pending 0 Pending 0 Prosecuted and convicted 180,000.00 Total 198,891.72 1 Housing benefit fraud. Loss to local authority funds £7,000. 2 Housing benefit fraud. Loss to local authority funds £3,186. 3 Housing benefit fraud. Loss to local authority funds £3,697.06. 4 Housing benefit fraud. Loss to local authority funds £2,820.18. 5 Housing benefit fraud. Loss to local authority funds £7,631.37. 6 Housing benefit fraud. Loss to local authority funds £2,140. Notes:
1. Details of prosecution cases for 1997–98 are provided but information on cases not referred for prosecution is not readily available.
2. The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. Prior to this incidents of suspected benefit fraud within the former Employment Service (ES) were investigated by the Benefit Fraud Investigation Service (BFIS) and included within the overall fraud returns. They are not identifiable separately.
3. All the information for 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 covers BA staff only. The figures for 2001–02 are inclusive of BA and ES staff. (Relevant information from ES for April to June 2001 was included in the 2001–02 DWP Treasury report).
4. The outcomes are recorded according to definitions provided by HMT for the annual Treasury report.
809W
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the average cost to a local authority of a prosecution for suspected benefit fraud in the last year for which figures are available. 171780]
§ Malcolm WicksInformation on the cost to a local authority of a prosecution for suspected benefit fraud is not collected by the Department, so it is not possible to provide an estimate of the average cost.