§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls have been dealt with by the anti-fraud hotline in the last year for which figures are available; how many cases of suspected fraud have been reported to the hotline; how many of these cases have1144W been investigated; how many of them have led to a successful prosecution; and how many of them have led to a custodial sentence. [56417]
§ Malcolm WicksThe National Benefit Fraud Hotline receives over 17,000 calls a month, resulting in more than two prosecutions a day.
The available information is in the table.
National Benefit Fraud Hotline 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 Number Number of calls received 205,999 Number of cases of suspected fraud reported1 161,052 Number of resulting investigations 108,986 Number of resulting benefit rate changes 26,385 Number of prosecutions so far 768 Number of resulting custodial sentences 3Not available 1 Including referrals received by telephone, e-mail and post. 2 Figures include increases and decreases and can relate either to fraud, client error or official error. 3Information is not collated centrally on the number of custodial sentences arising from investigations as a direct result of calls to the hotline. Source:
National Benefit Fraud Hotline Management Information.