§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department are involved in work to investigate suspicions of fraud from his Department's vote I budget. [54711]
§ Malcolm WicksThe overall aim of the Department's anti-fraud strategy is to have a benefit system which is secure from first claim to final payment.
The implementation of this strategy means that an anti-fraud focus is integral to the work of all staff in the Department, as is dealing with the wider agenda of error and incorrectness in benefit payments.
The number of the Department's staff employed at 31 March 2002 specifically in work to investigate suspicions of fraud in the areas previously covered' by the Department's vote 1 budget was 5,469.
1 As a result of the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting the Department moved from three votes to one departmental vote on 1 April 2001. The last vote 1 and vote 2 accounts were for the 2000–01 financial year.Source:Professional Standards Unit. Figure includes investigators and dedicated administrative support staff.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed undertaking specific work on counter fraud policy issues from his Department's vote 2 budget on 8 April. [54712]
§ Malcolm WicksThe overall aim of the Department's anti-fraud strategy is to have a benefit system which is secure from first claim to final payment.
The implementation of this strategy means that an anti-fraud focus is integral to the work of all staff in the Department, as is dealing with the wider agenda of error and incorrectness in benefit payments.
As a result of the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting the Department moved from three votes to one departmental vote on 1 April 2001. The last vote 1 and vote 2 accounts were for the 2000–01 financial year.
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§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in(a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies (i) were disciplined, (ii) resigned and (iii) were dismissed after suspicions of fraud or corruption arose in 2000–01. [54719]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Department treats very seriously any suspicions of fraud or corruption by its officers and takes firm action in any cases that arise.
No instances of corruption were identified in 2000–01. Information on cases where misconduct as a consequence of fraud was identified in 2000–01 is in the table.
Number of cases Benefits Agency 65 Departmental directorates 10 War Pensions Agency 2 Child Support Agency 5 The Appeals Service 0 Employment Service 26 Total 108 Note:
DWP was only formed in 2001–02 and the Employment Service was formerly part of the Department for Education and Employment.
Information on the outcomes of cases in 2000–01 is in the following table.
Disciplinary penalty Dismissed Resigned Other1 Benefits Agency 31 14 9 11 Departmental directorates 9 0 0 1 War Pensions Agency 0 0 1 1 Child Support Agency 0 0 2 3 The Appeals Service 0 0 0 0 Employment Service 19 5 2 0 Total 59 19 14 16 1 Including cases not proven, not culpable, not yet decided, those where no further action has been taken and those where an appeal is ongoing.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in(a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies with access to national insurance records were (i) disciplined, (ii) resigned and (iii) dismissed as a result of improprieties concerning their use of this access in 2000–01. [54718]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Department treats very seriously any suspicions of unauthorised access by its officers and takes firm action in any cases that arise.
Information on the number of cases in 2000–01 where misconduct was identified is in the table.
Number of cases Benefits Agency 50 Departmental directorates 1 War Pensions Agency 0 Child Support Agency 2 The Appeals Service 0 Employment Service 7 Total 60 Note:
DWP was only formed in 2001–02 and the Employment Service was formerly part of the Department for Education and Employment.
Information on the outcomes of cases in 2000–01 is in the following table.
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Disciplinary penalty Dismissed Resigned Other Benefits Agency 28 12 9 11 Departmental directorates 1 0 0 0 War Pensions Agency 0 0 0 0 Child Support Agency 0 2 0 0 The Appeals Service 0 0 0 0 Employment Service 4 2 1 0 Total 33 16 10 1 1 No formal action was taken.