§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed to detect and prosecute suspected fraud in each of the last six years; and what the cost was of their employment. [124498]
§ Mr. PondI refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Hertfordshire North-East (Mr. Heald), by my hon. Friend the former540W Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Malcolm Wicks), on the 12 December 2002, Official Report, column 502W.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have committed benefit fraud on two or more separate occasions since 1 April 2002; and of that number how many have had their benefit reduced under the two strikes provision of the Social Security Act 2001. [124504]
§ Mr. PondThe provision to sanction people convicted of two separate benefit fraud offences in a three-year period, known as the 'two-strikes provision', came into force on 1 April 2002. This provision cannot be applied retrospectively and only applies to people who have committed, and then been convicted for, two separate benefit offences after that date.
To date, we have recorded five individuals who have committed and been convicted of benefit fraud on two or more occasions since 1 April 2002. In three of these cases a benefit sanction has been imposed. In the two other cases there is no current claim to a sanctionable benefit but these cases have been noted and a sanction will be imposed if they claim benefit in the next three years.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the level of fraud in(a) order books and (b) giros was in 2002–03, broken down by type of fraud; and if he will make a statement. [125265]
§ Mr. PondWe estimate that total losses arising from the fraudulent encashment of order books and giro cheques during the year 2002–03 was £71.1 million.
The £21.4 million for giro cheque losses arises from three main sources. £1.8 million was lost from counterfeiting, £2.6 million from manipulation/forgery and £17.0 million from duplicate encashment/repudiation. £49.7 million was lost through fraudulent encashment of order books. It is not possible to break this figure down by type of fraud.
§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many instances there were of income support fraud in Scotland, broken down by local authority, in each year since 1997; [124837]
(2) what the estimated cost of job seeker's allowance fraud in Scotland was in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority; [1248348]
(3) what the estimated cost of income support fraud in Scotland was in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority; [125320]
(4) how many instances there were of jobseeker's allowance fraud in Scotland, broken down by local authority, in each year since 1997. [125321]
§ Mr. PondInformation on the level of fraud in Scotland broken down by local authority is not available. However information on estimated level 541W of fraud and error in income support and jobseeker's allowance in the whole of Scotland is in the following reports, copies of which are available in the Library:
The Results of the Area Benefit Review from April 1998 to March 1999 and Measurements for the Public Service Agreement: Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance.The Results of the Area Benefit Review and the Quality Support Team from April 1999 to March 2000: Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance.The Results of the Area Benefit Review and the Quality Support Team from April 2000 to March 2001: Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance.Fraud and Error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance from April 2001 to March 2002.