§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons have been gaoled for benefit fraud since 1997. [101551]
§ Malcolm Wicks[pursuant to the reply, 31 March 2003, c. 592 W]: The information is in the table.
Custodial sentences1 following investigations by Departmental Investigators Number 1997–98 550 1998–99 640 1999–2000 640 2000–01 660 2001–02 650 1 Imprisonment, Young Offenders Institute or custodial and fine. Source:
Fraud Information By Sector and data from Counter-Fraud Investigation Division (Operations)2
2 The fraud database shows completed cases commenced in the relevant period. Due to the elapsed time between commencement of an investigation and completion of a prosecution there are cases that are inserted into previously completed data for earlier periods. All totals are therefore correct at the time when quoted but subject to adjustment at a later date.
In accordance with National Statistics Guidelines all figures in the table are rounded to the nearest 10 with — indicating a figure of 5 or fewer. Due to rounding process the total will not necessarily agree.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons were(a) convicted and (b) acquitted of benefit fraud offences in each of the last three years, broken down by type of offence; how many of those convicted of each type of offence in each year were sentenced to (i) immediate custody and (ii) other disposals broken down by type of disposal; what the (A) mean average and (B) longest individual custodial sentence imposed in each year was for each type of offence; and if he will make a statement. [88466]
§ Malcolm Wicks[pursuant to my reply, 28 February 2003, c. 762 W]: Information on benefit fraud by type of offence and the length of custodial sentences imposed following conviction are not recorded. The available information is in the table.
90WFurther analysis of investigation data has required revisions to previously published figures. The corrected data is shown in the table.
Outcome of prosecutions following investigations by Departmental Investigators Custodial sentences1 Convictions Community sentences2 Other sentences3 Acquittals Total prosecutions 1997–98 550 2,550 8,280 140 11,520 1998–99 640 2,290 7,030 160 10,130 1999–2000 640 2,210 6,270 140 9,270 2000–01 660 2,700 8,040 180 11,580 2001–02 650 3,070 7,470 170 11,360 1 Imprisonment, Young Offenders Institute, custodial and fine 2 Community Service 3 Absolute discharge, conditional discharge, compensation only, admonishment, fine, community rehabilitation, suspended sentence, supervision order, Young Offenders Institute, attendance centre, unknown 4 The fraud database shows completed cases commenced in the relevant period. Due to the elapsed time between commencement of an investigation and completion of a prosecution there are cases that are inserted into previously completed data for earlier periods. All totals are therefore correct at the time when quoted but subject to adjustment at a later date Notes:
1. In accordance with National Statistics Guidelines all figures are rounded to the nearest 10 with — indicating a figure of 5 or fewer.
2. Due to rounding process the totals will not necessarily agree.
Source:
Fraud Information by Sector system and data from Counter-Fraud Investigation Division Operations4