§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the(a) operational and (b) advertising costs of the National Benefit Fraud Hotline in each of the last six years. [151017]
§ Mr. PondThe available information is in the table:
National benefit fraud hotline £ Operational costs Advertising costs 1997–98 1— 225,000 1998–99 1— 290,247 1999–2000 1— 337,672 2000–01 627,804 425,178 2001–02 1,086,000 2— 2002–03 959,277 2— 1Not available. 2Not separately assessed.
Notes:1. Operational costs for the National Benefit Fraud Hotline are only available for the last three years. Operational cost figures are not available prior to 2000–01.2. The National Benefit Fraud Hotline (NBFH) number was advertised separately up until 2000–2001. Since the Targeting Fraud (now Targeting Benefit Fraud) advertising campaign started in 2001, the NBFH number has been included in the campaign advertising and has not been the subject of any advertising on its own.3. Operational costs include staffing costs and goods and services costs.4. The operational costs of administering the National Benefit Fraud Hotline include the costs of administering report-a-cheat-online. These costs cannot be separated.Source:Operational costs—National Benefit Fraud Hotline.Advertising costs—DWP Communications Directorate.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2004,Official Report, column 731W, how many people have been found to have committed benefit fraud against his Department on (a) one. (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine, (j) 10 and (k) more than 10 occasions since the powers to sanction benefits introduced by the Social Security Act 2001 took effect. [156023]
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2004,Official Report, column 731W, how many people have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for committing benefit fraud against his Department on two or more occasions since the powers to sanction benefits introduced by the Social Security Act 2001 took effect. [156025]
§ Mr. PondThe information on investigations is not available.
On prosecutions, our latest information is that 30 people have been convicted of benefit fraud on at least two occasions since the powers to sanction benefits introduced by the Social Security Act 2001 took effect. However, data is incomplete and subject to change due to late notification.