§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of likely reasons for the increase in Income Support and Jobseekers's Allowance overpayments to non-pensioners owing to official error; and if he will make a statement. [155892]
§ Mr. Pond [holding answer 25 February 2004]The loss from fraud and error in Income Support (IS) and Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) reduced to 7.3 per cent. in March 2003, compared to the 10.4 per cent. September 1998 baseline figure. This is the lowest ever level of loss recorded and builds on our previous achievements. We have now reduced by 30 per cent. the loss for people of working age receiving IS or JSA.
The Department estimates that the rate of overpayment in IS and JSA due to official error was 1.9 per cent. of expenditure for the period April 2002 March 2003. The equivalent figure in the previous year, for the period April 2001 to March 2002, was 1.8 per cent.
The increase of 0.1 per cent. is very small compared to the margins of sampling error around the two estimates. Furthermore, a change in the methodology between 2001–02 and 2002–03 increased the estimate of official error by 0.1 per cent. In these circumstances we cannot conclude that there has been a real increase in the underlying rate of official error. Further details on the methodology change will be provided in the next National Statistics report which is due to be published in March 2004.