§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he has taken to eliminate(a) pension and (b) housing benefit fraud. [174997]
§ Mr. PondWe are committed to driving down levels of fraud and error in the benefits system.
A service delivery agreement was introduced to reduce loss from fraud and error in minimum income guarantee/pension credit by 20 per cent. by March 2006. The latest figures for minimum income guarantee were published in the national statistical report, "Fraud and Error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance from April 2002 to March 2003"; a copy is available in the Library.
The report shows that loss from fraud and error is falling, with a 17 per cent. reduction in fraud and error between April 2002 and March 2003 against the baseline, and a reduction in fraud alone of 45 per cent.
Data-matching with the Inland Revenue on savings and contributions to occupational pension schemes identifies income that may not have been reported; additionally information on other savings products such as individual savings accounts will become available for data matching later this year. These measures are equally applicable to the detection of fraud in relation to pension credit which replaced minimum income guarantee in October 2003.
The Government have set a challenging target to reduce fraud and error in housing benefit for working age people. We are working with local authorities to achieve a 25 per cent. reduction by March 2006, and the total amount available to spend on tackling fraud and 1808W error in housing benefit in the three years from 2003 to 2006 is £420 million. The Department published "Fraud and Error in Housing Benefit, April 2002 to March 2003" on 11 December 2003. This report represents the first national headline estimates for the level of fraud and error in housing benefit; a copy is available in the Library.
Latest figures show that, in the last three years, local authorities have increased the number of prosecutions and sanctions for benefit fraud by more than 500 per cent. In 2003–04, local authorities carried out 2,667 prosecutions and issued 6,289 cautions and penalties.
The Verification Framework is intended to detect and prevent fraudulent claims and sets a minimum standard of evidence needed for a claim to be assessed. Of the 348 authorities which have received funds to implement the Verification Framework scheme, 301 are fully compliant, with a further 37 being compliant in at least one of the modules. Verification Framework funding of £224 million has been made available for the three years from April 2003, with an additional £8 million being made available to local authorities to assist them with the change from the current VF scheme to a new regime introduced in April 2004.
From 5 April 2004, the Department is providing local authorities with monthly data-matching and risk based reviews via the Housing Benefit Matching Service (HBMS). This will enable local authorities to identify fraud and error at an earlier stage than in the past, ensuring that any overpayments are kept to a minimum.