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Mr. John Evans
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated cost to the nation of fraudulent social security claims which are not investigated because of shortage of staff in the investigation departments.
Mr. O'Malley
No such estimate can be made. All cases in which there is a firm suspicion of fraud are investigated, but because of shortages of specialist staff it is not always possible to start an investigation immediately the suspicion arises. It is not possible to quantify the financial effect of such delays.