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Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Volume 486: debated on Monday 12 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people reported benefit fraud online in each of the last three years; how many of those reports were made anonymously; how many such reports were followed up with an investigation; and how many successful prosecutions for benefit fraud there were over that period. (241157)

Information for council tax and housing benefit is not available. The available information for DWP administered benefits is in the following table:

Internet contacts

Internet referrals

2008-091

84,852

81,063

2007-08

80,127

78,230

2006-07

71,01

69,866

1 April 2008 to October 2008

Note:

The National Benefit Fraud Hotline only started systematically collecting management information on fraud referrals from the 2007-08 operational year.

All reports made to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline via telephone and internet can be made anonymously. No figures are available on the number of occasions when individuals have chosen to identify themselves when reporting their suspicions.

The information in the following table provides aggregated details of outcomes derived from all hotline referrals, which were then followed up by an investigation and how many were successfully prosecuted in the last three years. The outcome data are not currently split into telephone and internet categories.

The available information is in the following table:

Benefit Fraud Hotline outcomes, Great Britain

2005-061

2006-071

2007-082

Investigations

62,886

51,458

54,284

Prosecutions

811

679

910

Convictions

723

533

664

Recoverable overpayments (£ million)

21

17

18

The following information is available for overall convictions during the same period:

2005-061

2006-071

2007-082

Overall convictions

8,858

6,878

6,107

Notes:

1. Figures for National Benefit Fraud Hotline outcomes from 2005 to 2007 include only FIBS (Fraud Information by Sector) data.

2. Figures for National Benefit Fraud Hotline outcomes for 2007-08 also include FRAIMS (Fraud Referral and Intervention Management System) figures with the exception of ‘Convictions’ as this information is not yet available.

3. The figures in all three tables above relate solely to DWP referrals and outcomes and do not include referrals sent to local authorities by NBFH nor their outcomes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) males and (b) females were (i) convicted and (ii) received a custodial sentence in respect of an offence of benefit fraud in (A) each of the last three years and (B) each quarter of each of the last three years; for those people fined, what the average fine was; and how many people were dealt with by way of caution in the same period. (241158)

Information on housing benefit fraud is not available broken down by either gender or by the number that received a custodial sentence.

The available information for total convictions, cautions and administrative penalties for housing benefit is in the following table.

Number of convictions, cautions and administrative penalties for housing benefit

Convictions

Cautions

Administrative penalties

2004-05

Q1

1,026

1,216

897

Q2

1,238

1,652

1,019

Q3

1,165

1,711

1,184

Q4

1,259

2,070

1,396

Year

4,688

6,649

4,496

2005-06

Q1

1,443

1,925

1,264

Q2

1,449

2,327

1,662

Q3

1,542

2,087

1,502

Q4

1,800

3,369

1,771

Year

6,234

9,708

6,199

2006-07

Q1

1,409

1,991

1,229

Q2

1,471

2,586

1,645

Q3

1,377

2,569

1,676

Q4

1,477

3,205

1,981

Year

5,734

10,351

6,531

Source:

Housing benefit administrative returns supplied by local authorities

For DWP-administered benefits, there is no information available prior to June 2007 on departmental systems which provides a break down by gender of convictions, custodial sentences, and court fines.

This information is now being captured on an individual case basis by the Fraud Referral and Intervention Management System (FRAIMS) which was rolled-out on a region by region basis between June 2007 and February 2008.

However, this information cannot currently be extracted from FRAIMS at summary level.

The available information 2005-07 is as follows.

Numbers of convictions, custodial sentences, cautions and administrative penalties for benefit fraud in Great Britain

2005-06

Convicted

Custodial

Cautions

Adpens

Q1

2,055

113

3,025

2,657

Q2

2,024

88

2,488

3,116

Q3

1,789

87

2,607

2,561

Q4

2,235

102

2,423

2,536

Total

8,103

390

10,543

10,870

2006-07

Convicted

Custodial

Cautions

Adpens

Q1

1,972

222

3,282

2,773

Q2

1,790

146

3,221

2,771

Q3

1,408

137

2,970

2,325

Q4

1,708

108

2,503

1,941

Total

6,878

613

11,976

9,810

Source:

2006-07 figures are FIBS (Fraud Information by Sector) only.

For 2007-08 the available data are as follows.

Numbers of convictions, custodial sentences, cautions and administrative penalties for benefit fraud in Great Britain

2007-08

Convicted

Custodial

Cautions

Adpens

Q1

*1,729

*216

3,878

2,928

Q2

*1,831

*145

4,242

2,713

Q3

*1,429

*130

3,167

1,902

Q4

*546

*94

1,688

870

Total

*5,535

*585

12,975

8,413

Notes:

1. For 2007-08 figures marked with an asterisk (“*”) are not yet available from FRAIMS. Therefore, the information for the four quarters represents FIBS data only. Although this information is recorded on individual cases, it cannot be extracted at a summary level. Work is currently being undertaken to enable this to be done.

2. The same applies to providing data on the number of persons being fined following conviction, although it is not envisaged that average fine values will be able to be generated. The amount of fine imposed is a matter for the courts

3. Information has been included in the above tables showing the number of Administrative Penalties issued.

4. Administrative Penalties are used for less serious cases of fraud; those where the overpayment is below £2,000. Formal cautions are designed to correct claimant behaviour by getting them to admit to the offence. Administrative Penalties, which became available through the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997, give the claimant the opportunity to avoid prosecution by paying a penalty of 30 per cent. of the overpayment, as well as having to repay the overpayment in full.

Source:

2007-08 figures are a combination of FIBS (Fraud Information by Sector) and FRAIMS (Fraud Referral and Intervention Management System) data.