To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what requirements apply to people found to have committed benefit fraud to repay money defrauded; and what mechanisms are in place to recover the money in such cases; (322731)

The Department seeks to minimise the amount of fraud arising in the system. Proportionally, fraud in the benefit system is now over 60 per cent. less than it was in 2000-01.

When benefit fraud is discovered the resultant overpayment is pursued in all cases and priority is given to fraud cases to ensure that the time delay between discovery and recovery is kept to a minimum. The mechanics of the recovery of the overpayment will vary depending on the value of the debt and the circumstances of the customer, but will include one or more of the following:-

Compulsory recovery from ongoing benefit entitlement;

Recovery by lump sum or instalment for those no longer in receipt of benefit;

Seizure of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act;

Compensation order awarded by the courts;

Referral to a private sector partner to undertake debt recovery where appropriate; and

Enforcement of the debt through civil court where appropriate.

A customer is not required to repay the sum defrauded before making a further claim to benefit, though we would take deductions from future benefit payments to recover the debt. The maximum rate for recovery of overpayments arising from fraudulent activity is greater than it is for ordinary overpayments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many fraudulent benefit claims were detected in each of the last five years; how many such cases resulted in (a) administrative penalties, (b) cautions, (c) prosecutions and (d) convictions in each of these years; and how many of those convicted received a (i) custodial sentence, (ii) community sentence and (iii) discharge in each of these years; (322732)

The Department for Work and Pensions has three criminal sanctions available for use in cases of benefit fraud. These are cautions, administrative penalties and criminal prosecutions.

In addition, the ‘Two Strike’ 13 week loss of benefit sanction applies to those who have been convicted twice of benefit fraud within a set period. From 1 April 2010 the Department will also be able to apply a ‘One Strike’ four week loss of benefit sanction to those who have been convicted of benefit fraud for the first time, as well as to those who have accepted an administrative penalty or caution.

If a benefit claim is confirmed as fraudulent following an investigation, one of the above criminal sanctions will be applied in all cases. The figures provided in the following tables represent the number of fraudulent benefit claims detected in each of the last five years.

The available information for both Department for Work and Pensions and local authority administered benefits is provided. Information on local authority prosecutions and convictions is not yet available for 2008-09.

Information relating to how many individuals convicted of benefit fraud received a custodial sentence, community sentence or discharge is only available for Department for Work and Pensions administered benefits. The available information is provided in the following table.