Social Security Benefits: Fraud Mr. Amess 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. Mr. McNulty 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 2008Note: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: ----------------------------------------------------------------- | |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.| | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mr. Amess 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. Mr. McNulty 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |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. --------------------------------------------- |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. 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|2007-08 |Convicted|Custodial|Cautions|Adpens| 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|Q1 |*1,729 |*216 |3,878 |2,928 | 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|Q2 |*1,831 |*145 |4,242 |2,713 | 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|Q3 |*1,429 |*130 |3,167 |1,902 | 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|Q4 |*546 |*94 |1,688 |870 | 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|Total |*5,535 |*585 |12,975 |8,413 | 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|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 courts3. 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.| | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------