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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to provide a substantive reply to the question from the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon tabled on 7 October. [57995]
SOCIAL SECURITY
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate his Department has made of the total level of fraud in the payment of incapacity benefit; [55936]
- (2) how much fraud has been detected in the payment of incapacity benefit in each of the last three years. [55942]
Mr. Denham:
Tackling fraud and abuse is a top priority for the Government. Operational issues are the responsibility of Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
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Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Gordon Marsden, dated 28 October 1998:
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people who are currently waiting to attend an incapacity benefit appeal tribunal in the West Midlands have been waiting (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months and (d) six months and over. [57058]
Angela Eagle:
The information is not available in the form requested. However, at the end of June 1998, the number of people waiting to attend an Incapacity Benefit Appeal Tribunal lodged with the Birmingham local office of The Independent Tribunal Service, totalled 2,498. Of these, 213 have been waiting less than one month, 870 between one and three months, 540 between three and six months and 875 over six months.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the cost of equalising retirement benefits for United Kingdom state pensioners resident in other countries. [55802]
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Mr. Prior:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners, with United Kingdom pension rights, living abroad have had their pensions frozen; and if he will estimate the cost of upgrading these pensions. [56227]
Mr. Denham:
Around 450,000 pensioners living abroad receive a basic UK State Pension which is frozen, either at the rate paid on leaving the UK or, if already living abroad, at the rate when first awarded.
The total annual cost of uprating frozen UK basic State Pensions paid overseas to the rate paid to pensioners resident in the UK would be £275 million.
Mr. Prior:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the Pensions Review will examine the pension claims of those pensioners living abroad. [56228]
Mr. Denham:
The Pensions Review has received a number of representations from pensioners and organisations representing pensioners who live in countries where basic UK pension rates are not uprated in line with pensions paid in the UK.
As there are competing demands and constraints on Social Security spending in the United Kingdom, it would be wrong to raise expectations that uprating UK pensions paid abroad is likely to attract priority in the current circumstances.
Mr. Prior:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners with United Kingdom pension rights are currently living abroad. [56230]
Mr. Denham:
Around 840,000 pensioners living abroad receive a United Kingdom basic State Pension.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 26 October 1998, Official Report, column 25, on pensioner incomes, by what means hon. Members may obtain statistical information on the incomes of pensioners prior to 1979. [57660]
Mr. Denham:
The Department's Pensioners' Incomes Series datasets start with 1979. Consistent datasets for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department does hold a copy of the Households Below Average Income 1961 to 1991 dataset created by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It has not been used to analyse pensioners incomes. It is Government Statistical Service practice to use only datasets created within Government Departments or under the direction of Government analysts for answering questions that require fresh analysis.
Mr. Prior:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the date of publication of the Pensions Review. [56229]
Mr. Denham:
As set out in the Green Paper "New Ambitions for our country: A New Contract for Welfare" (Cm 3805), we will publish a Green Paper on pensions later this year. There will then be a period of further consultation before final proposals are developed.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many asylum seekers are currently claiming
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benefit in the United Kingdom; from which countries they came; and how much benefit they are being paid each month. [55872]
Angela Eagle:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table. There is an overlap in the figures provided as most claimants receive both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the total level of fraud in the payment of Incapacity Benefit (IB) and how much fraud has been detected in the payment of IB in each of the last three years.
The information is not available in the format requested. The Benefits Agency's (BA's) Benefit Review Programme aims to estimate how much benefit is being paid incorrectly, including fraud and establish causes of incorrect payments. To date Benefit Reviews have been carried out on Income Support (twice), Unemployment Benefit, Housing Benefit (twice), Retirement Pension, Invalid Care Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Child Benefit/Child Benefit (Lone Parent), but not on IB. Consequently, no formal assessment of the level of fraud in IB is currently available.
Information about the amount of fraud detected in individual benefits has only been separately collected since April 1997. In 1997-98 the BA saved a total of £1,918 million as a result of anti-fraud activity. Savings to IB comprised £7.4 million (or 0.4%) of this total figure.
However, there is a difference in the level of fraud detected by investigative work and the level of fraud estimated by the Benefit Review programme. Benefit Reviews estimate the total amount of incorrectness, including fraud, within a particular benefit. A random, but statistically valid, sample of customers is selected and a review of their circumstances is carried out. Therefore, whilst savings figures from investigations demonstrate what fraud has actually been detected, Benefit Reviews estimate the levels of fraud and incorrectness in the benefits reviewed.
The BA is undertaking a range of projects and initiatives all of which are designed to achieve a sustained reduction in the level of fraud across the benefit system. The Government's recent Green Paper "Beating Fraud is Everyone's Business: Securing the Future" sets out a comprehensive strategy for tackling fraud in the wider context of welfare reform.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Source:
Appeals--Data supplied by Analytical Services Division (ASD) from the Independent Tribunal Service Generic Appeals Processing System.
| Benefit | Number of recipients | Average monthly amount of benefit (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Income Support | 45,000 | 255.90 |
| Housing Benefit | 36,000 | 356.90 |
| Council Tax Benefit | 21,000 | 42.00 |
Notes:
1. The number of recipients are rounded to the nearest thousand; average amounts to the nearest 10 pence.
2. The average monthly amount of benefit is calculated by multiplying the average weekly amount by 52 and dividing by 12.
3. Asylum seekers cannot be distinguished from other urgent case payments.
4. Information refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
5. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit figures relate only to those claimants also in receipt of Income Support.
6. A later approximate figure of 42,000 asylum seekers claiming Income Support is available, from the February 1998 QSE. However, the May 1997 figure has been used in table to ensure the data are comparable with the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit data.
Sources:
1. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, 5 per cent. sample,
May 1997.
2. Housing Benefit Management Information System, annual 1 per cent. sample of claimants also in receipt of Income Support, May 1997.
A breakdown of asylum seekers currently claiming benefit by country of origin is not available. However,
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copies of the Home Office monthly asylum statistics and Home Office Statistical Bulletins, which show the rate of asylum applications by country, are placed in the Library.
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