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Benefit Fraud

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) referrals, (b) investigations and (c) successful prosecutions have resulted from calls to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline from 1997 to the most recent figures available. [92498]

Malcolm Wicks: The available information is in the table.

	Number of referrals	Number of investigations	Successful prosecutions
January 1997 to March 1997	56,740	Not available(17)	Not available(17)
April 1997 to March 1998	139,666	Not available(17)	Not available(17)
April 1998 to March 1999	106,652	Not available(17)	Not available(17)
April 1999 to March 2000	109,489	28,582	335
April 2000 to March 2001	(18)145,488	33,134	492
April 2001 to March 2002	(18)150,340	32,943	703
April 2002 to December 2002	(18)91,648	25,081	546

⁽¹⁷⁾ Full information on the number of investigations and successful prosecutions resulting from calls to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline is available only from April 1999.

⁽¹⁸⁾ Figure includes all referrals from the National Benefit Fraud Hotline including calls received by the Call Centre Bureau, which since May 2000 has been contracted to answer calls outside normal working hours when the main hotline unit is closed.

⁽¹⁹⁾ The fraud database shows completed cases commenced in the relevant period. Due to the elapsed time between commencement of an investigation and completion of a prosecution there are cases which are inserted into previously completed data for earlier periods. All totals are therefore correct at the time when quoted but subject to adjustment at a later date.

Source:

National Benefit Fraud Hotline and Fraud Information By Sector system

⁽²⁰⁾

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Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) law enforcement and (b) other agencies involved in the investigation of benefit fraud; and what role his Department plays in co-ordinating their work. [94008]

Malcolm Wicks: The primary responsibility for the investigation of benefit fraud lies with Departmental investigators. Where appropriate, for example where the fraudster is committing other crimes that cross organisational boundaries, other law enforcement and public sector agencies provide assistance or work in partnership with our investigations.

The law enforcement agencies with whom we work in partnership to tackle benefit fraud include the police and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. The Department and the Association of Chief Police Officers have recently signed an agreement setting out the principles for legitimate, mutual operational support, to enhance co-operation in the investigation of benefit crime.

Other agencies who provide assistance or work in partnership with our investigations include local authorities, the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency, the National Asylum Support Service, the Inland Revenue, Trading Standards, the Passport Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, the Immigration and Nationality Division, and the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Co-ordination of all joint working is the responsibility of the Chief Investigation Officer, working as necessary with Regional Directors, to develop a unified approach with both local government and other Government Departments.

Poverty

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department defines living in

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poverty; how many households (a) in the UK and (b) in each region are classified as having been in poverty in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02; and how many households are expected to be in poverty in (A) 2002–03, (B) 2003–04, (C) 2004–05 and (D) 2005–06. [103806]

Malcolm Wicks: Poverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives—including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. The fourth annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 5598) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy. We do not publish forecasts of these indicators.

Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994–95—2001–02'.

In April 2002 we published 'Measuring Child Poverty: a consultation document' to gather views on an appropriate measure of child poverty for the long term. This consultation was very well received and we plan to publish initial conclusions this spring.

All publications listed are available in the Library.

Tax Credits (Departmental Website)

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason tax credits are no longer included in the benefit expenditure tables available on the Department's website. [100789]

Mr. McCartney: The information was inadvertently omitted from Tables 1 and 2 of the Benefit Expenditure Tables on the Department's website. All the missing information is given in the following tables.

The tables on the website have now been updated to include this information.

Table 1: Nominal benefit and tax credit expenditure—pre-Budget report 2002 forecasts£ million, cash

	War Pensions	Northern Ireland expenditure	Total United Kingdom expenditure	Personal Tax Credits (expenditure component)	Total United Kingdom benefit and tax credit expenditure
1991–92	967	1,951	68,220	—	68,220
1992–93	1,158	2,212	77,469	—	77,469
1993–94	1,286	2,470	84,907	—	84,907
1994–95	1,147	2,622	87,471	—	87,471
1995–96	1,258	2,797	91,493	—	91,493
1996–97	1,351	2,975	95,187	—	95,187
1997–98	1,288	3,046	96,388	—	96,388
1998–99	1,264	3,169	98,724	—	98,724
1999–2000	1,256	3,285	102,338	1,097	103,435
2000–01	1,396	3,346	104,660	4,648	109,308
2001–02	1,231	3,551	109,893	4,845	114,738
2002–03	1,187	3,706	114,383	5,665	120,048
2003–04	1,148	3,847	119,306	7,823	127,129
2004–05	1,107	3,919	121,931	11,310	133,241
2005–06	1,091	4,075	126,525	12,600	139,126

Note:

War Pensions, Northern Ireland, and Personal Tax Credits forecasts provided by HM Treasury. Historic information provided by the relevant Departments.

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Table 2: Real benefit and tax credit expenditure—pre-Budget report 2002 forecasts£ million, 2002–03 prices

	War Pensions	Northern Ireland expenditure	Total United Kingdom expenditure	Personal Tax Credits (expenditure component)	Total United Kingdom benefit and tax credit expenditure
1991–92	1,276	2,576	90,089	—	90,089
1992–93	1,481	2,830	99,097	—	99,097
1993–94	1,606	3,083	105,990	—	105,990
1994–95	1,413	3,230	107,762	—	107,762
1995–96	1,507	3,350	109,593	—	109,593
1996–97	1,569	3,454	110,513	—	110,513
1997–98	1,451	3,431	108,558	—	108,558
1998–99	1,385	3,474	108,217	—	108,217
1999–2000	1,344	3,516	109,526	1,174	110,700
2000–01	1,462	3,503	109,583	4,867	114,450
2001–02	1,262	3,640	112,641	4,966	117,606
2002–03	1,187	3,706	114,383	5,665	120,048
2003–04	1,123	3,762	116,681	7,651	124,332
2004–05	1,056	3,739	116,340	10,791	127,132
2005–06	1,016	3,793	117,779	11,729	129,508

Note:

War Pensions, Northern Ireland expenditure and Personal Tax Credits expenditure provided by HM Treasury. Historic information provided by the relevant Departments. Figures converted to 2002–03 prices using the pre-Budget report out-turn, estimates and forecasts for the GDP deflator.

Top-up Fees

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 13 February 2003, Official Report, column 969W, on top-up fees, whether the projected repayment of student loans will be made on a calculation of net gross income. [101287]

Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.

Loans for fees would be repaid on the same basis as student loans for maintenance. Student loan borrowers are currently liable to repay their loans at a rate of 9 per cent. on all additional income over £10,000 a year. So for a graduate earning £15,000 they will repay at a rate of 9 per cent. on £5,000. The income taken into account in calculating student loan repayment is gross income (before deductions for tax, national insurance, or other payments deducted source, for example court orders).

We propose to increase the repayment threshold from £10,000 to £15,000 in April 2005.

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