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4 Feb 2008 : Column 865W—continued

The information contained in the table is collected and collated via departmental accounting systems.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of (a) fraud and (b) error there have been in the administration of (i) income support, (ii) jobseeker's allowance and (iii) housing benefit in each quarter in the last 10 years, broken down by region. [174803]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available prior to 2001-02 and is not available by quarter.

The Department's measurement system for fraud and error does not estimate the number of cases of fraud or error over a given period. It does provide estimates of the average proportion and number of claims that are fraudulent or in error at any one time during a year.

Estimates at regional level have been produced for income support and jobseeker's allowance, and published as National Statistics from 2001-02 onwards. These estimates are reproduced in the following tables. These estimates are based on a sampling exercise, and are subject to a degree of statistical variation. At regional level the sample sizes are small, so the uncertainty around the estimates is relatively large.

Estimates for Housing Benefit have not been produced at regional level. Estimates at national level of the proportion of cases that are paid incorrectly through fraud and error since 2002-03 can be found at:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fem/fem_apr05_mar06_ new.xls

4 Feb 2008 : Column 866W

Estimates of the average number of incorrect cases in Income Support at any one time, 2001-02 to 2005-06
Government office region	Fraud	Customer e rror	Official error	Total
2001-02
North East	6,000	6,000	8,000	20,000
North West	18,000	17,000	21,000	53,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	11,000	8,000	17,000	35,000
East Midlands	5,000	8,000	11,000	21,000
West Midlands	9,000	9,000	19,000	35,000
East	5,000	9,000	14,000	26,000
London	25,000	21,000	33,000	73,000
South East	16,000	12,000	22,000	45,000
South West	7,000	13,000	10,000	27,000
Wales	6,000	6,000	8,000	20,000
Scotland	18,000	17,000	21,000	53,000
2002-03
North East	4,000	7,000	9,000	19,000
North West	17,000	16,000	28,000	59,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	13,000	8,000	18,000	38,000
East Midlands	5,000	8,000	10,000	22,000
West Midlands	6,000	11,000	16,000	30,000
East	5,000	10,000	11,000	24,000
London	23,000	16,000	47,000	81,000
South East	14,000	12,000	26,000	48,000
South West	6,000	10,000	10,000	25,000
Wales	7,000	4,000	11,000	22,000
Scotland	13,000	8,000	12,000	31 ,000
2003-04
North East	5,000	5,000	12,000	21,000
North West	13,000	17,000	35,000	60,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	7,000	12,000	20,000	37,000
East Midlands	3,000	7,000	14,000	22,000
West Midlands	6,000	13,000	18,000	35,000
East	4,000	9,000	15,000	27,000
London	13,000	21,000	43,000	73,000
South East	15,000	13,000	25,000	49,000
South West	4,000	9,000	12,000	24,000
Wales	5,000	6,000	11,000	20,000
Scotland	10,000	12,000	19,000	39,000
2004-05
North East	5,000	6,000	12,000	22,000
North West	10,000	18,000	29,000	54,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	6,000	8,000	20,000	33,000
East Midlands	2,000	8,000	13,000	20,000
West Midlands	6,000	13,000	23,000	41,000
East	3,000	10,000	19,000	30,000
London	11,000	19,000	48,000	74,000
South East	10,000	15,000	25,000	45,000
South West	3,000	8,000	15,000	24,000
Wales	5,000	7,000	14,000	25,000
Scotland	7,000	14,000	17,000	36,000
2005-06
North East	4,000	7,000	7,000	17,000
North West	6,000	13,000	23,000	44,000
Yorkshire and the Humber	8,000	11,000	14,000	33,000
East Midlands	1,000	9,000	8,000	17,000
West Midlands	2,000	12,000	15,000	28,000
East	3,000	13,000	9,000	26,000
London	13,000	30,000	36,000	78,000
South East	7,000	15,000	22,000	44,000
South West	3,000	12,000	11,000	24,000
Wales	4,000	5,000	12,000	21,000
Scotland	5,000	14,000	11,000	29,000

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