Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Stephen Mosley(12 years, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)
1. What steps he is taking to tackle benefit fraud in areas where its prevalence is high.
Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)
15. What steps he is taking to tackle benefit fraud in areas where its prevalence is high.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)
I remind my hon. Friends of our inheritance from the previous Government: fraud and error in the benefit system were at £3.1 billion and progress had plateaued since 2005. The joint strategy with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs started in 2010 and included mobile regional taskforces to look at different areas. We are targeting claimants in high fraud areas with visits, phone calls and letters. One pilot has been completed in Birmingham and we have two more in Cardiff and Croydon. We will carry out evaluation once all three are completed. So far, since October, from case cleansing alone we have saved more than £100 million.