Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what final estimate his Department made of the amount of money lost to fraud during the Independent Learning Account scheme.

The Individual Learning Account scheme ceased in 2001 and predates the Education and Skills Funding Agency and its predecessor the Learning and Skills Council. The National Audit Office reported in the Department for Education and Skills Resource Accounts in 2001/02 that the department estimated that £97 million had been subject to improper and fraudulent claims, out of a total scheme spend of £274 million. The cost of fraud and serious irregularities, based on estimates and extrapolations by the department, was estimated to be up to £67 million. In addition, the department estimated that it made irregular payments of £30 million. It is the £67 million and £30 million figures that make up the total estimate of £97 million.

The Department for Education and Skills Resource Accounts in 2001/02 is available to view here: https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/4556/6/HC 316 02.03.pdf.