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18 March 2005

BENEFIT FRAUD: IT'S A REAL RIP OFF - SPELLAR

"It is totally unacceptable that the public purse in Northern Ireland is being cheated to the tune of £33 million a year through benefit fraud," the Minister for Social Development, John Spellar MP, said today.

The Minister was launching a major advertising campaign by the Social Security Agency to drive home the message that benefit fraud is not a harmless fiddle but a totally intolerable drain on much needed public resources. The "Benefit fraud - it's a real rip off" campaign will be screened from tonight (March 21). He said:

"People here are quite literally being ripped off. This money comes from hard-working people who pay their taxes. Fraudsters are creaming off around £30 million a year and this is money that might otherwise be used towards schools, hospitals, roads and other services that are so badly needed here.

"This campaign highlights the fact that we do and will actively pursue anyone setting out to fraudulently claim benefits. This shouldn't be tolerated by society in general, and it certainly won't be tolerated by us.

"Benefit fraud is caused when people deliberately tell lies when they claim. It includes Housing Benefit and Income Support. The majority of those who are under investigation are fully aware of what they are doing and are organised and deliberate about it. They are first on our list. We are targeting them for investigation; we are building our case against them and we will go after them through the courts."

The current estimate of fraud across all benefits is about £33m. This includes £9.2m of Income Support, £6.3m of Jobseekers Allowance, and £6.9m in Housing Benefit with Incapacity Benefit, Carers Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Retirement Pension and Pension Credit accounting for the remainder.

Figures show that for the period from April 2004 to January 2005 the Agency's Operational Intelligence Unit carried out almost 8,000 investigations. 3,566 cases were successful and overpayments of £8.65m were raised. In addition to this, 467 cases were referred for prosecution, 96 had administrative penalties imposed and 97 were subject to cautions. Over the same period 126 cases were also successfully prosecuted through the courts.

The Minster concluded:

"We hope that this campaign, which will run for some time, will encourage people to debate the issue so that we can challenge the perception of benefit fraud as being socially acceptable; it isn't. Fraudsters are taking your money, and my money, and it's time we got to grips with that situation."

The Agency is working closer with, and shares information with, other organisations in relation to a number of fraud related initiatives. These organisations include the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Social and Family Affairs.

NORTHERN IRELAND SOCIAL SECURITY AGENCY FRAUD CAMPAIGN FACTSHEET

  • The Social Security Agency is the largest government agency in Northern Ireland with approximately 6,500 staff. Services are provided through 35 Jobs&Benefits offices, plus four large telephony and processing sites in Belfast and Derry.

  • Last year it paid out £3.2billion in benefits.

  • The agency has approximately 600,000 customers

  • 100,000 people receive Income Support

  • 31,000 receive Jobseekers Allowance
  • 260,000 receive State Retirement Pensions
  • 92,000 receive Pension Credit
  • 164,000 receive Disability Living Allowance
  • 109,000 receive Incapacity Benefit
  • 125,000 receive Housing Benefit (administered by Housing Executive)

  • Benefit fraud is estimated at £33 million, or less than 1pc of the total benefit pay-out of £3.5 billion (This comprises £3.2b of benefits paid by SSA plus £350m Housing Benefit administered by the Housing Executive and also included in the Fraud Campaign).

  • The Agency receives 11-12,000 referrals about alleged benefit fraud each year. Last year it investigated 7,760 of these and successfully adjusted 4,000 benefit claims leading to the recovery of £6.25million.

  • In the current year (2004/05) a total of 467 cases have been referred to the Courts for prosecution, 96 were settled by means of administrative levy and 97 by cautions.

  • Benefit Uptake - as well as prosecuting fraudulent claimants the Agency is also actively encouraging people to claim benefits to which they are entitled but may not be aware of. For example, since April 2003 a campaign to promote Pension Credit Take -Up has been very successful and an additional 15,000 pensioners are now receiving weekly payments of £55 each.

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