Written question asked by David Stewart (Labour) on Thursday, 10 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 18 March 2005. It was answered by Chris Pond (Labour) on Friday, 18 March 2005 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Dept for Work and Pensions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much it costs to run the Benefits Fraud hotline in each of the last three years; and how many calls it received in each year.

Answer: Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much it costs to run the Benefits Fraud hotline in each of the last three years; and how many calls it received in each year. [222120] Mr. Pond: The information is in the table. National benefit fraud hotline-operational costs and calls received _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Operational costs (£) Calls received 2001-02 1,086,000 205,999 2002-03 959,277 159,290 2003-04 1,038,505 121 3,471 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Includes 2,421 calls received by the Local Authority Fraud Hotline which commenced in September 2003. Notes: 1. Operational costs include staffing, goods and service costs. 2. The operational costs of administering the National Benefit Fraud Hotline include the costs of administering the report-a- cheat-online service. These costs cannot be separated. Source: National Benefit Fraud Hotline.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 432 c500W; 222120
Session: 2004-05
Subjects: Fraud Social security benefits Telephone services Telephones Operating costs
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk