Written question asked by Michael Clapham (Labour) on Thursday, 15 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 January 2006. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Monday, 16 January 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Miners' Compensation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many coal health claimants have been under surveillance since the scheme started; how many proven cases of fraud there have been in relation to (a) vibration white finger claims and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims; what the total cost has been to date of audit investigations on counter fraud procedures for each scheme; and what estimate he has made of the savings made through surveillance procedures.

Answer: [holding answer 11 January 2006]: Surveillance has been undertaken on 80 claimants since the start of the schemes.The main protection against fraud/exaggeration in the schemes is the medical assessment process in the respiratory disease scheme and the employment requirement in the vibration white finger (VWF) scheme. About 10 per cent. (26,000) of respiratory disease and 20 per cent. (24,000) VWF claims have been denied.In addition, of 2,199 claims investigated as potentially fraudulent, 789 claims have been reduced or denied, 46 of which were as a result of surveillance. This is made up of 683 VWF, 100 COPD and six other claims. The total saving for anti-fraud activity is approximately £10.75 million of which approximately £870,000 has been saved from cases in which surveillance was used. The total cost of counter-fraud activity is approximately £3 million.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 38960; 441 c947-8W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Compensation Coal Fraud Industrial diseases Mining Surveillance Hand arm vibration syndrome Respiratory diseases
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk