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Written question asked by Margaret Moran (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 June 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 26 June 2006. It was answered by James Plaskitt (Labour) on Wednesday, 5 July 2006 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Housing Benefit

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of housing benefit (a) overpayments and (b) fraud was to Luton Council in each of the last five years.
Answer

The available information is in the table.

Overpayments and recoveries by Luton Council, 2004-05
£
Value of overpayments identified by Luton Council Subsidy paid by DWP to Luton council (40 per cent. of overpayments identified) Net cost to Luton council before recovery Recovered by Luton council Net cost after recovery
986,776 394,710 592,066 1,007,423 -415,357
Notes: 1. A negative amount implies a surplus. 2. The cost of overpayments is calculated first from the difference between the value of overpayments identified due to fraud and claimant error, and the subsidy received by Luton council for these overpayments. This value minus any overpayments subsequently recovered from claimants or landlords is presented here as the net cost after recovery. Administrative costs, such as those for fraud teams and for recovering overpayments, have not been included in this answer. 3. The amount recovered by Luton council in 2004-05 includes overpayments identified in earlier years.

Information is not available on local authority performance in respect of the level of Housing Benefit fraud present in their caseload, since it is not possible to robustly estimate the amount of undetected fraud and error at a local authority level.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
80369; 448 c1168W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Housing benefit Luton
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk