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To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans she has to (a) review and (b) amend the regulation of the premium rate telephone industry. - It has not proved possible to respond before Prorogation.

Asked by

Linda Perham (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Trade and Industry

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c1940W;426 c1945W; 197843

House

House of Commons

Dept of Trade and Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what measures she intends to take to protect the public from the unwanted installation of premium rate dialler programmes on computers connected to the internet; and if she will make a statement. - It has not proved possible to respond...

Asked by

Graham Stringer (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Trade and Industry

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c1940W;426 c1945W; 197934

House

House of Commons

Dept for Work and Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had their claims for incapacity benefit terminated because their claims were found to be fraudulent in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) region and (b) age. - No figures information is not available.

Asked by

Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c1880W;426 c1885W; 191719

House

House of Commons

Dept of Health

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. - Inc tables.

Asked by

Mark Prisk (Conservative)

Answering body

Department of Health

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

12 October 2004

For answer on

18 November 2004

Answered on

18 November 2004

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. [191426] Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department and its agencies have recorded losses, including thefts, to the value of £429,667 in financial years 1997-2004 to date. The Department takes the protection of its information technology systems and assets very seriously and the its security policy and procedures are kept under constant review. Table 1 shows a breakdown of individual years for the Department and the totals for the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) and the National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency. Table 1 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Financial Year Total losses (£) 1997-98 48,485.00 1998-99 55,148.00 1999-2000 45,094.00 2000-01 56,832.00 2001-02 70,500.00 2002-03 66,004.00 2003-04 56,917.00 2004-05 to date 25,857.00 PASA--2002-03 2,177.00 PASA--2003-04 2,453.00 MHRA--2003-04 200.00 Total losses 429,667.00 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Table 2 shows figures for fraud, provided by the NHS counter fraud and security management service. Table 2 £ ____________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Department Agencies Non- departmental public Total bodies 1997-98 61,415 1,461 10,458 73,334 1998-99 66,897 0 6,903 73,800 1999-2000 48,148 3,493 2,739 54,380 2000-01 56,831 0 6,582 63,413 2001-02 34,862 1,706 12,131 48,699 2002-03 73,892 0 0 73,892 2003-04 29,082 1168,307 22,259 219,648 ____________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 From MHRA--this includes a stolen cheque for £162,000, which should be reimbursed by the bank. The case is in the hands of their lawyers. This was included in the 2003-04 Her Majesty's Treasury fraud return.

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c1992W;426 c1998W; 191426

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. - Will write.

Asked by

Mark Prisk (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c1845-6W;426 c1849-50W; 191411

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the unit cost of a biometric identity card reader; what estimate he has made of the potential savings in identity fraud costs that may be consequent on development of the identity card scheme; which...

Asked by

Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c2060W;426 c2066W; 198901;198902;198905;198906;198900;198904

House

House of Commons

Treasury

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. - Inc table.

Asked by

Mark Prisk (Conservative)

Answering body

Treasury

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

12 October 2004

For answer on

18 November 2004

Answered on

18 November 2004

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. [191425] Mr. Timms: The figures for the Chancellor's Departments and their agencies and NDPBs are given in the following table. £0001 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 HM Treasury 15 21 22 4 51 19 12 Debt Management Office n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 Office of Government n/a n/a n/a n/a 1 6 0 Commerce OGCbuying.solutions n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 Royal Mint 0 0 0 0 26 0 8 Statistics Commission n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 Office for National 3 10 7 8 4 5 28 Statistics HM Customs & Excise 35 60 142 23 12 55 12 Inland Revenue, including 93 259 136 277 514 441 702 Valuation Office National Savings and 304 310 298 454 371 202 352 Investments Government Actuary's 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Department _________________________________________________________________________________________________. n/a = Not applicable--denotes that the body did not exist in the year in question. 1 Rounded to the nearest thousand pounds. The figures include known and estimates values for known instances of theft and fraud committed by employees, net of recoveries. They also include values for known instances of theft and fraud committed by contractors. In common with other direct mail retailers, the Royal Mint experiences cheque and credit fraud in connection with its retail business. Reliable data on the level of such fraud is not readily available. The figures for HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue do not include estimates of revenue lost through fraud or theft by taxpayers. The figures for National Savings and Investments include theft and fraud committed via savings products.

Date

18 November 2004

Reference

426 c1720-1W;426 c1724-6W; 191425

House

House of Commons

Dept of Trade and Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what steps her Department is taking in conjunction with the Home Office to tackle rogue doorstep selling.

Asked by

John Barrett (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department of Trade and Industry

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

17 November 2004

Reference

198919; 426 c1619W;426 c1622W

House

House of Commons

Dept for Work and Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. - Inc table.

Asked by

Mark Prisk (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

12 October 2004

For answer on

17 November 2004

Answered on

17 November 2004

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. [191414] Mr. Pond: The Department estimates that there is some 2 billion of fraud within the social security system across the range of benefits. These estimates are based on a mixture of in-depth rolling programmes that re- perform a large sample of benefit awards each year in certain benefits, and snapshots of customer error and fraud--national benefit reviews and pilot benefit reviews--on other benefits, taken at various times back to 1996-97. The highest risk of fraud and error lies within Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance. For these benefits the Department have in place a continuous rolling programme of checking to determine and monitor the extent of fraud and error. The Department has a PSA Target by 2006 to reduce by 50 per cent. the losses from fraud and error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance as compared to the 1997 baseline. The Department is making good progress towards achieving this target. Details of estimated cost of theft to the Department are presented in Table 1. Details of the estimated cost of internal and contractor fraud to the Department are presented in Table 2. Table 1: Cost of theft (£000) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Agency 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 Jobcentre Plus 55,475 447,287 184,131 Child Support Agency 13,037 24,700 18,684 Appeals Service 6,675 6,740 2,100 The Pensions Service 500 18,560 Departmental Headquarters and 21,420 83,031 80,177 Shared Directorates Total 96,607 562,258 303,652 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: Losses for non departmental public bodies are not recorded or identifiable separately. Table 2:Cost of fraud (£000) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Agency 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 Jobcentre Plus 918,790 430,780 389,874 44,309 208,823 557,007 71,100 The Pension Service 600 Child Support Agency 57 417 8,950 9,200 4,111 1,812 Appeals Service 203 24 War Pensions Agency 1,500 3,583 Employment Service 97,242 54,107 45,624 3,023 1,045,977 Contributions Agency 2,572 1,824 Departmental Headquarters 14,019 620 8,595 and Shared Directorates Information Technology 20,959 10,942 8,325 Services Agency Contractors 765,526 Total 1,039,62 498,070 454,273 74,134 1,259,734 565,602 839,062 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: This information has been compiled from annual returns to HM Treasury detailing fraud losses. Jobcentre Plus--a new agency created in 2002 merging parts of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. Figures up to 2001-2002 relate to losses within the Benefits Agency. Employment Service--figures to 2001-2002 include contractor fraud. Contributions Agency transferred to Inland Revenue in 1999. War Pensions Agency transferred to the Ministry of Defence in 2002 Information Technology Services Agency ceased to exist in 2001

Date

17 November 2004

Reference

426 c1666W;426 c1668-70W; 191414

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken in the last 12 months to improve its ability to deter people who attempt to acquire refugee status by giving a false nationality or country or region of origin.

Asked by

Humfrey Malins (Conservative)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

29 October 2004

For answer on

17 November 2004

Answered on

17 November 2004

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken in the last 12 months to improve its ability to deter people who attempt to acquire refugee status by giving a false nationality or country or region of origin. [195472] Mr. Browne: We have taken a number of steps to deal with this issue. Section 2 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 came into force on 22 September 2004. This provision allows for the prosecution of asylum seekers (and others) who arrive in the UK undocumented without reasonable excuse. If found guilty, they face a maximum two-year prison sentence. To date 79 individuals have been arrested and charged with this new criminal offence. In addition, we are reviewing asylum screening arrangements. This will deliver a more streamlined, effective and strategic process while maintaining the fundamental principles of robustness and assertiveness in the screening process. This review will have a significant impact on those who seek to abuse the asylum process by claiming to hold a false nationality. Furthermore, in order to ensure that asylum applicants posing falsely as nationals from countries other than that of their origin are dealt with appropriately, we are using language analysis testing in disputed nationality asylum cases. Other initiatives, such as the Visa Immigration and Asylum Fingerprinting project, designed to identify asylum seekers who have obtained visas at UK missions abroad, and the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System, have led to the identification of individuals who have attempted to apply for asylum using false information about their nationality.

Date

17 November 2004

Reference

195472; 426 c1603W;426 c1606W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Health

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, under what circumstances members of the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service will be able to procure patient records from general practitioners without consent; what penalties may be used against general practitioners who refuse to release patient records to members of...

Asked by

Tim Loughton (Conservative)

Answering body

Department of Health

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 November 2004

For answer on

17 November 2004

Answered on

17 November 2004

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) under what circumstances members of the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service will be able to procure patient records from general practitioners without consent; [198002] (2) what penalties may be used against general practitioners who refuse to release patient records to members of the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service. [198003] Mr. Hutton: The national health service Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) does not have any specific powers to require general practitioners to produce patient records or to impose penalties where records are not produced. The remit of the CFSMS is to bring fraud and corruption in the NHS down to an absolute minimum. Its primary interest is not, therefore, in patient records. On some occasions, however, records may be requested where they are needed for the thorough investigation of allegations of fraud or corruption. On 21 October my noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Lord Warner) launched a consultation on proposals to introduce new powers which would allow NHS counter fraud specialists access to relevant documents, records and data where investigations require this. Such access would be strictly controlled and on the occasions where access is needed, we are seeking views on whether such records should be viewed by a clinical specialist who would accompany the NHS counter fraud specialist. The consultation on these proposals finishes on 21 January 2005 and we welcome all views on this issue. It is too early to say what shape any future measures may take but they will be informed by the outcome of the consultation exercise.

Date

17 November 2004

Reference

426 c1670W;426 c1673W; 198002;198003

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to combat cyber crime and cyber terrorism, with particular reference to (a) credit card fraud and (b) identity theft.

Asked by

David Stewart (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 November 2004

For answer on

17 November 2004

Answered on

17 November 2004

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to combat (a) cyber crime and (b) cyber terrorism, with particular reference to (i) credit card fraud and (ii) identity theft. [198062] Caroline Flint: The Government takes very seriously the issue of cyber attack. It has in place a number of organisations to ensure that the electronic fabric of society is not under attack. Advice, from a variety of sources, is also available to the general public and computer users. There is a fine line between criminal acts against information systems (so called "e-crime") and what could be called a terrorist act. The damage or disruption to an electrical system can be the same irrespective of whether an attack is caused for "criminal" or "terrorist" reasons. Whatever the reason for an attack, action will be taken wherever possible against those responsible. Despite the investigative challenges posed by the internet, law enforcement seeks to take effective action against fraud whatever mechanism is used to commit it. Where cases involve serious and organised computer enabled criminality at national and international levels the case may be dealt with by the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) which we have set up within the National Crime Squad. The internet provides criminals with new opportunities to commit a range of financial frauds including credit card fraud and identity fraud. Credit card fraud takes various forms including phishing (the practise of sending e-mails claiming to originate from banks which ask customers to re-register at a replica bank website with the aim of using that information to transfer money out of these accounts), and card not present (CNP) fraud where genuine card details are stolen and used to make purchases through a remote medium such as the internet. Identity fraud usually occurs when someone's personal information such as name, address or date of birth is captured without their knowledge and used by someone else to support criminal activity, which could involve deception, financial gain or obtaining other benefits and services. The Home Office has established a cross public- private sector work programme to tackle identity theft and identity fraud. The programme co-ordinates existing activity in the public and private sectors and identifies new projects and initiatives to reduce identity fraud. On 14 July 2004 my hon. Friend Des Browne announced a website www.identitytheft.org.uk, which offers advice to consumers on how to protect themselves against identity theft and what to do if they think they have been victims of identity fraud. Education is a key factor in dealing with fraud over the internet. A large amount of internet fraud can be prevented if organisations have proper fraud prevention measures in place. The public must also be educated about the dangers of internet fraud and how to avoid falling victim to it. Government takes an active role in educating computer users about the risks of fraud committed by using the internet and the Home Office website provides advice on avoiding internet fraud. The Home Office has also created, and maintains the "e-tailing mini site", which forms part of the crime reduction website. The mini site provides information to help both businesses and consumers protect themselves specifically when using the internet. We have published, jointly with the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) a leaflet on card safety which includes a section on using cards safely over the internet. The leaflet has been sent to all police forces in England and Wales, and to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. It is also available on the Home Office website and the e-tailing mini site, and APACS members (banks) will be sending a version of the leaflet to their cardholders. The Home Office is represented on an industry-led Steering Group which aims to tackle CNP fraud. We support practical measures being introduced by the industry to increase levels of security for internet transactions: These include Address Verification Services (AVS) and Card Security Code (CSC), along with Mastercard Secure Code and Verified by Visa which require password verification for internet transactions. These initiatives are already making a significant impact on CNP Fraud. The work of the CNP Steering Group has also led to the production of a manual (Spot and Stop Card Fraud Retailer Pack) which aims to educate merchants on the dangers of CNP fraud and the steps which can be taken to prevent it.

Date

17 November 2004

Reference

198062; 426 c1577-9W;426 c1580-2W

House

House of Commons

Excise duty fraud. Minutes of evidence 17 November 2004. (Printed in HC 126 2004/05)

Type

House of Commons papers; Select Committee oral evidence; Parliamentary committees

Committee

Treasury Committee

Date

17 November 2004

Reference

HC 1281-i 2003/04

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures are in place to ensure that, where it is known to the Passport Agency that passport applications and accompanying documents are lost or stolen, these are not used to make false applications or acquire false identities.

Asked by

Lord Cryer (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

16 November 2004

Reference

194732; 426 c1435W;426 c1439W

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures his Department is taking to prevent financial fraud originating on the worldwide web.

Asked by

Bill Wiggin (Conservative)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 November 2004

For answer on

16 November 2004

Answered on

16 November 2004

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is taking to prevent financial fraud originating on the world wide web. [197809] Caroline Flint: The Government take the issue of fraud on the world wide web very seriously and have taken a number of steps to tackle this kind of crime. The Home Office website provides advice on avoiding internet fraud, while the Department of Trade and Industry has advice on scams and rip-offs, including internet scams, on its Consumer Direct website. The Home Office has created, and maintains the `e- tailing mini site', which forms part of the crime reduction website. The mini site provides information to help both businesses and consumers protect themselves specifically when using the internet. We have published, jointly with the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) a leaflet on card safety which includes a section on using cards safely over the internet. The leaflet has been sent to all police forces in England and Wales, and to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. It is also available on the Home Office website and the e-tailing mini site, and APACS members (banks) will be sending a version of the leaflet to their cardholders. The Home Office is represented on an industry-led steering group which aims to tackle `Card Not Present' (CNP) fraud (which includes fraud over the internet). We support practical measures being introduced by the industry to increase levels of security for internet transactions. These include Address Verification Services (AVS) and Card Security Code (CSC), along with Mastercard Secure Code and Verified by Visa which require password verification for internet transactions. These initiatives are already making a significant impact on CNP fraud. The work of the CNP steering group has also led to the production of a manual (Spot and Stop Card Fraud Retailer Pack) which aims to educate merchants on the dangers of CNP fraud and the steps which can be taken to prevent it. Government are also involved in the development of Project Endurance, an initiative aimed at launching an internet security awareness campaign in 2005. The project brings together a number of UK Government Departments and law enforcement organisations with a number of high-profile private sector companies. This campaign is to be targeted at micro businesses and consumers, primarily aimed at helping these users gain confidence in using the internet.

Date

16 November 2004

Reference

197809; 426 c1415W;426 c1419W

House

House of Commons

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many cases of electoral fraud are being investigated arising from the North East Regional Assembly referendum.

Asked by

Gordon Prentice (Labour)

Answering body

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

16 November 2004

Reference

426 c1341W;426 c1345W; 198374

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of bogus colleges have been made to him in the last 24 months; and how many such colleges have been closed. - Inc figures.

Asked by

Humfrey Malins (Conservative)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

15 November 2004

Reference

193250; 426 c1092W;426 c1096W

House

House of Commons

Treasury

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total amount of duty on tobacco products evaded and avoided since 2000, broken down by (a) revenue lost through cross-border shopping and (b) revenue lost through smuggling and fraud. - No figures and inc ref to...

Asked by

John Baron (Conservative)

Answering body

Treasury

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

15 November 2004

Reference

426 c954W;426 c958W; 196979

House

House of Commons

Dept for Work and Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost of (a) operating and (b) advertising the Benefit Fraud Hotline was in 2003; and how many people have been successfully prosecuted for fraud as a result of evidence from the Hotline since its inception. - Inc table.

Asked by

David Laws (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

3 November 2004

For answer on

15 November 2004

Answered on

15 November 2004

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of (a) operating and (b) advertising the benefit fraud hotline was in 2003; and how many people have been successfully prosecuted for fraud as a result of evidence from the hotline since its inception. [196851] Mr. Pond: The operational cost of the national benefit fraud hotline (NBFH) for year ending 2002-03 (April- March) was £959,277, and for year ending 2003-04 was £1,038,505. The cost of advertising is not separately assessed. Notes: 1. Since the Targeting Benefit Fraud advertising campaign started in 2003, the NBFH has been included in the campaign advertising and has not been the subject of its own advertising. 2. Operational costs include staffing and goods and service costs. 3. The operational costs of administering the NBFH include the costs of administering report-a-cheat-online. These costs cannot be separated. Source: National Benefit Fraud Hotline The available information on the number of successful prosecutions as a result of evidence from the NBFH is in the table. National benefit fraud hotline successful prosecutions _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Prosecutions Convictions April 1999-March 2000 376 335 April 2000-March 2001 542 492 April 2001-March 2002 768 703 April 2002-March 2003 780 706 April 2003-March 2004 672 619 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: 1. Full information on the number of successful prosecutions resulting from calls to the NBFH is available only from April 1999 Source: Fraud Information By Sector (FIBS).

Date

15 November 2004

Reference

426 c1180-1W;426 c1184-5W; 196851

House

House of Commons

Treasury

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on cross-border cooperation (a) within the EU and (b) with states outside the EU to tackle (i) VAT fraud and (ii) fraud arising from manipulation of transfer pricing.

Asked by

Bill Tynan (Labour)

Answering body

Treasury

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

15 November 2004

Reference

426 c950-1W;426 c954-5W; 197574

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

Type

House

Session

Year

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

Publisher