Benefit Fraud & Error 2023-24

Summary

The request sought benefit fraud and error statistics for 2023-24 and detailed financial data for prosecuted cases over six years. The Treasury provided the 2023-24 statistics but refused the detailed case data, citing the cost of creating the information and exemptions for personal data.

Key Facts

• Tables 1 and 2 regarding benefit fraud allegations and administrative errors for 2023-24 were provided in Appendix 1.
• The request for specific financial details of prosecuted cases over the last 6 years was refused under Section 11(3)(b) as the information would need to be created manually.
• Management systems can report total overpayments but cannot identify individual case amounts without manual checking.
• Additional data found regarding active repayments was withheld under Section 25 as absolutely exempt personal information.
• The response was delayed by one day to review the additional personal data found.

Data Disclosed

• 2023-24
• 6 financial years
• Case ID 3868909
• Case ID 3007569
• 20 May 2024
• 21 June 2024
• Section 8(3)
• Section 11(3)(b)
• Section 25
• Article 5
• Article 6

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)(b) - Information not held (practical refusal)
• Section 25 - Absolutely personal information
• Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018 - Article 5 and Article 6

Original Request

Further to FOI Request (Case ID3007569 - Benefit Fraud & Error submitted 20 March 2023) I seek the same information as was provided by the Treasury in Tables 1 and 2 of their response to that request but in this case for the 2023-24 financial year. Additionally, for each of the last 6 financial years and for each of the 'cases prosecuted in the criminal courts' please advise the financial extent of the fraud e.g. Case 1 - £34,567.89, Case 2 - £89,012 etc, the penalty imposed regarding recovery of the fraudulent payment e.g. £20 per week deducted from benefits and if held, the amount recovered to date for each case.

Data Tables (3)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information
Seyrsnys Fysseree

The Treasury Government Office,
Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 3PU

Telephone: (01624) 685605 Email: FOI.Treasury@gov.im

Government Website: www.gov.im

Our ref: 3868909 21 June 2024

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 20 May 2024, which states (numbering added by Treasury):

"1) Further to FOI Request (Case ID3007569 - Benefit Fraud & Error submitted 20 March 2023) I seek the same information as was provided by the Treasury in Tables 1 and 2 of their response to that request but in this case for the 2023-24 financial year.

2) Additionally, for each of the last 6 financial years and for each of the 'cases prosecuted in the criminal courts' please advise the financial extent of the fraud e.g. Case 1 - £34,567.89, Case 2 - £89,012 etc, the penalty imposed regarding recovery of the fraudulent payment e.g. £20 per week deducted from benefits and if held, the amount recovered to date for each case."

Our response to your request is as follows:
1) Benefit fraud and error for the 2023-24 financial year
Please find enclosed two tables in Appendix 1. Table 1 shows the number of allegations of benefit fraud which were reported to the Social Security Division’s Investigations Team and the extent of benefit fraud subsequently identified by the Investigations Team for the 2023-24 financial year. Table 2 shows the extent of administrative/process errors for the 2023-24 financial year. 2) Financial extent of the fraud (cases prosecuted in the criminal courts) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance, complying with your request for information for the second part of your request would require the Department to create or derive information from information that it holds which it is not required to do under Section 8(3) the Act. Therefore, as previously advised, we

need to apply a practical refusal reason to your request under section 11(3)(b) of the Act. The reasons why this information is not held are explained below.

Although we hold some of the raw data that would underpin the information you are interested in, we would be required to create or derive information from it, in order to provide the specific information you have requested. Unfortunately, our management information systems do not easily allow this to be undertaken and instead creating the information would be a substantial undertaking by officers in the Treasury.

The systems reporting function can provide the total overpayments in a 12 month period, however due to the way the cases are held and the limitations of the system the individual amounts that make up the overall amount cannot be provided. Also, whilst the system is able to report on the totals, it does not include any identifiers, therefore it is not possible to know which records the total overpayments refer to. Consequently, this means each individual record would need to be checked manually in order to create the information requested. However, as previously advised, some information related to what you have requested has been identified in another Division of Treasury. This information was identified the day before our response to your request was due and in the time it has taken to review the information the response due date has passed. Therefore we apologise for taking a day longer than the standard processing period to process your FoI. The specific information held lists the amount of benefit overpayment and the outstanding balance which needs to be repaid, for individuals who are actively making repayments. The document also includes information for the previous 6 years, which is the time period that you have requested. After you confirmed that you are interested in the information which is subject to disclosure, due consideration has been given as to whether to all or some of the information can be released to you. It has been determined, in this instance, that all of the information is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely personal information). The reasons why that the exemption applies are that: (a) The Treasury is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and
(b) The Treasury is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Treasury can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met. Whilst the information which is subject to disclosure has not been disclosed to you, by way of advice and assistance a basic summary of the document has been supplied in Appendix 2. In addition to this there was a recent Tynwald written answer in relation to the total amount of benefit overpayments and the outstanding balance of invoices as at 31/03/2024. This can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/BusinessHansardIndex2126/W- 202401-1071.pdf
Please quote the reference number 3868909 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.
An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Appendix 1

Table 1

2023-241 Number of allegations received

457 Total allegations resulting in an investigation2 366 Total interviews under caution

61 Total value of benefit overpayments identified3 £590,079.15 Benefit savings4

£700,713.26 Total no. of cases prosecuted in the criminal courts5 14 Total benefits expenditure in year6

£314,561,384 Total value of benefit overpayments identified plus Benefit Savings as a % of total benefits spend 0.41

Table 2

2023-24 Number of errors identified

127 Total value of errors identified

£139,006.13 Total benefits expenditure in year

£314,561,384 Total value of errors identified as a % of total benefits spend 0.04

Appendix 2

1 A financial year begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March in the following year. 2 Not all allegations result in a full investigation or prosecution action. This may be, for example, because initial enquiries reveal that the allegation received is unfounded, or the benefit claimant reports a change of circumstances to Treasury, Social Security Division (SSD) after the allegation has been received. 3 “benefit overpayments identified” relate to periods prior to the completion of the investigation. 4 “Benefit Savings” is a notional amount based on the assumption that the benefit claimant would have continued to get benefit at the same rate if an investigation into their circumstances had not taken place. It is calculated as 26 x the benefit rate in payment at the time of the investigation. 5 Prosecution cases do not make up all of the overpayments in a 12 month period, this is because not every case where an overpayment is raised results in a prosecution. 6 Excludes payments in relation to the Manx Restart Scheme and the Salary Support Scheme, debt write-offs, administration expenses and accruals.

Table 3

Inv Dates No. of customers Invoice Balance7
Outstanding balance
2018 - 2023 15 £252,918.58 £212,677.76

7 This refers to the original benefit overpayments.