My Department accepts reports of possible fraud from members of the public in relation to the operation of its schemes and uses both a dedicated phone number and a facility on the Department's website for this purpose. Members of the public are asked to provide as much detail as possible about the case they are reporting and they can do so anonymously.
In 2011, my Department dealt with 16,917 anonymous reports and in approximately 13,000 of these cases, a report of suspected fraud was sent to the relevant area for examination. In roughly 4,000 of the cases received in 2011, it was not possible to issue a report to an investigator due to (i) a lack of information supplied, (ii) a claim not being in payment or (iii) the information reported would not impact on entitlement.
Detailed statistics on the outcomes of anonymous reports are unavailable because anonymous or confidential reports of abuse are used merely to trigger or instigate investigations and are not taken into account when the review of the customer's payment is being decided. In this context the introduction of a reward scheme for information received is not being considered at present. In addition, my Department is very conscious of its obligations regarding data protection and the privacy of its customers and of persons who report allegations of abuse.
As Minister, I am very conscious of the need to protect public money and I am determined to ensure that abuse of the system is prevented and is dealt with effectively when detected.