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<p>Allegations of benefit fraud are investigated by the Department for Work and Pensions
(DWP). Administrative penalties are financial penalties, which can be offered as an
alternative to prosecution, where there has been no previous fraud penalty of any
form. These are issued by the DWP and Local Authorities. Cautions are issued by the
Police.</p><p>The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the
number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and, reached a first hearing in
magistrates' courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted
or their gender.</p><p>No central records of the prosecution outcomes of offences
are held by the CPS. To obtain details of the number of people prosecuted for and
convicted of offences of benefit fraud, which can be charged under various sections
of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, Section 35 of the Tax Credits Act
2002 or the Fraud Act 2006, including their gender, would require a manual exercise
of reviewing individual case files to be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.</p><p>Furthermore,
cases of benefit fraud are also prosecuted by Local Authorities so any data the CPS
can glean from a manual exercise would not provide a complete record.</p><p> </p>
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