#120m lost in NI social spending

Fraud and error cost the North's Department of Social Development over £120 million sterling last year, according to a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Dowdall.

In 2001-2002, there were losses in income support, jobseeker's allowance, disability living allowance and housing benefit, as a result of fraud and mistakes amounting to £120.5 million, Mr Dowdall reported.

This accounted for 6.5 per cent of expenditure on these benefits.

Mr Dowdall said the losses were significant and were substantially higher than the previous year.

"I have noted the increase in suspected and customer fraud from £22 million at March 2001 to £39.5 million in income support and from £9.5 million to £12.7 million in jobseeker's allowance," he added.

Mr Dowdall complained of weaknesses in financial control and monitoring of urban regeneration and community development grants to voluntary and community bodies.

There were similar weaknesses in checking the payment of grants to registered housing associations.

He said there was a potential irregular expenditure of between £1.3 million and £2 million in the individual learning accounts scheme. There were 700 cases of learners for whom training providers claimed incentives from the Department of Employment and Learning. Yet these learners said they "had not received training".

Mr Dowdall said that the Sports Council was not handling senior officials' expenses "with the scrupulous care that the Assembly would expect". There was also a serious weakness in internal control at the North's Equality Commission.