Detected fraud against local authorities rises 42%

Some 77,000 fraud cases collectively worth £271m were detected or prevented by local authorities, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) has said, with housing-related fraud leading the way.

Figures from its Counter Fraud Centre for 2015-16 suggested many authorities had recruited more specialists to tackle complex high value offences such as illegal sub-letting of council houses. The previous year’s report showed only some £190m of fraud was detected.

Housing frauds were the highest value type with 3,842 cases totalling £148.4m. Council tax fraud - such as falsely claiming the single occupancy discount - was the most common type with 47,747 cases totalling £22.4m.

The average value of each fraud detected was £3,500 compared with £2,500 in 2014-15.

The centre’s head Rachael Tiffen said: “Local authorities are getting smarter and more effective. This is saving taxpayers’ money and helping to get council houses, disabled parking badges and other vital services to the people who really need them.”

But she said at least 10% of councils did not have a dedicated counter fraud team and there were many barriers to data sharing.

Ms Tiffen urged councils to pool resources and information and agree a common approach to recording and measuring fraud.

Among emerging risks, the report recorded that the number of procurement frauds soared from 114 cases in 2014-15 to 623 cases in 2015-16.

Right to Buy frauds increased from 526 in 2014-15 to 870 in 2015-16 and Cipfa said this was likely to increase yet further with the onset of the right for housing association tenants.