BENEFIT RELATED FRAUD
The biggest challenge for any Council is benefit-related fraud. The
Council has a formal arrangement in place through a Counter Fraud
shared service agreement with Corby Borough Council; this has been
in place since 2010 and is referred to as CRAFT. All suspected cases
of fraudulent claims to Housing Benefit, residual Council Tax Benefit
and Local Council Tax Support are investigated by CRAFT.
The benefits of this arrangement include increased resilience for the
Council in capacity to investigate such matters and training in the
prevention and detection of fraud.
During 2013/2014 59 cases were referred to CRAFT for consideration.
Of these, 22 customers received a compliance letter, which is a first
stage warning letter; three received a formal caution as an alternative
means of disposal and two entered into an Administrative Penalty
arrangement, which means they have to repay the debt and an
additional sum on top of this. Again, this is an alternative means of
disposal.
Three customers were prosecuted as a result of their
fraudulent activity. The remaining 29 cases were closed as ‘no further
action’.
In the same year, £70,634.76 was detected as a fraudulent
overpayment in Housing Benefit.
A further £14,494.39 was identified as
a fraudulent overpayment in Council Tax Benefit.
This service costs £42,000 per annum to operate. However, the
funding is provided by Central Government as part of the current
administration subsidy.
The biggest challenge for any Council is benefit-related fraud. The
Council has a formal arrangement in place through a Counter Fraud
shared service agreement with Corby Borough Council; this has been
in place since 2010 and is referred to as CRAFT. All suspected cases
of fraudulent claims to Housing Benefit, residual Council Tax Benefit
and Local Council Tax Support are investigated by CRAFT.
The benefits of this arrangement include increased resilience for the
Council in capacity to investigate such matters and training in the
prevention and detection of fraud.
During 2013/2014 59 cases were referred to CRAFT for consideration.
Of these, 22 customers received a compliance letter, which is a first
stage warning letter; three received a formal caution as an alternative
means of disposal and two entered into an Administrative Penalty
arrangement, which means they have to repay the debt and an
additional sum on top of this. Again, this is an alternative means of
disposal.
Three customers were prosecuted as a result of their
fraudulent activity. The remaining 29 cases were closed as ‘no further
action’.
In the same year, £70,634.76 was detected as a fraudulent
overpayment in Housing Benefit.
A further £14,494.39 was identified as
a fraudulent overpayment in Council Tax Benefit.
This service costs £42,000 per annum to operate. However, the
funding is provided by Central Government as part of the current
administration subsidy.
