Benefit Fraud
The priority of the Benefits Service is to help our eligible customers' make a successful claim for housing benefit and council tax benefit and to pay benefit entitlement as soon as possible to help reduce rent and council tax charges.
However regrettably some claims for benefit are made illegally and the council is committed to identifying and stopping the payment of benefit and recovering any overpayments on such claims. The Benefits Investigation Team works in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions and is responsible for investigating allegations of fraud. If proven a legal sanction is applied or cases are referred to the Procurator Fiscal for prosecution.
You can see the Benfit Investigation Team results (PDF 6.51Kb) for the last few years and also the joint investigation results (PDF 5.07Kb) carried out with the Department of Work and Pensions.
You will find contained in this part of the council's web site a copy of the council's fraud and prosecution policy (PDF 83Kb) with details on the legal sanctions available together with information about the work that is being carried out by the Benefits Investigation Team. There are also some case studies (PDF 409Kb) to explain the investigation process. The team relies on receiving quality referrals from the general public and if you wish to report a suspected fraud there is a referral form (MS Word 50.5Kb) available.
For further information on how the government is targeting benefit fraud visit the targeting benefit thieves website.
Chief Revenues & Benefits Officer