In a speech to the Fighting Fraud Locally annual conference on December 10 the Communities Minister Baroness Stowell outlined new plans to help improve councils’ ability to protect taxpayers’ money; and she committed the government to working alongside town halls to tackle this £2 billion a year problem.
She said that hardworking families who pay their taxes on time and play by the rules rightly resent the minority who play the system and steal vital resources from public services; she outlined a new fund that could fund an extra 270 investigators across England to help collect money that it is rightfully owed. In the Autumn Statement the Coalition Government set out a Single Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS). The government has said it will work closely with the Local Government Association and councils to ensure that the best data, powers and incentives are in place.
However, as Professional Security reported in its July 2013 print issue, local government fraud investigators report that their numbers nationally have fallen like other parts of local government, due to public sector cuts; and they fear that the SFIS – putting central government (Department for Work and Pensions) and council fraud investigators into one body – could lead to further cuts in investigator numbers.
It is unacceptable that local government fraud costs the country the equivalent of the entire fire and rescue budget every year when the money recovered can be put into maintaining front line services, the minister added.
At the conference, Baroness Stowell said: “This government is determined that those who do the right thing are rewarded and those who don’t are not. This £16.6 million of funding is just the start in our continued fight against fraud. The government has worked hard to help local government and I want to see a renewed drive and commitment in tackling this problem. Local government fraud costs this country £2 billion every year – money straight from the pocket of hard working taxpayers. Councils must do everything in their power to ensure they recover this money and we will do everything in ours to help them.
Baroness Stowell announced £16.6m over two years for local government against fraud. The government is also initiating a project with local government to ensure data is shared between SFIS and councils and ensure SFIS and councils have the ability to jointly investigate and prosecute fraudsters.
The department adds that it has also recently allocated a further £9.5m in grant funding to 62 local authorities to help them tackle fraud in social housing, bringing the total amount this government has given out to £19m.
Other speakers at the event included Cathy James, Chief Executive, Public Concern at Work on workplace whistle-blowing; Nick Mothershaw, Director of Identity & Fraud Solutions, Experian; and DCI Ollie Little, Head of Crime section – National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, City of London Police.
Visit http://fightingfraudlocally.co.uk/agenda
