Beating Wokingham benefit fraud saves GBP 600,000
Wokingham Benefit fraud is a serious problem, and Wokingham Borough Council’s revenues and benefits investigations team are hot on the case. Benefit fraud takes money away from centrally and locally provided services, and estimates suggest it costs every household in the UK up to £80 a year. This could be used to employ key workers or could represent possible council tax savings.
The Wokingham team looks into allegations of benefit fraud from a variety of sources - members of the public, council staff and other organisations who compare their data with ours.
When benefit fraud is discovered, the Wokingham team applies sanctions in line with the council's policy, which include formal cautions, fines and sometimes prosecutions. The team also advises other council services who need help investigating criminal activity, such as legal requirements when interviewing and/or cautioning suspects or sources from which information can be legally obtained.
Over the last three financial years, the Wokingham team has investigated 784 allegations of benefit fraud, discovering nearly £600,000 of fraudulently obtained benefits and delivering 88 sanctions, including prosecutions, formal cautions and fines. So far this financial year, the team has found nearly £130,000 of overpaid benefit and taken action against 16 fraudsters, including four prosecutions – the team are justly proud of their success at keeping the fraudsters at bay.
“For the last three years, WBC has had an ‘Excellent’ rating in the Benefits Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) ‘security’ section, largely due to the work of this team, and we have been a top quartile performing authority in this field for the past two or three years,” says Cllr Simon Weeks, deputy leader. “We aim for this to continue, always seeking to improve on our previous year’s performance.”
But the battle against fraud can bring new challenges all the time. Kevin Mercer, manager of Wokingham revenues and benefits, said: “The team need to keep up to date with the latest techniques if we want to stay one step ahead of the fraudster.
“They have to work closely with lots of external agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions, Police and HM Revenue and Customs, as well as other services within the council. Working with these partners, we try to make sure that wherever there is money for people in need, it reaches those people and not the fraudsters.”
And it’s not always easy to keep track of all the fraudsters. Kevin said: “To find these criminals and stop them, we need everyone to be aware of what benefit fraud costs them. It is a crime and needs to be treated as such - fiddling the system is not acceptable. We would like anyone with suspicions to refer them to us. The more information we can get, the more chance we have of stopping the fraud and catching the offenders.”
Suspicions of benefit fraud can be reported via the council’s website at www.wokingham.gov.uk/fraudform or by calling our 24 hour Freephone line on 0800 454 240.
The Wokingham team looks into allegations of benefit fraud from a variety of sources - members of the public, council staff and other organisations who compare their data with ours.
When benefit fraud is discovered, the Wokingham team applies sanctions in line with the council's policy, which include formal cautions, fines and sometimes prosecutions. The team also advises other council services who need help investigating criminal activity, such as legal requirements when interviewing and/or cautioning suspects or sources from which information can be legally obtained.
Over the last three financial years, the Wokingham team has investigated 784 allegations of benefit fraud, discovering nearly £600,000 of fraudulently obtained benefits and delivering 88 sanctions, including prosecutions, formal cautions and fines. So far this financial year, the team has found nearly £130,000 of overpaid benefit and taken action against 16 fraudsters, including four prosecutions – the team are justly proud of their success at keeping the fraudsters at bay.
“For the last three years, WBC has had an ‘Excellent’ rating in the Benefits Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) ‘security’ section, largely due to the work of this team, and we have been a top quartile performing authority in this field for the past two or three years,” says Cllr Simon Weeks, deputy leader. “We aim for this to continue, always seeking to improve on our previous year’s performance.”
But the battle against fraud can bring new challenges all the time. Kevin Mercer, manager of Wokingham revenues and benefits, said: “The team need to keep up to date with the latest techniques if we want to stay one step ahead of the fraudster.
“They have to work closely with lots of external agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions, Police and HM Revenue and Customs, as well as other services within the council. Working with these partners, we try to make sure that wherever there is money for people in need, it reaches those people and not the fraudsters.”
And it’s not always easy to keep track of all the fraudsters. Kevin said: “To find these criminals and stop them, we need everyone to be aware of what benefit fraud costs them. It is a crime and needs to be treated as such - fiddling the system is not acceptable. We would like anyone with suspicions to refer them to us. The more information we can get, the more chance we have of stopping the fraud and catching the offenders.”
Suspicions of benefit fraud can be reported via the council’s website at www.wokingham.gov.uk/fraudform or by calling our 24 hour Freephone line on 0800 454 240.
Wokingham Borough Council
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