Agenda item

To consider the report and make recommendations where appropriate.

21.1           The report of the Revenues and Benefits Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 169-171, advised Members of the housing benefit fraud work undertaken during the financial year 2013/14. It also explained that from 1 May 2015 the new Single Fraud Investigation Service would take over the responsibility for investigating housing benefit fraud. Members were asked to consider the report and make recommendations where appropriate.

21.2           Members were advised that the Borough Council had an obligation to administer housing benefits on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions and part of those duties included the investigation of housing benefit fraud. It was important that assurance was given to the public and Councillors that benefit fraud was fully investigated and appropriate action was taken in cases where benefit fraud had taken place. The Council currently administered housing benefit to 4,149 households in the Borough and, as a proportion of referrals received in relation to the number of claims administered, frauds were relatively small in number. During 2013/14, the Borough Council had received 347 referrals where fraud was suspected; of those, 195 were fully investigated and that had resulted in 40 formal cautions being administered, 41 administrative penalties and 25 successful prosecutions.  Approximately 50% of referrals received were from the Department for Work and Pensions as part of its data matching activities. The remainder of referrals came from the Council’s staff, members of the public and other organisations. The majority of referrals were due to failure to tell the Council about changes in circumstances; namely income from other sources, undeclared earnings and changes in the value of benefits received. In all cases the Council made every effort to recover the overpayments from those who had acted fraudulently. Sometimes payment was received in full but in most cases the overpayments were recovered by special arrangement or directly from ongoing housing benefits. In response to a query as to the number of referrals which were malicious in origin, the Revenues and Benefits Group Manager indicated that he did not have the exact figures but he was aware these were small in number and tended to be as a result of a relationship breakdown or neighbours who had fallen out.

21.3           In response to a query regarding formal cautions and administrative penalties, the Benefits and Revenues Group Manager explained that a formal caution was an alternative to a prosecution, usually when there were mitigating circumstances. A record was kept of it and the Department for Work and Pensions was notified; if there were three occurrences of such activity the person’s benefits may be stopped. From next year such cautions would not be a sanction which the Council could use.

21.4           In respect of the Single Fraud Investigation Service, Members were advised that the Government had first announced its intention to create the Service in 2010 and it had aimed to bring together investigators from the Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs and Local Authorities. Originally the intention had been that the Service would look at all types of fraud relating to public services. However, those arrangements had been reduced now and the Service would instead be a key part of the Government’s strategy in tackling fraud and error within the tax credits and benefits system. The creation of the Service meant that, from 1 May 2015, the Borough Council would no longer be responsible for investigating benefit fraud; although it would still be responsible for investigating Council Tax support fraud. This could potentially have an impact on staff numbers; however, the full impact on the revenues and benefits structure had yet to be determined as the Single Fraud Investigation Service was not yet fully in place. In response to a query as to whether the Council had to pay for the new service, the Revenues and Benefits Group Manager advised that for the next year the Council would continue to receive the same grant that it previously had for investigating fraud. It would also still have an obligation to keep the Department for Work and Pensions informed of any fraud that came to its attention. It was anticipated that the Council would have a single point of contact who would liaise with the Single Fraud Investigation Service; currently this was the Revenues and Benefits Group Manager but in the future it was felt that the current Fraud Investigation Officer would be the appropriate person to undertake that role.

21.5           In response to a query as to whether the Single Fraud Investigation Service would work out of the Borough Council Offices, Members were advised that it was currently based in Gloucester; although it was looking to have investigators working in the Borough area and it was keen to have a presence at the Borough Offices. Discussions about this were underway to see if it was feasible. There were still some investigations to be made as the Service would have a particular way it would want its interview rooms set up and the Council needed to be sure it could meet those needs. Clear communication lines between the Council and the Department for Work and Pensions and the Single Fraud Investigation Service would be critical going forward and these were being built up from now until the May 2015 transfer.

21.6           Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the report on housing benefit fraud be NOTED.