Council tax fraud investigation claws back £290,000

Town hall fraud investigators have clawed back £290,000 which will be invested back into public services in Blackpool after hundreds of false claims for council tax discounts were uncovered.

The money has been returned to council coffers following a campaign to search out residents who wrongly claim council tax discounts usually by falsely claiming to live alone or by falsely claiming they qualify for lower bills due to their low income.

Now residents are being warned there will be a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to this type of fraud in the future.

Since April 2023, the Corporate Fraud and Investigations Team at Blackpool Council has participated in an enhanced national fraud initiative exercise, focusing on the single person discount.

During this time 539 incorrect claims for single person discount and/or council tax reduction were identified in Blackpool, totalling £284,372.

Coun Bradley Mitchell, chair of the Audit Committee, said: “The cost of fraud and errors in people’s council tax responsibilities reduces the funds available for Blackpool Council and it puts significant pressure on the council’s budget.

“It limits the council’s ability to provide frontline services to our residents who are doing the right thing, especially for those who need it most.

“Blackpool Council has a zero-tolerance approach when dealing with fraud. The Corporate Fraud and Investigations Team will continue to undertake these exercises to prevent and detect fraud within Blackpool.”

The National Fraud Initiative is a government Cabinet Office anti-fraud exercise which matches data between public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud, or an error in council tax discounts which does not fulfil people’s own tax responsibilities.

It plays a critical role in identifying people trying to defraud the public sector or errors in their council tax liabilities, ensuring taxpayers’ money goes towards delivering vital services and protecting public money.

Checks are carried out on those households in receipt of the single person discount to ensure that council tax accounts are accurate and up to date. These checks include cross-referencing with the electoral register, credit reference data and a range of information held within the National Fraud Initiative data sets.

Information reminder:

If only one adult lives in the property your council tax bill is reduced by 25 per cent, which is the single person discount.

Residents should inform Blackpool Council of any changes to their circumstances online https://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Residents/Council-tax/Change-your-address-details.aspx

Fraud can be reported online https://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Residents/Benefits/Reporting-fraud.aspx