September 24, 2010 4.16 pm This story is over 162 months old

Councils chasing public cash fraudsters

Repo time: Local councils are looking to claw back money fraudsters have claimed illegally.

Local councils are taking part in a national antifraud programme to identify fraudulent claims, errors, and overpayments from people in Lincoln and the county.

The City of Lincoln Council and Lincolnshire County Council will submit in October a range of financial and personal records to the Audit Commission.

The Commission will then compare the data with that received from other organisations, in a huge nationwide data matching exercise.

The councils will then investigate high risk or unusual data matches in an attempt to uncover any fraud or error that may exist.

For example, when data matching shows a person listed as dead and also in receipt of a pension, the relevant body will investigate and stop pension payments.

It is claimed the City of Lincoln Council recovered several thousand pounds through this initiative, while the County Council clawed back over £119,000 this year.

Over £215 million was traced in fraud nationally last year, and a total of £664 million since the initiative’s start in 1996, according to the National Fraud Initiative.

“We’re determined to see that money for the people within Lincolnshire is only used for legitimate purposes,” said Lucy Pledge, Head of Corporate Audit & Risk Management a the Lincolnshire County Council.

Sources: City of Lincoln Council, Lincolnshire County Council | Photo: Rémi Kaupp