UK Councils have had £185 million stolen from them through fraudulent activities in the last year, and it is thought that a great deal more council fraud has gone undetected.

Although this year’s council fraud detection rate is up one third on last year (fraud figures for 2009/10 were £135 million), the figures suggest that there are still many stones left unturned.

And the money matters because this level of loss is equivalent to the salaries of more than 10,000 care workers, pointing to a greater loss of total revenue than the figure alone suggests.

Council Fraud Is Costing The UK Money

The Audit Commission alone picked up on over 120,000 scams, such as fraudulently claiming council housing and other illegal benefit claims. Fraud can even include people subletting council houses when the terms of their contract prevent them from doing so.

There are also cases of fraudsters stealing payments that are meant for the most vulnerable members of society such as the elderly, who will be severely impacted by the lost income. Furthermore, temporary housing for the homeless was affected by these cheaters and that accounts for some £1 billion of the government’s annual spend.

This sorry state of affairs has prompted local councils to turn to forensic accountants for help, including Bristol Council, who recently been looking at using forensic accountants. Amongst the Council’s current workload is the targeting of unlawful applications for student discounts which total a staggering £1.9 million.

Forensic accountants are helping councils and other agencies ensure that the precious funds which are available reach those who are properly entitled to them.