More than £6 million of public funding was protected as a result of work by Ipswich Borough Council’s Corporate Fraud Service in 2022/23.
The team uncovered 50 cases of irregularity between the beginning of April 2022 and the end of March 2023.
An annual Corporate Fraud report, presented to the Councils Audit and Governance Committee this month, showed that officers helped to detect £6,426,557 of irregularity during the last financial year.
The Corporate Fraud Service team is professionally resourced and skilled in investigating any potentially fraudulent activity relating to the organisation, its partnerships, and direct contractors.
Intervention included the cancellation of 34 Right to Buy applications following due diligence activities, providing £6,137,924 of prevented losses by retaining these properties within council housing stock and continuing to yield monthly rental income and be available for social housing needs.
Meanwhile, tenancy fraud investigations resulted in the recovery of six social housing properties, saving an estimated £252,000 and enabling genuinely eligible families to becomes tenants.
£30,500 of ineligible Covid-19 grant payments were identified resulting in two applications being prevented and two payments being recovered.
A further £6,584 was identified as incorrectly claimed Single Person Discount and Council Tax Reduction, and these amounts have been fully recovered.
Councillor Martin Cook, Ipswich Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Resources, says:
“These are excellent results from our Corporate Fraud Service. The prevention of fraudulent activity helps us to protect taxpayers. With increased pressure on local government, and a reduction in central government funding, it’s never been more important for our Corporate Fraud Services to tackle fraud and protect those that truly need our help.”
Reporting suspicions of fraud
Reports of suspected fraud can be made to Ipswich Borough Council by calling: 01473 433999, emailing fraud@ipswich.gov.uk or online.
