Scarborough Borough Council handled 167 cases of suspected fraud
In the 2021/22 financial year, the authority was at risk of losing at least £96,000 to fraudulent claims
Close to £100,000 of Scarbroough Borough Council funds was at risk of being fraudulently used in the last financial year, according to a newly published report.
In the 2021/22 financial year, the authority was at risk of losing at least £96,000 to fraudulent claims, according to a report presented to the council’s audit committee.
The committee will meet on Thursday 21 July to discuss the report, drafted by an anti-fraud and governance consultancy, which also states that 167 referrals of suspected fraud were made in 2021/22.
Around £51,000 worth of payments were associated with a variety of Covid-19 grant schemes and £45,000 relates to “other areas of counter fraud work”.
According to the analysis, the reports of fraud were made by the public, council staff, and external agencies and led to 29 investigations “with successful outcomes achieved in 76 per cent of cases”.
The report, by Yorkshire-based consultancy Veritau, states that “successful outcomes” relate to cases where “benefits or discounts were stopped or amended and sanctions, prosecutions, or management action taken”.
It adds that two people were formally cautioned for Covid-19 related fraud offences, 10 people were issued with warnings, three attempted frauds were blocked, and invoices were issued for repayment of loss to the council in a further six cases
In the last financial year, the council made more than 35,000 payments totalling more than £147 million, with the fraud cases amounting to “less than 0.1 per cent of total grants paid”.
In September 2021 Scarborough Council was also subject to a “sophisticated” fraud attempt when criminals targeted a £124,000 payment due to be paid to a supplier.
However, the supplier is said to have suffered an IT breach leading to the attempted fraud.
The report states that “the fraud was unsuccessful thanks to council officers who became suspicious about email correspondence from the business in question.”
No investigations into internal fraud were completed in 2021/22, although “one referral was received and the investigation is still ongoing”.
“An anti-fraud message was included with annual council tax and business rates billing in March 2022. This raised awareness of fraud against the council and provided information on how best to report concerns”, according Veritau.