Leicester cracking down on benefit fraud

The aim of the Leicester City Council is to make a small “investment” of about £800,000 in the hope it will return to taxpayers more than £10 million by reducing fraud and corruption across the region. The programme is being run in partnership with over 10 councils across the county, and the authorities are banning together to improve systems and collection of data.

It requires all the councils in the county to work together, as they need to share data. There are many other steps being taking at the local level, some of which will be evident, and others which may occur behind the scenes.

This is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to catch benefit cheats, both in Leicester and across the entire UK. In fact, about £16 million is being provided by the central government to counties across the UK in an effort to do this. The Department for Communities and Local Government will also provide advice to the local authorities on how to implements these programmes. In total, the nation may be able to save hundreds of millions by identifying and jailing fraudsters.

The scheme will tackle many problems, including ensuring that data is shared among all agencies. Anyone applying for benefits will have their income verified using council tax records and other to be determined data points. Parking permits for the disabled, health care records, and other data sources will also be used to catch fraudsters. The different councils will also be sharing best practice on tackling insurance fraud, so what is learned in one location will be implemented in another district.

In addition, councils from across the county will work together to provide advice and training to each other, and they will also agree a standardised use of resources to address all the different scams that are taking place. Information will also be obtained and verified from multiple councils, and it will ensure that families are not applying for multiple council offices or other government programmes.

While the exact savings will be determined over the following years, the Leicester City Council projects it will save about £11 million over a five year time frame. The money will be saved from cracking down on all types of benefits, ranging from disability to job seekers allowance. This is a large sum of money with all of the cutbacks occurring at the local level.

With all the changes to the benefits system, stopping fraud will help local councils in Leicester free up their resources for the truly vulnerable. The money will be going to people that are really in need, whether a low income senior or child. The Department for Communities and Local Government hopes Leicester is successful, as it will bring more visibility to the problem of fraud that is plaguing the UK.