A national and local joint investigation into council tax liabilities has identified nearly £290k which could be used to support Blackpool’s services for its residents.
Blackpool Council has been participating every year in the National Fraud Initiative, a government Cabinet Office anti-fraud exercise which matches data between public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud or an error in council tax discounts which does not fulfil people’s own tax responsibilities.
The National Fraud Initiative plays a critical role in identifying people trying to defraud the public sector or errors in their council tax liabilities, ensuring taxpayers’ money goes towards delivering vital services and protecting public money.
Since April 2023, the Corporate Fraud and Investigations Team at Blackpool Council have participated in an enhanced National Fraud Initiative exercise, focusing on the Single Person Discount.
Blackpool’s Corporate Fraud and Investigations Team have during this period identified 539 incorrect claims for Single Person Discount and/or Council Tax Reduction in Blackpool, which totals £284,372.92, as well as preventing further losses had these inaccurate discounts continued.
Checks are carried out on those households in receipt of the Single Person Discount to ensure that council tax accounts are accurate and up to date. These checks include cross-referencing with the Electoral Register, credit reference data and a range of information held within the National Fraud Initiative data sets.
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