{"id":68887,"date":"2016-03-23T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=3bf25d20cb900f6231d5ac3311084dd6"},"modified":"2016-03-23T00:00:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T00:00:16","slug":"press-release-marcus-jones-dont-let-fraudsters-cheat-us-out-of-vital-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=68887","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Marcus Jones: Don\u2019t let fraudsters cheat us out of vital services"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Smart phone apps, e-learning for staff, and anti-fraud interactive maps are just some of the tools councils should use to root out fraudsters cheating local taxpayers out of billions of pounds each year according to Communities Minister Marcus Jones.<\/p>\n<p>The minister today (23 March 2016) launched top tips which will help councils to root out the fraudsters cheating local taxpayers out of billions of pounds each year. <\/p>\n<p>Mr Jones said the new advice would be invaluable to help them \u201cfind, catch and prosecute the fraudsters\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/fighting-fraud-and-corruption-locally-2016-to-2019\">practical guidance for all of local government<\/a> will help them claw back the estimated \u00a32 billion lost every year to fraud and shine a light on innovative technologies and clever practices employed by the leading councils.<\/p>\n<p>Local Government Minister Marcus Jones said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We are determined to find, catch and prosecute the fraudsters who rip-off councils denying taxpayers billions of pounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Across government we are clamping down on corruption and I\u2019d urge councils to make full use of these suggestions to get tough on fraud.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Anti-corruption Tsar Sir Eric Pickles said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A small minority cheat hard working taxpayers out of billions of pounds every year but better prevention, detection and prosecution will mean we can not only throw these thieves in jail \u2013 but also recover cash for our frontline services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">The tips we are publishing today \u2013 alongside the millions of pounds we have already invested \u2013 will ensure that town halls crack down on those who put our services at risk.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"the-6cs-crucial-for-catching-cheats\">The 6C\u2019s crucial for catching cheats<\/h2>\n<p>Councils have received \u00a335 million government funding to help housing tenancy fraud and clamp down on business rates evasion, as well as cheats through procurement in fraud, and social care and health tourism.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Mr Jones set out the 6 steps needed to take the fight to the fraudsters. They are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>culture \u2013 creating culture where beating fraud is part of daily business<\/li>\n<li>capability \u2013 making sure counter fraud measures is appropriate to the range of risk<\/li>\n<li>capacity \u2013 deploying the right level of resource<\/li>\n<li>competence \u2013 having the right skills<\/li>\n<li>communication \u2013 raising awareness, sharing information and deterring fraudsters<\/li>\n<li>collaboration \u2013 working together across boundaries with other local authorities and agencies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thanks to government investment many councils\u2019 are already doing a good job in countering corruption. These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire councils have joined together to catch criminals by enhancing their specialist investigation service with extra training and devising, anti-fraud, corruption, bribery and money laundering e-learning resources for staff to highlight tell-tale signs of cheats<\/li>\n<li>Telford and Wrekin council who have developed a smart phone app for residents to report suspected fraud which is also available for free for other councils to use until 2018<\/li>\n<li>Trafford borough council who has used data to map out areas of the business at increased risk of fraud and to stop it before it occurs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"further-information\">Further information<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/fighting-fraud-and-corruption-locally-2016-to-2019\">Fighting fraud and corruption locally strategy<\/a> provides a blueprint for a tougher response to fraud and corruption, setting out the importance for councils to set the tone from the top, to embed a counter fraud culture to look for and prosecute fraud where it is found. <\/p>\n<p>Estimated losses to local government in the 2013 National Fraud Indicator was \u00a32.1 billion, which was broken down as follows:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Fraud type<\/th>\n<th>Fraud loss<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Housing tenancy fraud<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3845 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Procurement fraud<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3876 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Payroll fraud<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3154 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Council Tax fraud<\/td>\n<td>\u00a3133 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Blue Badge Scheme misuse<\/td>\n<td>\u00a346 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grant fraud<\/td>\n<td>\u00a335 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pension fraud<\/td>\n<td>\u00a37.1 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In December 2014 the government published the first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/uk-anti-corruption-plan\">UK anti-corruption plan<\/a> which led the way in bringing a coordinated approach to tackling corruption. <\/p>\n<p>In addition, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance &amp; Accountability (CIPFA) has established a new <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cipfa.org\/services\/counter-fraud-centre\">centre of excellence for counter fraud<\/a> which builds on their expertise in this area. <\/p>\n<p>The centre will work in partnership with a wide range of interested parties to support senior local authority leaders in management, governance and finance to tackle fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n<p>The latest national statistics on fraud and error in the benefit system show that losses due to fraud and error in housing benefit are at a record high. Central and local government are working closely together to address these unacceptable losses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_40\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Office address and general enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"street-address\">2 Marsham Street<br \/>\n<br \/>\nLondon<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"postal-code\">SW1P 4DF<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"contact_form_url\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Contact form<\/span><br \/>\n              <a href=\"http:\/\/forms.communities.gov.uk\/\">http:\/\/forms.communiti&#8230;<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">General enquiries:  please use this number if you are a member of the public<\/span><br \/>\n              030 3444 0000\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"contact \" id=\"contact_171\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Media enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"email\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Email<\/span><br \/>\n              <a class=\"email\" href=\"mailto:press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk\">press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Please use this number if you&#8217;re a journalist wishing to speak to Press Office<\/span><br \/>\n              030 3444 1201\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minister launches top tips which will help councils to root out the fraudsters cheating taxpayers out of billions of pounds each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}