Fraud

• Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2018

  From council pay rises to troubled outsourcing firms, here is our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2018.

  

• Blue Badge theft up by 45% in past year

  Councils have warned that Blue Badge theft in England has increased by 45% in the past 12 months.

  

• Council employee convicted of £1m pension fund fraud

  A former Westminster City Council employee has been convicted for defrauding the council pension fund of nearly £1m.

  

• Councils found more than £300m in fraud in past year

  Local authorities managed to prevent or detect £302m in fraud in 2017/18, according to the latest figures from finance experts.

  

• Councils cheated out of £1m by housing benefit assessors

  Lambeth, Kingston, and Barking and Dagenham councils were cheated out of £1m by a group of housing benefit assessors who used dummy claimants, court has heard.

  

• Has outsourcing had its day?

  The conviction for fraud of a former Barnet council employee was a poor advertisement for outsourcing. Mark Whitehead considers whether it has run its course.

  

• Review finds 'insufficient financial controls' enabled £2m council fraud

  The conviction for fraud of a former employee of a joint venture set up by Barnet council is a 'textbook example of why outsourcing fails', according to Labour.

  

• Not enough evidence to prosecute in Tower Hamlets fraud case, Met says

  An investigation into allegations of fraud in Tower Hamlets has concluded that there is not enough evidence to prosecute those involved, although evidence of a ‘serious criminal offence’ has been uncovered.

  

• Councils and the rise of covert profiles

  Mark Whitehead explains why councils are right to use fake Facebook profiles to track down illegal activities.

  

• Council worker charged with Grenfell Tower fraud

  A council worker has been accused of stealing money intended for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.