Bodies removed from funeral home in fraud case
11/03/2024 Police have removed 34 bodies from the premises of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Yorkshire over concerns about the care of the deceased. |
Council probe leads officers to ‘step back’
19/02/2024 Two senior Guildford and Waverley officers have agreed to temporarily ‘step back’ from their roles amid intensifying investigations into housing maintenance contracts. |
Former council worker jailed for fraud
19/02/2024 A former council employee and a roofing firm worker have been jailed for fraud and bribery after they conspired to defraud New Forest District Council. |
West Suffolk defrauded of £52,000
27/11/2023 West Suffolk Council has revealed that it lost £52,000 in a fraud incident this year. |
Tackling fraud in the public sector: how can central government support local authorities?
08/11/2023 Colin Gray, principal fraud consultant at SAS UK, explains the current perceived risks from citizens around fraud, and how public sector bodies can deploy technology to counteract it and protect public finances. |
Why know your business checks are vital to prevent fraud
06/11/2023 Barley Laing, UK managing director at Melissa, explains know your business checks and how they can help councils avoid the threat of fraud. |
Scam warning amid digital switchover
18/09/2023 Criminals are exploiting the analogue to digital switchover to scam users of health care telephony devices into giving personal information, councils warn. |
Voter ID law ‘poisoned cure’, MPs say
12/09/2023 The voter ID rule which was brought in to tackle electoral fraud ahead of the 2023 local elections ‘disenfranchises more voters than it protects’, MPs say. |
Weaknesses in Newport counter-fraud approach
17/08/2023 ‘Weaknesses’ have been found in Newport City Council’s approach to fraud, a finance watchdog has reported. |
Sheffield council staff dismissed or resigned over fraud, report says
28/07/2023 Staff at Sheffield City Council have lost their jobs or resigned following the discovery of fraudulent activity, according to a report. |
Councils warned over £16m of fake pothole claims
09/06/2023 Insurance experts have warned councils over a rise in fake claims for damage to vehicles caused by potholes. |
Council helps Premier League stop £7m streaming fraud
31/05/2023 Five men who illegally streamed Premier League matches have been jailed following a trading-standards investigation led by Hammersmith and Fulham Council. |
Voting reforms could ‘erect barriers’ for elderly, charity says
25/05/2023 The introduction of further checks on postal and proxy voting could disenfranchise older people, an elderly persons charity has warned. |
New checks on postal and proxy voting announced
24/05/2023 Further checks to ensure there is no fraud when people vote by post or by proxy could soon be introduced, according to the Government. |
Council investigation reveals mother’s forgery
23/05/2023 A mother in Barnet has admitted in court to forging official documents to get her son into a popular secondary school. |
How local authorities can fight payments fraud
02/03/2023 Ilija Ugrinic of software solutions provider Proactis looks at how councils can fight payments fraud. |
Tenant jailed for £200,000 housing fraud
14/02/2023 A tenant who lived in council housing in Dudley while renting out a flat she owned has been jailed for 32 months. |
Why the cost-of-living crisis makes fraud prevention even more important
30/09/2022 Barley Laing, the UK managing director at Melissa, argues that overstretched councils need to do more to ensure they protect their budgets from fraudsters. |
Council joins forces with Airbnb to tackle housing fraud
23/08/2022 A court order has cleared the way for Kensington and Chelsea Council and Airbnb to work together to tackle social housing tenancy fraud. |
Council defrauded of nearly £240,000 due to failure of financial checks
17/08/2022 Poor governance and financial management left Maesteg Town Council vulnerable to a fraud that cost nearly a quarter of a million pounds, auditors say. |
Council employee steals £161,000 from two parish councils
04/07/2022 A woman has been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to defrauding two parish councils in Oxfordshire. |
Hoax calls: How local authorities can protect themselves
18/05/2022 Mike Wills discusses how local authorities can protect themselves against attacks designed to trick, embarrass, steal and defraud. |
MPs warn of ‘eye-watering’ levels of fraud in COVID scheme
27/04/2022 The Government is ‘complacent’ about preventing ‘eye-watering’ levels of fraud in the COVID Bounceback Loan Scheme (CBLS), new report by the PAC concludes. |
Council chiefs warn of energy rebate scam
19/04/2022 Local authority leaders are warning residents about a new scam where cold callers pretend to be helping people claim the Government’s £150 energy rebate. |
One in 10 people falsely claim council tax discounts
24/02/2022 One in 10 people know someone dishonestly claiming a discount on their council tax bill, the UK’s fraud prevention service has found. |
Ex-councillor convicted for COVID loan fraud
20/12/2021 A former councillor and his wife have been convicted for trying to exploit COVID-19 business support grants. |
Former council leader jailed for fraud
26/11/2021 The former leader of West Lindsey District Council has been jailed for 14 months for fraud and theft offences. |
Council launches 'key amnesty' to tackle tenancy fraud
10/11/2021 A London council is running a 'key amnesty' to reclaim council housing that is being used illegally. |
Former employees convicted of fraud against council
13/09/2021 Two women have been found guilty of creating a 'phantom' employee to defraud a council and a charity out of more than £40,000. |
‘Shameless’ COVID fraudsters targeted 41 councils
11/08/2021 The actions of two companies that attempted to defraud dozens of councils out of COVID grants have been labelled ‘despicable’. |
Queen's Speech: Controversial voter ID plans roll forward
11/05/2021 Voter ID is expected to be introduced by May 2023 after the Government pledged to introduce legislation to ‘ensure the integrity of elections’. |
Woman jailed for defrauding London council
02/03/2021 A woman has been sentenced to 12-months’ imprisonment for defrauding the Royal Borough of Greenwich out of nearly £10,000. |
Former councillor jailed for electoral fraud
21/01/2021 A former councillor has been jailed and ordered to pay Redbridge Council more than £28,000 after committing electoral fraud. |
Why councils should embrace electronic ID verification
17/11/2020 Barley Laing argues that electronic ID verification is crucial as the pandemic drives digitalisation. |
Millions more of fraud and overpayments detected in Wales
13/10/2020 An extra £2.7m in fraud and overpayments has been identified in Wales after several local authorities started comparing council tax single persons discount with the electoral register, a report has found. |
Councils urged to 'raise their game' to tackle fraud
30/07/2020 Welsh councils have been urged to 'raise their game' when it come to tackling fraud by the Auditor General for Wales. |
Scheme finds billions in benefit fraud
21/07/2020 A government scheme has detected nearly £2bn in benefit fraud and overpayments since it was set up, new figures show. |
Councils issue warning over test and trace scams
22/06/2020 Councils have warned that criminals are trying to exploit the test and trace system by trying to convince people they must pay for the testing kit. |
Councils get new advice to combat procurement fraud
09/06/2020 New advice to help councils in England fight procurement fraud has been published by the Government. |
Councils warn about surge in virus-related scams
11/05/2020 Council leaders have reported a 40% increase in reported scams since the start of the coronavirus crisis. |
Council staff warn fraud is a major risk for local government
31/03/2020 Two-thirds of local government professionals think fraud is a major risk for councils, a new survey has revealed. |
Councillor found guilty of two counts of fraud
13/02/2020 A Greenwich councillor who applied for social housing despite owning three properties has been found guilty of fraud. |
Prosecutions for Blue Badge fraud up by 18% in past year
05/12/2019 A third of councils in England do not have a policy in place to prosecute people for Blue Badge fraud, new figures have revealed today. |
Councils detecting more cases of fraud
19/11/2019 Councils prevented 22% more cases of council tax fraud this year compared to 2017/18, new figures have revealed. |
More places available at fighting fraud webinar
25/10/2019 Due to popular demand, the number of places available at this free webinar have been extended. Find out the five best ways to use data better to fight fraud. |
Webinar: Five ways to use data better to fight fraud
23/10/2019 Register for the HooYu LocalGov webinar to protect the public purse. |
Housing fraud costs councils £16m each year
10/09/2019 People who claim to live alone in order to get a council tax discount cost the local government sector nearly £16m a year, a new study has found. |
Review launched into Blue Badge fraud
17/06/2019 A new task force to help councils tackle the fraudulent use of Blue Badges has been set up by the Government. |
Town clerk jailed for defrauding council
13/06/2019 An assistant town clerk has been jailed for four years for stealing more than £200,000 from Rugeley Town Council. |
Welsh public sector could lose up to £1bn a year to fraud
11/06/2019 Welsh public services could lose up to £1bn a year to fraud, a new report has warned today. |
Councils warn of new wave in council tax scams
10/06/2019 Criminals are posing as council staff to con people out of money, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Investigators warn councils of ‘chameleon fraudsters’
16/05/2019 Investigators have warned councils to be wary of fraudsters as report reveals one in eight disqualified company directors avoid detection and still have active directorships. |
Figures show no evidence of 'large-scale electoral fraud'
25/03/2019 Campaigners have warned the case for voter ID is getting ‘weaker by the day’ after new figures show there were only eight allegations of personation fraud last year. |
How technology could help detect social care fraud
12/03/2019 Julian Pilling explains how councils can better protect themselves against fraud committed by carers. |
Superhead ordered to repay council over £1m stolen from his school
22/02/2019 A superhead has been ordered to pay back Brent Council £1.4m he received in illegal bonuses while he was head of a school in Wembley. |
Rochdale council worker jailed for £80,000 fraud
07/02/2019 A council worker has been jailed for defrauding Rochdale Borough Council of £80,000 - money that was then spent on prostitutes and cocaine. |
Council worker jailed for £1m pension fund theft
28/01/2019 A man who defrauded the pension fund of Westminster City Council of over £1m has been jailed for seven years. |
Benefit assessors convicted of £1m housing benefit fraud
18/01/2019 Seven benefit assessors in London have been convicted of a housing benefit fraud worth over £1m. |
Newham to improve financial management after £9m fraud allegations
16/01/2019 The Mayor of Newham has announced plans to set up a commission to advise the council on how to ‘become a beacon of good practice’ in its financial management. |
Council chiefs warn of scams targeting the vulnerable
16/01/2019 Local authority leaders have called on carers and families to be aware of fraud targeting older and more vulnerable people. |
Council calls ‘extraordinary meeting’ over £9m fraud allegations
08/01/2019 Newham Council has called an ‘extraordinary meeting’ to look into allegations of fraud concerning the local authority’s repairs and maintenance service (RMS). |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2018
11/12/2018 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
30/11/2018 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
16/10/2018 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
16/10/2018 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
03/10/2018 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?
28/09/2018 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
24/09/2018 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
10/09/2018 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
06/09/2018 Mark Whitehead explains why councils are right to use fake Facebook profiles to track down illegal activities. |
Council worker charged with Grenfell Tower fraud
30/08/2018 A council worker has been accused of stealing money intended for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. |
Postal voting pilots ‘well-run’, electoral commission says
01/08/2018 Pilot schemes for postal and proxy voters carried out during last May’s local elections were ‘well-run’, an electoral body has concluded. |
Five people sentenced for £200k council fraud
30/07/2018 Five men who defrauded a Leicestershire council out of more than £200,000 through an email scam have been sentenced. |
Councils sue Barclays over controversial LOBO loans
16/07/2018 Barclays are being sued by 14 local authorities over allegations it committed fraud over loans to councils. |
Voter ID in perspective
06/07/2018 Jo Miller, in her role as a returning officer, argues that Voter ID is a very expensive way to tackle a problem that is not a top priority in the UK. |
Mandatory ID ‘disenfranchises’ voters, electoral watchdog says
25/05/2018 Electoral watchdogs have rejected a claim that a recent trial requiring voters to show ID was 'a great success'. |
Whitehall defends voter ID reform against accusations of ‘discrimination’
23/04/2018 The Government has defended its plans to require voters to produce ID when voting after watchdog warned reform may discriminate against ethnic minorities. |
Council employee exploited systems ‘failures’ to steal £1m
22/03/2018 Failures in ‘fundamental controls’ within Dundee City Council’s financial systems allowed a former employee to steal £1m from the authority, auditors conclude. |
Cuts to trading standards putting older people at risk of fraud, warns charity
09/03/2018 Cuts to trading standards services are leaving millions of older people at risk of fraud, according to Age UK. |
Dismissed council employee pleads guilty to fraud
08/03/2018 A former civil enforcement supervisor at Reading council has been issued a 17-week suspended jail sentence after admitting to fraud. |
Voter ID trials are ‘unnecessary and over-bearing’ say campaigners
02/03/2018 The Government has been urged to reconsider its ID voting trials by campaigners due to the ‘tiny’ amount of electoral fraud. |
Seven council staff arrested in fraud probe
16/02/2018 Seven members of staff at Cardiff Council have been arrested on suspicion of fraud, the council has confirmed. |
The extent of business rates relief fraud
16/02/2018 It is estimated that there could be over £25m worth of fraud being perpetuated by businesses falsely claiming Small Business Rates Relief across England. |
Fraudster jailed for stealing identity to get council job
20/10/2017 A fraudster who used another man’s identity to gain a council job and home as well as thousands in benefits has been jailed, a London council has reported. |
Counter-fraud pilot successful
18/10/2017 Councils are encouraged to sign up to a joint counter-fraud initiative with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators after a ‘successful pilot stage’. |
Eight out of ten people think elections are well run
11/10/2017 Eight out of ten people believe elections are well run and free from fraud, according to research by the Electoral Commission. |
Liverpool chief exec suspended over fraud allegations
20/09/2017 Liverpool CC’s chief exec Ged Fitzgerald has been suspended while police investigate alleged financial irregularities during his time at Lancashire council. |
Council leader cleared of ‘spurious’ corruption allegations
11/09/2017 A police investigation into allegations of corruption against the leader of North Lanarkshire Council has been dropped. |
Police to guard all polling stations in Tower Hamlets to tackle voter intimidation
07/06/2017 Police will be present at every polling station in Tower hamlets in a bid to tackle electoral fraud and voter intimidation. |
Liverpool council chief arrested over alleged financial irregularities probe
23/05/2017 Four men including Liverpool City Council chief executive Ged Fitzgerald have been arrested as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the tendering of council contracts to BT. |
Report shows rise in fraud related to voting offences
24/03/2017 There were 260 reported cases of electoral fraud last year, according to a new report from the Electoral Commission. |
'Major failures' found in Tower Hamlets fraud investigation
10/03/2017 Members of the London Assembly have accused the police of ‘major failings’ in their investigation of electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets. |
Fraudulant bus director order to pay nearly £43k to council
16/02/2017 A former bus firm managing director has been ordered to repay £42,894 to a Welsh council for making false claims about concessionary fare passenger numbers. |
Erroneous pension payments
31/01/2017 Karen Pritchard explains why deceased pension fraud is costing local government millions of pounds every year. |
Sandwell council refers fraud allegations against councillors to police
19/01/2017 A West Midlands council has referred allegations of ‘potential collusion and fraudulent practice’ by two councillors to the police |
Recovery of fraudulent benefit claims hits ‘record high’
09/12/2016 Recovery of benefits claimed fraudulently or paid out by mistake has hit a record high of £1bn, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. |
Fighting welfare fraud in real time
08/12/2016 William Eichler finds out how the government's National Fraud Initiative is helping to stamp out and prevent fraud in local government. |
Ex-council worker jailed for £1m fraud
15/11/2016 An ex-council employee has been jailed for seven and a half years after being found guilty of charging Lancashire County Council £1m in bogus building works. |
Anti-fraud initiative saves taxpayer £200m
04/11/2016 Whitehall efforts to crack done on fraudulent practices have saved the taxpayer nearly £200m over the past two years. |
Tower Hamlets charity victim of ‘gross mismanagement’ and fraud
07/10/2016 A Tower Hamlets charity was the victim of ‘gross mismanagement' and fraud, according to a report published today by the Charity Commission. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.