The corporate fraud team at Stoke-on-Trent City Council uncovered £3.6 million worth of fraud across 140 cases last year. This signalled a £609,630 increase from 2022/2023.
The fraud cases ranged from wrongly claimed Covid Business Grants to housing tax fraud. Housing tenancy fraud accounted for most of the cases. This included providing false information in a housing application and illegally subletting.
Since these cases were uncovered, 30 council house tenancies have been terminated.
The increase in tenancy fraud has been blamed on the increase in the cost of living and because housing officers have become more “proactive” in their approach.
Many other unique instances of fraud were uncovered besides housing and tenancy-related cases. In one noteworthy case, £20,294 worth of social care was wrongly claimed. Councillor Lorraine Beardmore described this as a “huge amount”.
Internal fraud involving council members was also uncovered. Dismissals and disciplinary actions have since been carried out.
Experienced writer and journalist James McKean leads the daily editorial output at StaffsLive. To contact him, email news@staffslive.co.uk
