As part of work to take on frauds against London’s councils, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has been appointed to provide data analytics for the London Counter Fraud Hub.
The Hub is a partnership between all the London boroughs, with the aim of better targeting fraudsters whether not paying council tax or business rates, or doing illegal property letting. The hub sees potential to save London tax payers £60m a year on average.
Edward Lord, OBE, Chair of London Councils’ Capital Ambition Board, said: “As councils struggle with huge reductions to their budgets, it is imperative that we use new ways to root out fraud across the capital. The London Counter Fraud Hub will now give the London boroughs access to the most sophisticated data analytics to identify potential fraudsters and ensure that money lost to scams ends up in its rightful place – funding vital public services.
“The Hub will continue to consult regularly with the Information Commissioner to ensure that its operations meet the most rigorous requirements of data privacy and protection and build and maintain public trust.”
Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive of CIPFA, said: “The London Counter Fraud Hub is one of the most advanced counter fraud programmes in the public sector. We are very pleased to have been awarded this contract in a ground breaking area of fraud prevention and looking forward to playing our part in protecting the public purse.”
While it’s long been unknown how much fraud is going on anywhere, he Hub points to most recent estimates suggest that councils are defrauded of £2.1 billion each year nationwide, including £133m in council tax discount fraud. Last year, London councils detected fraud to the value of £102m, with housing frauds accounting for £74.5m of the total.
Minister for London, Gavin Barwell, said: “We’re determined to help councils crack down on fraudsters that cost them more than £2 billion a year, robbing the taxpayer of vital public services. That’s why we have backed councils with £16 million of funding for 60 projects across the country to tackle this problem. Today’s counter-fraud hub is one of the largest of these and will help the capital’s boroughs more effectively catch and prosecute fraudsters.”
Contract
The contract with CIPFA will operate on a payment by results basis. A pilot phase will get under way in autumn 2016, with the hub launching its full operations in early 2017. The procurement was originated and led by Ealing Council, supported by a grant from DCLG’s Counter Fraud Fund. Project management and administration was provided by the audit firm EY under contract to Ealing Council.
About CIPFA
The CIPFA Counter Fraud Centre was set up in 2014 as a professional body to offer support to counter-fraud professionals. See: www.cipfa.org/services/counter-fraud-centre.
