By Vivienne Russell | 31 May 2012
Public bodies in Scotland have identified fraud and error overpayments worth almost £20m following a nationwide detection exercise.
The findings of the fourth National Fraud Initiative in Scotland were published today by Audit Scotland. A total of 81 public bodies participated, including councils, police forces, fire and rescue services, health boards and quangos.Data relating to 2010/11 was submitted by these bodies and cross-matched to find anomalies that might suggest fraud or error. This data included information on deceased persons, benefit applicants, failed asylum seekers, disabled parking permits and expired visas. Any ‘matches’ were followed up to identify possible fraud and error and, if possible, recover any overpayment.
Bob Black, Scotland’s auditor general, said a small number of people set out to deliberately defraud the public sector. ‘Our successful National Fraud Initiative should be a deterrent. This is the fourth time the initiative has been carried out in Scotland. It has had results worth almost £20m of public money, and the cumulative results of the NFI for Scotland since it was first introduced are now at £78m.’
Audit Scotland says the 2010/11 exercise has already resulted in 318 cases of Housing Benefit fraud being stopped, 45 cases of alleged fraud being prosecuted and 184 deaths uncovered that had not been reported to pension payment agencies.
Assistant auditor general Russell Frith said: ‘The NFI is a prime example of how the audit process can make a measurable difference for public bodies and the citizens they serve. While there are significant financial results from this exercise, it can also have a major impact in reducing fraud and error, and providing assurance to the public.’
He added that benefit matches were 40% lower in financial terms than the matches found in the previous exercise. ‘This suggests previous NFIs have identified the most significant frauds and errors; the NFI is acting as a deterrent; and public bodies are improving their systems,’ said Frith.
