Council strengthens fight against fraud as potential cases fall

The figures have been published in the council’s annual fraud report and presented to its Audit and Governance Committee on Wednesday (14 October), which sets out how robust controls, data matching and proactive work by specialist teams are helping to protect public money.

During 2025/26, the council identified 56 potential fraud and error cases involving an estimated £153,372. This compares with 64 cases in 2024/25, with the estimated cost of investigating potential fraud also falling from £248,403 to £235,988.

The report highlights the role of preventative work, particularly within Children and Families and Schools, where learning from fraud prevention and detection training has helped significantly reduce the number of cases.

Councillor Wendy Lukacs, Chairman of the county council’s Audit and Governance Committee, said: “Protecting public money is a responsibility we take extremely seriously, and it is encouraging to see the impact that robust controls, preventative work and the diligence of our staff are having in identifying and stopping potential fraud.

“Fraudsters are constantly developing new ways of targeting organisations, whether through sophisticated scams, cybercrime, misuse of payments or attempts to exploit weaknesses in systems. This means we must remain vigilant and continually review the risks facing the council.

“Our specialist teams are working proactively to identify suspicious activity at an early stage, while our investment in training and awareness is helping colleagues across the council recognise the warning signs and take action. The reduction in cases during the past year demonstrates the value of this preventative approach.

“However, we cannot afford to become complacent. We will continue to strengthen our controls, use data intelligently to identify potential fraud and work with national and regional partners to protect taxpayers’ money and ensure council resources are used for their intended purpose.”

The council’s participation in the National Fraud Initiative (2024-2026) also generated 11,574 data matches, including 4,642 high-priority matches. Council staff examined 7,385 matches on a risk basis, with outcomes from 2,539 errors estimated at £429,122.

Its Internal Audit Team continues to carry out proactive and responsive counter-fraud work, including data analytics, continuous monitoring, staff awareness activity and participation in the National Fraud Initiative.