BENEFIT fraud in Somerset is rising after the unitary council failed to bring in a more up-to-date system for processing claims.

The council was created in April, 2023, and inherited existing benefits systems from Somerset’s four predecessor district councils.

It has since been trying to streamline various services through an ongoing transformation programme which has been criticised both by auditors and opposition councillors for its lack of urgency.

Now, the South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) has published its annual report into Somerset fraud cases showing rising numbers of cases involving the housing and revenue and benefits system, many of which were the result of people ‘shopping’ their neighbours.

The council said it was ‘taking a very hard push’ to stamp out fraud as part of efforts to standardise support services across the county.

SWAP said in the last financial year, 116 fraud referrals were made, compared to 84 in the previous 12 months, a 38 per cent increase.

A range of offences were involved, including:

  • Seven individuals who claimed a single person discount on their council tax bills when they were not living alone
  • Four people who provided false information on their council housing application, resulting in them being removed from the Homefinder Somerset service
  • Two businesses whose rateable value is currently being reviewed by the Valuation Office Agency
  • One individual who wrongfully secured an unspecified reduction on their council tax bill
  • One property being returned to the council after an investigation found tenants were illegally sub-letting

SWAP assistant director Alastair Woodland recognised Somerset had taken ‘a proactive approach to addressing fraud risks’ and made ‘significant strides’ in recent years.

But, he said more work needed to be undertaken.

Mr Woodland said: “There is a focus at the moment on bringing a lot of the systems together from the legacy authorities.

“One of the areas that has not been effectively reviewed is around single person discounts.

“We have seen an increase in these referrals coming through.

“The council is looking to do some intense work around single person discounts and that will hopefully weed out any future referrals.”

SWAP senior auditor David Warren said the majority of the referrals were coming from the public, which was not unusual.

Mr Warren said: “We provide this service for a couple of authorities of a similar size, and that trend is true of other authorities as well.

“It is the neighbours looking into somebody living there or circumstances changing.”

Council interim chief financial officer Clive Heaphy said: “Once we start looking at data matching, we often see somebody claiming single person discount in another system when they are part of a household.

“They are the ones we go back to and challenge.

“In other authorities, that has been a source of fraud they have rooted out, which has resulted in them recovering money, and sometimes in custodial sentences.

“We are taking a very hard push on that at the moment.”

Cllr Tim Kerley said it was ‘a worrying increase’ in the number of referrals.