Fraud and Corruption
The Council takes a strong stance against fraud and corruption
and has put in place measures to prevent and detect their
occurrence. Staff, partner organisations and suppliers are
encouraged to familiarise themselves with these measures which also
provide a method for members of the public to raise any concerns in
this area.
Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy
The public is entitled to expect the Council to conduct its
affairs with integrity, honesty and openness and demand the highest
standards of conduct from those working for it.
The
Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy outlines the Council’s
commitment to creating an anti-fraud culture and maintaining high
ethical standards in its administration of public funds.
Whistleblowing Policy
The Council is committed to providing an environment of
openness where individuals feel that they are able to raise
concerns regarding serious malpractice. The Whistleblowing
Policy sets out the procedure for raising such concerns without
fear of reprisal.
Council Tax Discount Fraud
The Council is taking part in the NFI initiative to
identify abuse of council tax single person discount.
As part of the initiative households in South Lakeland that
claim to be occupied by a person living on their own are checked to
make sure that the 25% discount they are receiving is still
applicable. This is to ensure that households receive the
discounts they are entitled to.
SLDC council tax data is compared with electoral register data
to identify households where the 25% discount may no longer apply.
The Council Tax payer will then be contacted to confirm if
circumstances have changed so that citizens who are no longer
eligible for the discount can be billed correctly.
If you would like to find out more about this or other data
matching exercises, please go to the
Data
Matching page.
Benefit Fraud
Benefit fraud is a crime that affects us
all. Since benefits are paid by a combination of government
grant and council tax, any fraudulent claims are met from taxes
that we all pay. National losses are estimated at £80 from every
family in the UK. The Council has procedures in place to
prevent and detect benefit fraud and takes strong action against
offenders.