No jail for for £40k benefit fraud

Inyat Hussain, a former cabbie from Manningham who had £90,000 in cash and shares in the bank, has been told he will have to pay back more than £40,000 he fraudulently claimed over almost six years after suffering a heart attack and being unable to continue driving for a living.

Hussain was convicted of concealing his assets to falsely claim Income Support. He had said his bank deposit was money he was keeping for his children.

The judge, Recorder Christopher Attwooll, sentenced him to 51 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months with 12 months’ supervision. He spared Hussain an immediate jail term after hearing he was not a well man and had been provided many character references from his community.

The court heard that a Proceeds of Crime Application was being made to get back the £40,000.

Hussain had been found guilty by a jury in August of making false statements to claim Income Support and retaining a wrongful credit, between March, 2000 and January, 2006.

Diana Maudslay, prosecuting for the DWP, told the court Hussain and his wife had £90,000 in cash and shares in bank accounts. Anyone with more than £8,000 in savings is ineligible for Income Support.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose over £2bn a year to benefit fraud.

Trivial punishment for £5k benefit thief

Peter Hoy, from Winsford, claimed £5,687 in excess income support and Council Tax benefit by pretending that he lived alone.

He pleaded guilty to knowingly making false statements by claiming while failing to declare that he was living with his partner, Marilyn Hoy, between November 2005 and July 2008.

He must pay back the overpayment and cannot leave his home between 7pm and 7am for the next two months. He was also ordered to pay legal costs of £200.

What sort of punishment is a suspended prison sentence?

Two people appeared at Newry Magistrates Court.

A man claimed Income Support totalling £15,065 while failing to declare capital. He was given a four month prison sentence suspended for two years.

A woman claimed Income Support and Carers Allowance totalling £9,370 while failing to declare she was employed. She was given a four month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

Both are also required to repay the money wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Taxpayers lose over £2bn a year to benefit fraud.

Disabled woman on benefits ran pub

Anne-Marie Sherratt swindled £20,000 in disability handouts claiming she couldn't work, while secretly running a pub, reports The Sun.

Fraud investigators caught her pulling pints, mopping floors and changing barrels. And after hobbling into court on a walking stick, she was photographed handing it to a pal and walking off unaided for lunch.

Judge Peter Lakin dismissed claims Sherratt was too sick to do community service and ordered her to complete 150 hours. He also gave her a suspended eight-month jail term.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose over £2bn a year to benefit fraud.

Light benefit theft sentences in northern Ireland too

A Belfast woman has been convicted of claiming benefits she was not entitled to. She was given a nine month sentence suspended for two years for failure to declare employment while claiming Income Support totalling £16,398. She is also required to repay the money wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

No punishment really.

Two people also got meaningless sentences at Craigavon Magistrates' Court for claiming benefits they were not entitled to.

A woman claimed Income Support totalling £5,846 while failing to declare capital. She was just fined £225 and ordered to pay £31 court costs.

A man claimed Jobseekers Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £3,011 while failing to declare employment. He was given a four month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to pay £110 court costs.

Both are also required to repay the money they wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency. Big deal!

No punishment for £5k benefit thief

Zoe Yaxley, from New Ash Green, has admitted falsely claiming £5,195. She had failed to inform the authorities she had two jobs between August 2007 and July 2008. She illegally claimed £3,821 income support, £633 housing benefit and £740 council tax benefit.

She was sentenced to an 18 month conditional discharge.

Sevenoaks District Council and the DWP are now both seeking the repayment of the falsely claimed benefits.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate. The present procedures are slow and costly.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose over £2bn a year to benefit fraud.

Burnley benefit thief in five figure fraud

Mckayla Willott from Burnley failed to tell the DWP her on/off partner was living with her in a £12,000-plus handouts fraud.

Willott, a hairdressing student, admitted three counts of failing to notify a change in circumstances promptly, involving income support and housing and council tax benefits, between September 2005 and April 2008. She said if she had claimed correctly she would have been legally entitled to £14,000 of the £26,000 she claimed.

She was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, with 180 hours unpaid work and six months supervision.

Sarah Johnson, prosecuting, said Willott’s claim was legitimate at the start in 2002 when she was a single parent. Evidence became available from September 2005 that she was living with Paul Robinson, who was in periods of employment.

Inland Revenue records showed he lived at her address, a Sky subscription was in his name at her home, and he was the emergency contact at her children’s school. He and the defendant applied for credit from her address.

More

12 months' jail for "disabled" benefit cheat golfer

A benefit cheat who falsely claimed almost £20,000 after failing to admit his bad back had improved has been jailed for 12 months.

John Gallagher, from Guildford, said a painful injury picked up in a workplace accident in 2002 had left him unable to walk.

But he was spotted playing golf and carrying bags at an airport. He claimed for disability living allowance and housing benefit between August 2006 and September last year.

Fraud investigators discovered he was receiving money from employers Take One Limited but had failed to reveal his condition had improved.

In an application form for his disability, he had claimed his injury meant it took several minutes to walk 10 yards. But prosecutors called in witnesses including one who went on a trekking holiday to Nepal with him in 2008.

Another Luton benefit theft prosecution

Is benefit theft especially rife in Luton, or are the council particularly energetic in prosecuting benefit cheats and publicising them on their site?

Benjamin Davies, from Exeter, has been convicted of benefit fraud at Luton Magistrates Court.

The court heard how Davies had claimed housing and council tax benefit while living in Luton but failed to tell the Council he had moved to Devon, where he fraudulently obtained payments amounting to £4,822.

After pleading guilty, Drew received a 12 month Community Order with 200 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £220 towards the Council’s costs. The Council will seek to recover the overpayment of benefits through its civil recovery procedures.

• Benefit thieves should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.

SPD fraud exercise in Notts

Recently I posted about the Audit Commission's comments on council tax single person discount fraud (SPD). They were guessing a total costs to councils of £90m, against the National Fraud Initiative's "cautious" estimate of £200m. The £90m figure was based on a fraud level of 4% among SPD claims.

Nottinghamshire councils are now reporting they have claimed back £1.8m in council tax from people who falsely claimed they were living alone. An official said

This was the first time such a project has been done in Notts.

A private firm was hired in April last year to scour information databases and other records to catch out residents who were getting the 25% single person discount while living with other people.

All seven borough councils in Notts took part but the scheme was sparked by sharp-eyed officers in Gedling who noticed discrepancies between their records and census results.

Gedling recovered £250,000 and get to keep 10% of this. The rest goes to Notts County Council, parish councils, and the fire and police authorities. This underlines the point made by the Audit Commission that the collecting authority gets to keep relatively little of the increased receipts. The Commission called for arrangements among authorities to make these exercises worth while.

In this case the boroughs had been willing to pay for the scheme but East Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership agreed to cover the cost. This saved the councils £230,000.

Councils have the power to seek prosecutions for false claimers and of course they should prosecute some to deter others.

An official says: "I have had quite a few other councils contact me about the project. There's been interest from up and down the country."

Before the review began, it was estimated between five per cent and 15% of people claiming the discount were not entitled to it. The actual figure turned out to be 5.5% to 6%.

In round numbers a 6% level would imply fraud nationally at £135m.

Benefit fraud in Luton

Luton Borough Council look to be serious about benefit fraud. They prosecute relatively small cases like this, and publicise them on their own web site. But yet again the courts aren't supporting them.

Farreena Jaral, from Hinkley, has pleaded guilty to benefit fraud.

While receiving benefits for a property in Luton, she moved to Hinkley and submitted a new claim for benefits with Hinkley and Bosworth Council. But she failed to tell Luton Borough Council about the change in her circumstances and continued to accept benefit payments totalling £1,006 to which she was not entitled.

The Court fined Jaral £100 and ordered her to pay £270 towards Council costs. The overpayment is being recovered from Jaral.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Belated data matching nails simple benefit fraud

Jeffrey Macaulay, 59, claimed he did not realise his wife Peggy, 67, had been working for 14 years while he was receiving £30,000 in benefits, while she said she signed the benefit forms without knowing what they were for.

From 1992 to 2006, the couple claimed housing and council tax benefit, despite Mrs Macaulay starting work as a home care assistant for West Sussex County Council in 1993, eventually retiring in 2007.

The false claims were only found in 2007, when a computer scan matched the Macaulays' claim record with Mrs Macaulay's employment at West Sussex County Council. Yet it took till 2009 for the case to reach court.

In total they claimed £28,771 on housing and council tax benefit, while Mr Macaulay claimed £1,215 in jobseekers allowance.

Mrs Macaulay said she never hid the fact she worked for the council, and she was sure her husband, who said he thought she was out visiting friends and relatives every day, would have seen her work uniforms.

The couple both lived at the same address, but had different bedrooms and led separate lives, after drifting apart when Mrs Macaulay became ill.

Mrs Macaulay was ordered to carry out 100 hours' unpaid community work, and was given a 42-week suspended sentence for her part in the scam while her husband was sent to prison for 14 months.

Data matching catches benefit thief

Carl Proctor, from Brighton, has been sentenced to 200 hours unpaid community work and given a nine month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to eight charges of dishonestly and making false statements for the purpose of obtaining benefits totalling £24,682.

He has also been forced to pay the money back in full, as well as paying Wealden District Council £1,564.50 in court costs.

The offences came to light following a data matching exercise carried out by the Department of Works and Pensions and Wealden District Council officers.

During the time Mr Proctor was claiming these benefits he and his partner Jane Francis purchased two new cars and went on holidays in Spain, Mexico, Cyprus, Australia and Thailand.

In July this year Jane Francis pleaded guilty to two charges of making false statements for the purpose of obtaining benefit and was given a two year conditional discharge and ordered to pay the council's costs of £669.

"Wealden District Council will not tolerate those who think they can get an easy ride on benefits by lying about their circumstances," said Cllr Bob Standley, cabinet member for finance and assets. "Our officers are trained to spot possible cases of fraud involving a wide range of benefits."

During the past financial year the council prosecuted six people for benefit fraud, resulting in fines, unpaid community work and curfew orders.

Two people accepted an administrative penalty for cases of benefit fraud and seven people have accepted a formal caution.

Spokesman for the council Jim van den Bos said: "We carry out our data matching exercises with the Department for Work and Pensions every month, and if this raises suspicions, we are able to access an individual's bank account and home ownership details to help with our investigations.

"Fraud detection software is becoming increasingly sophisticated."

Jail for "complex and premeditated fraud"

Paul Lancaster, from Horton, has been found guilty of four offences relating to false accounting and social security.

Between July 2004 and April 2008, he received overpayments of £10,661 in housing benefits, £3,035 in council tax and £16,932 in income support.

He was given 15 months for the income support charge and 12 months each for the other three counts, with the sentence running concurrently.

Councillor Richard Kellaway said: "This was a particularly complex and premeditated fraud designed to abuse the benefit systems of both the Royal Borough and the DWP at the expense of the taxpayer, and it has taken two and a half years to reach a successful conviction".

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

£14k single person fraud

Richard Rogers, from Margate, has been given a 12-month Community Order with 220 hours’ unpaid work and £100 costs.

Between February 2006 and October 2007, Rogers was overpaid more than £14,000 in benefits. He admitted receiving housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support on the grounds that he was a single parent while he was living with his partner – who was working part-time at a supermarket.

Councils have been estimated to lose between £90m and £200m+ each year to single person fraud.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.

Tax credits wide open to fraud

Civil servant John Agdomar and an accomplice, Olanekan Ogunmekan, fabricated more than 1,400 fictitious children, hijacked hundreds of identities and illegally claimed more than £1.2m in tax credits.

They had developed a scheme which saw Agdomar using his job as a civil servant at the DWP as a cover to illegally access genuine customer records to obtain personal information. This allowed the pair to hijack existing claims for tax credits, diverting the payments into a complex network of bank accounts.

Agdomar was also charged with abusing his position of trust within the civil service where he had accessed benefit systems to obtain information such as dates of birth and national insurance numbers to get information on genuine customer records. He is thought to have illegally accessed more than 2,500 customer accounts.

Both men appeared before Southwark Crown Court in November 2008 where Ogunmekan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. He was later sentenced to 52 months in prison for the offences. He is also serving a default sentence of 30 months as he failed to repay £162,652.71 by 15 September 2009, as ordered by the court.

Agdomar pleaded not guilty at that hearing but changed his plea to guilty at a later hearing on 2 September 2009. He has now been jailed for four and a half years.

========

Separately, the Daily Record reports that

Police yesterday swooped on a ruthless gang who invented 200 phantom kids to steal millions of pounds.

Five crime chiefs suspected of creating false identities for scores of children to carry out a huge tax credits scam were grabbed in dawn raids.

Cops believe the operation was being run by eastern European mafia bosses who have been intimidating dozens of families across Scotland.

People were forced to falsely claim for millions in Government tax credits, with the cash going on prostitution, drug dealing and people smuggling.

The suspects were held after seven addresses in Govanhill, Glasgow, were raided after a probe by 150 officers from Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Task Force, tax investigators and Strathclyde Police.

About 30 claimants' addresses in Glasgow, Manchester, Derbyshire and Yorkshire were also visited.

The Sun suggests this is a £2m fraud.

HMRC's numbers put total tax credit fraud at £181.9m. £250m looks like a very conservative estimate.

No prison as you're not well

THE major health problems of an East Yorkshire benefit fraudster have saved him from a jail sentence for cheating taxpayers out of £19,194 between December 2001 and July 2007.

Derek Horseman needs to take painkillers daily and is nearly blind in one eye. He did not tell Government and council benefit officers that his former partner was living with him, firstly in Fossway, York and later in Sutton-on-Derwent.

Judge Robert Bartfield said: “People who commit benefit offences demonstrate a meanness towards the rest of the society, and dishonesty. It is really quite despicable. These offences justify a prison sentence.”

But after Horseman’s solicitor advocate told him about the severe handicaps and medical conditions that require Horseman to take 20 medications daily, he suspended an eight-month prison sentence for 12 months on condition that Horseman is subject to a three-month nightly curfew.

• So he got away with his deliberate long term fraud.
  
  These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Social housing fraud still not being tackled

Living in cheap accommodation provided by a council or a housing association is a welfare benefit because the rent is lower than the market rent for private accommodation. It's known as 'social housing'. There are about 3.8m social housing properties in England.

Housing tenancy fraud is the use of social housing by someone not entitled to occupy that home. It includes:

• when people submit false housing applications
  
  
• tenancy succession fraud, where the property is no longer occupied by the original tenant
  
  
• the illegal sub-letting of a property for profit.

There are guesses that social housing fraud involves almost 50,000 properties, with an asset value of over £2bn.

National Fraud Initiative (NFI) reports have identified housing tenancy fraud as an area which has been significantly under-reported and is in need of greater attention. The 2006/07 NFI cycle saw only 69 homes recovered over two years.The government says it hopes to recover 10,000 next time round by paying housing associations' fees to participate in the NFI.

But the law remains a big problem. Court cases typically cost £5,000 and can run to £25,000. They may last years. The last NFI included a recommendation to change the law but this hasn't happened.

These costs make housing associations less keen to winkle out illegal tenancies, since they don't have to pay the costs of housing the homeless (that falls to councils). This seems typical behaviour at state bodies, where they pursue their own narrow interest rather than looking for ways to work round constraints to achieve desirable outcomes.

Central government is also at fault in not simplifying the legal process (as indeed they have also failed to do in recovering fraudulently claimed welfare benefiits). In a joint exercise with just one housing association, Southwark recovered 14 properties - in all but one case, without going to court. But these people are criminals and they should be prosecuted.

It is a crime where the risks of detection in most parts of the country are minimal, but even if you are unfortunate enough to be caught it seems to be easy just to hand the property back and go on your way. Where is the deterrent?

Hopefully the Conservatives' housing spokesman, Grant Shapps, has plans to address this.

Employment fraud by benefit thief

Michelle Bower, from Staveley, made false claims for income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit totalling £2,418 between April and October 2008 while working for two separate companies.

She was fined £326 and ordered to pay legal costs and a victim surcharge of £115.

She was also told that the benefits would be reclaimed "from her finances", according to Bolsover District Council.

That Duncan Smith report

Will the report from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) "Dynamic Benefits" set the agenda for discussions of the benefits system? - the executive summary (itself 20 pages) is here.

It does several good things. It focuses attention on people's effective tax rates as they move off benefits into work. This is important because it rewards people better for coming off benefits.

It proposes to strip 51 benefits down to 2 (this is a headline, though it's not clear that the proposed reduction - dramatic though it is - is quite that sweeping). This is important because it's cheaper to run and reduces the scope for fraud, but mainly because it makes honesty simpler for claimants and makes it easier for anyone to see the financial effects on them if they do take a job. Under the bonnet this would operate quite subtly, with HMRC responsible for the gradual withdrawal of the benefits through PAYE (so what about work outside the system?).

Initial discussion has focused on the admitted short term cost of £3bn+ in an era of financial stringency. There should be some allowance for cuts in fraudulent claims as the complications are stripped out.

There is also the question of what to do about the so called undeserving poor, the recalcitrant claimants who just don't want to work. The ethos of the CSJ inclines it to carrots rather than sticks, but some sticks will be needed.

But even if the money were found, would any government take the political risk of a big bang change in the welfare system with all the winners, losers, mistakes and delays which that would produce? If they did, it would have to be done early in the government's term, to give time for the positive effects to outweigh the inevitable initial confusion and insecurity. And the apparent costs seem to rule that out.

Nonetheless, there is now a proposal on the table which would simply (simply?!) sweep away the present maze of benefits rather than laboriously and gradually trying to simplify the existing tangle.

So today's massive report is an important contribution. No one was ever going to say Yes on day 1, but Iain Duncan Smith was right to criticise minister Jim Knight for rejecting it out of hand. As he said, it was two years in the making - and he doesn't care which party implements it.

Sir Humphrey would call the proposals brave.

Glaring government incompetence on benefits

Sarah Stayton-Davies, from West Molesey, has been found guilty of failing to notify Elmbridge Council of changes in her circumstances - an award of tax credits, which increased her income by £300 per week, and three changes of employer. As a result, she was overpaid £3,044 in benefits between February and December 2008.

She was sentenced to a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £800 in costs.

• Can you believe this? They set up a tax credits system which cannot interface with the systems for welfare benefits. So if you are awarded tax credits, who tells your benefits provider? You have to.
  
  In this age of communicating databases, this is beyond bonkers - it is immorally hurling temptation in the way of the poor and making it easy to filch taxpayers' money.
  

No punishment for benefit thief

Hayley Warwick, from Chipping Norton, has been prosecuted by West Oxfordshire District Council for failing to report changes in her circumstances in order to claim Housing Benefit.

Warwick pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining Housing Benefit, totalling £3,741. She was given an 18 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs.

The council will seek to recover the outstanding amount of Housing Benefit which has been fraudulently obtained.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

How much does single person fraud cost councils?

The Audit Commission has attracted publicity today for its claim that English councils are losing almost £90m a year through fraudsters claiming the single person's discount (SPD) on their council tax.

This is a pretty interesting claim, because last time's National Fraud Initiative identified probable fraud in council tax single person discount at a "cautious" £200m.

Nationally, the Audit Commission points out, 35% of households receive this discount. In recent years, they say, some councils have noticed a sharp increase in the number of people claiming SPD and have identified increasing numbers of fraudulent applications. The Audit Commission reviewed the action taken by 11 councils across England to provide an initial assessment of the likely scale and cost of SPD fraud.

In those councils examined, the level of confirmed SPD fraud varied between 1 per cent and 11 per cent, with most clustered between 4 and 6 per cent of SPD claims. Assuming an estimate from this limited sample of SPD fraud levels of 4 per cent nationally, undetected SPD fraud could be costing honest taxpayers £90 million each year.

Thus it's very much a finger in the air number, and could easily be twice that level or more.

Indeed, the Telegraph's Christopher Hope shows signs of having read that passage, since he claims that

A survey of 11 local authorities found that abuse of the single person’s discount was running at between one and 11 per cent. This means that the fraud could be costing councils up to £250million a year.

Which would be in line with the estimate of the National Fraud Initiative after all.

Astonishingly, we are told that not all councils seek to recover previous years’ discounts where they find that the claimant is not entitled to SPD.

In just one case, a council found that by seeking to recover all the years for which one person had been fraudulently claiming the discount, the amount recovered from the individual increased from £369 to £2,589.

And so, suggests the Commission, Councils should consider both the financial benefit and the deterrent effect of recovering previous years’ discounts where SPD fraud is identified.

Blindingly elementary, but a politically interesting shortcoming when the fashion is tending toward localism, with local authorities seen as the good eggs in government.

And there's another problem many local authority officials seemingly haven't got their heads around. Some councils in two-tier (county) areas of England point to disproportionate financial incentives as a barrier to tackling SPD fraud.

In two-tier areas, the cost of council tax collection and fraud investigation is borne by the district council. As a result of pooling arrangements, the county council generally receives a larger share of the council tax collected and could, therefore, benefit more from any reduction in SPD fraud. This issue needs to be considered by those councils in two-tier areas.

And again this doesn't seem hard.

In one county area all district councils, in partnership with the county council, have jointly committed to tackle SPD fraud and to impose financial penalties for a failure by claimants to notify changes in circumstances. The costs and additional income recovered are shared.

Why should people who engage in single person fraud not pay penalties? For standard benefit fraud the administrative penalty is 35% of the amount involved. Why should not that be so for single person fraud?

Deterrence should include all back payments plus a financial penalty. And publicity if the council catches you before you confess.

It should also be easy to attract people to inform on this crime. Unlike some benefit frauds, there is a clear linkage here between this fraud and the tax burden on the rest of the local community, since other local council tax payers must stump up more money to make up for the shortfall caused by the frauds, or lose some services.

An interesting case study, then, on the power of the local community concept (a key part of localism). To judge from the relaxed and scattered enforcement local authorities get away with, there is no crusade against single person fraud.

Unpaid work for benefit thief

James Clifton, 23, of St Leonards, pleaded guilty to three charges of falsely claiming benefits at an earlier hearing back in August.

The court heard how Clifton had failed to report he had started work at a local nursing home in September 2006 resulting in overpayments of income support £4,583, housing benefit £2,495 and council tax benefit of £706.

He will have to repay this money as well as £50 in court costs, and carry out the 150 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months.

Booze & fags more important than repaying fraud

Paula Johnson wrongly continued to claim benefits as a single woman living alone after she started living with David Johnson in May 2007. They married in July 2008, but soon afterwards Johnson's lies caught up with her and she was interviewed by benefits officials. She claimed her new husband had just moved in with her, but later confessed all by letter.

She admitted a charge of benefit fraud between May 2007 and August 2008, involving just over £9,000 in Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefits. More

Magistrates imposed a 12-month community order, with six months' supervision and 120 hours' unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay £100 towards court costs.

An offer to repay this at £5 a week was rejected after magistrates saw a income and outgoings form on whichJohnson said the family regularly spent £70 on alcohol and £80 on cigarettes.

Payments of £10 a week were agreed.

Which would take 900 weeks! Since when were booze and fags more important than paying back stolen money?

£63k benefit fraud mother walks free

A mother of six who received hand-outs she was not entitled to worth £63,859 has walked free from court.

Shameen Hussain had applied for benefits telling the DWP that her husband had returned to Pakistan and left her and her then five children alone with no income.

A month later, he returned to live with her at their Accrington home, but Hussain did not own up and claimed they were separated.

Hussain had been getting up to £310 a week in the four-and-a-half-year fraud. She claimed the cash went on her family as her husband was a gambler and his earnings went on himself or elsewhere. She was given 48 weeks in jail, suspended for 18 months, with 200 hours’ unpaid work.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

£13k benefit thief walks free - she's a mother

A benefit cheat mum, who helped herself to more than £13,000 of public cash, has been warned she could have been sent to prison because her crime was so serious.

Magistrates told mother-of-two Leanne Proctor from Teignmouth that she defrauded the public purse so much, only her personal circumstances saved her from jail.

She made the claims after her relationship with the father of her children broke up, but when the relationship was patched up and her partner moved in with her, she failed to inform both the DWP and Teignbridge District Council.

She was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours of unpaid work with £50 in costs.

Benefit thief used money to fund drug habit

Addul Khan, from Maidenhead, who had a £40,000 to £55,000 year income from his home business packing greeting cards, used £31,560 in housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseekers allowance to fund a heroin addiction between July 2004 & March 2007.

The married father of two was caught after an anonymous tip-off. He must serve at least half of his sentence of 15 months for his crime.

Benefit frauds unpunished in Redditch

Karen Wright pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming carer's allowance of £1,474, housing benefit of £791 and council tax benefit of £243 by failing to notify the council and the DWP that she was working as a cleaner. She was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 costs.

David Wright pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming income support of £220, housing benefit of £791 and council tax benefit of £243 by failing to notify the council and the DWP that his wife was working. He was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 costs.

Alan Wall pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming income support of £13,021, housing benefit of £952 and council tax benefit of £269 by failing to notify Redditch Council and the DWP that he had been receiving a private pension. He was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £150 costs. Magistrates said the sentence would have been more serious had Mr Wall not repaid the money in full before the hearing and made an early guilty plea.

• Where is the deterrent effect of these slaps on the wrist? It's almost as Redditch magistrates don't consider benefit fraud a real crime.
  
  These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Benefit thieves jailed

Shaun Waters, from Brighton, made false statements to the council to claim just over £22,625 in benefits from 1999 to June last year. He had over £40,000 in undeclared bank accounts. He was jailed for 16 weeks.

Donna Depuis, from Saltney, has been jailed for 30 weeks after pleading guilty to falsely claiming £60,817 in benefits. She must serve a least 15 weeks as well as repaying all of the overpaid benefits.

She had pleaded guilty to failing to report changes in her circumstances in order to obtain housing benefit, council tax benefit, income support and carer's allowance. She also failed to declare her earnings from work, and that she was living with her husband.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Online poker winner was benefit thief

Alan Forsyth from Norwich once won $49,000 in a single day playing online poker, but was claiming he could not afford to pay his council tax.

He started claiming the benefit in October 2003 when he first denied having any savings, but actually had two bank accounts that he did not declare. He used them to deposit the winnings from his online poker enterprise. He continued to claim the benefit fraudulently until June 2007, by which time his number of undeclared accounts had reached six.

Throughout this period, Forsyth was registered unable to work with ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which he was diagnosed with in 1997.

In interview, Forsyth said his condition stopped him from filling out the forms completely!

Prosecuting on behalf of Norwich City Council was Yvonne Blake. She said: “If you have the concentration to play poker to the extent that you can win $49,000 in a single day, you have the concentration to fill out a form.”

The council say that in total, Forsyth claimed £3,706 in council tax benefit, a figure he has since paid back in full.

In mitigation, Ted Bell pointed out that Forsyth stayed in work for five years after his initial diagnosis, saying “he has always been hard working”. He added: “This is not a well man. He suffers greatly with pains and fatigue. He has no potential prospect of being able to work again. He got stuck in his own web of deceit. He did start winning money and more accounts were opened. He was scared it would be backtracked to the original offence.” In other words he deliberately covered his tracks.

Magistrates ordered him to pay a total of £1,400 in fines - £200 for each offence, as well as £15 surcharge and £150 towards prosecution costs.

Presiding Howard Gill said: “You've got seven charges of making a false statement. This took place over a long period of time and was premeditated. There was a risk of substantial loss of money to the tax payer.”

But his punishment was trivial all the same.

Elaborate surveillance brings piffling sentence

Sandra and Alan Leak from Coppull worked as self-employed couriers for a home delivery business and used to get up at 5.30am.

But they had claimed £28,187 in Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance over a 12-year period on the grounds that they could not work.

After an elaborate surveillance operation they have been given a three-year conditional discharge after admitting three charges of failing to notify change in circumstances and three charges of making false representations. They will just have to pay back what they stole plus £100 costs.

This won't begin to cover the costs of the surveillance, which was conducted between October 2007 and January 2008, and found the couple working from as early as 5.30am from their home. They were also seen working as couriers at a unit in Leyland and further investigation revealed that Mr Leak had been paying business rates to South Ribble Council since 2001!

• So what happened to data matching?
  
  These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Compensation grinds slowly

In 2004 Dan Ward persuaded 82-year-old Muriel Green that her home needed £22,400 of work, and then pocketed the cash after doing a superficial job.

Meanwhile his daughter Margaret Maughan was making thousands in housing benefit, by claiming Ward was her tenant, rather than her father. The pair, both from Selston in Nottinghamshire, continued to insist they were unrelated throughout their trial two years ago, until a DNA test put the record straight.

Ward is serving a five-and-a-half year sentence after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud, benefit fraud and money laundering, and Maughan served a community order after being found guilty of benefit fraud.

Now the pair have been ordered to pay back thousands after police worked out how much they made from their schemes.

Recorder Brian Cox QC ruled Ward made at least £517,500 from criminal activity.

Maughan was judged to have made £156,000 from housing benefit and council tax fraud. Mr Cox said there was little evidence either had an honest job. Neither has ever registered with the Inland Revenue or paid any tax.

He said: "Dan Ward is prepared to go to considerable lengths to conceal the true state of his affairs - I am in no doubt he is a thoroughly dishonest man."

Ward was ordered to pay back £331,500, including £22,400 to Mrs Green and £13,000 to Ashfield District Council. He has six months to pay up, or he will face an additional three years and three months behind bars.

Maughan was ordered to repay £125,500 within six months, or face just over two years in prison. If they do not pay up in time, they will still owe the money when they get out of jail.

• This is why benefit fraud crime needs to be choked off at source - it takes so long for compensation to be calculated. It's yet to be paid, of course.
  
  Benefit fraud is easy. The authorities can't cope with the volumes, so there has to be effective deterrence.

Light sentence as you're not well

A former fireman from Edge Hill who swindled more than £20,000 in benefits has walked free from court – because a judge said it would cost more than the scam to keep him in prison.

Judge Gerald Clifton said Thomas Tracey’s health problems meant the taxpayer would end up losing out if he sent him to jail.

He failed to tell the authorities he received a weekly pension from his former job. He fraudulently obtained £18,231 in income support between February 2005 and November 2007. He was also spared from paying more than £2,000 in council tax.

Tracy had been jailed in 1994 for an arson attack. And now he's a retired fireman!

Neil Gunn, defending, said he suffered from diabetes, which led to difficulties with his feet.
He also has arthritis and in February and May of this year suffered two minor strokes. He had taken steps to pay back the swindled cash with the help of his family.

He received a 39-week prison sentence suspended for two years with supervision.

htp Dave

• Yet another case where a judge finds an excuse to avoid giving a benefit fraudster any real punishment. You're poorly ... you've got children ....
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

£30k benefits thief mother spared prison

Sarah Muller, from Mansfield, who cheated the benefits system out of almost £30,000, has been spared an immediate prison sentence. She had failed to declare her partner was living with her.

Her barrister - and who paid for him? - said she was of previous good character, had pleaded guilty and the couple had negative equity in the house. About £11,000 of the money had already been paid back

Judge Dudley Bennett said the case was on the borderline, but if he sent her to prison it would be for a fairly short period, of which she would serve even less. The judge added: "You have done everything you can to raise as much money as possible to pay the public back."

She was sentenced to 12 months suspended for two tears with 18 months probation supervision.

• People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

A reader comments ...

Back in September I featured the story of Keith Duncan, reported in The Telegraph:

Duncan admitted wrongly claiming £33,581 in housing and council tax pay-outs and £49,097 in incapacity benefit over 11 years.

It's only fair to add that the post has now been commented on by someone who says he is Keith Duncan ... I've no reason to doubt it, but equally I can't verify it.

He says "The Sun newspaper has a different story altogether". Well, here's the link. It looks pretty similar to me, but you can decide for yourself.

Jail for £9k benefit fraud

Terrance Skelton, from Lawley, has admitted dishonestly claiming £9,300 of housing and council tax benefit between July 2001 and March 2006.

The eight offences included failing to declare that both he and his wife were working and failing to declare up to £20,000 in savings.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail by Telford Magistrates due to the seriousness of the fraud and the length of time over which it was perpetrated. He was also ordered to repay all of the £9,300.

No real punishment for benefit fraud

Halley Warwick, from Chipping Norton pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining Housing Benefit, totalling £3,741. She was given an 18 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100.00 costs.

The Council will now seek to recover the outstanding amount of Housing Benefit which has been fraudulently obtained.

• People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Traffic warden claimed disability benefit

Traffic warden Peter Hollifield claimed £7,336 in disability benefits for being 'too weak to walk'. He had claimed it took him two minutes to stagger just ten yards with a walking stick.

But a court has heard that he was busy covering up to four miles each day on traffic patrol giving out parking tickets. He patrolled the streets of Cardiff booking drivers - and set off each day from the main central police station.

Apparently the original claim was genuine. He made a benefits claim in October 2005 - but returned to work in May of the next year after doctors prescribed a series of medications.

He was sentenced to a 12-month community order and told to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. He is repaying the money at £100 a month.

Read more.

Presumably the police didn't pay him in cash ... so why didn't data matching pick this up?

No jail for £41k benefits thief - she's a mother

If you want to get away with benefit fraud, have children.

Joanne James, a mother of three from Deeping St Nicholas, fraudulently claimed £41,187 in income support, housing benefit and council tax benefits after failing to declare that her partner moved in with her. She hid the fact that she lived with, and then married, chimney sweep Darren James for four years.

When she was interviewed following a tip-off to the DWP, she claimed he was actually married to
someone else and they were having an affair.

She was sentenced to an eight-month jail sentence suspended for two years and 200 hours unpaid work.

Recorder Adrian Reynolds said:

You have managed to help yourself to £40,000 of public money over the last five years or so. That is a lot of money.

But if I send you to prison I would be punishing your children. It would probably destroy your family.

I don't think it would ultimately achieve anything.

• Yes it would. It would deter others, rather than encouraging them. She claimed three benefits for several years and lied at interview. It was deliberate fraud.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Chester £22k benefit cheat jailed

Tina Dixon had failed to tell the authorities that her landlord was also the father of her children and therefore she was not entitled to all that she claimed.

Dixon was overpaid a total of £22,556. The court heard that she had already started to repay the money she owed.

Magistrates sentenced Dixon to 12 weeks imprisonment for each of the two offences. The sentences, which began immediately, will run concurrently. It is understood that Dixon will appeal the sentence on Monday September 7 and make an application for bail.

This year alone the council will pay out around £97m in Housing and Council Tax benefit.

Judge jails lying benefits cheat

Sharron Mucci from Thornhill fraudulently claimed just over £9,000 of taxpayers' money in council tax and housing benefit payments by failing to declare substantial savings.

She claimed that the saved money, which is thought to have reached over £30,000, had been put aside for her children and grandchildren and so she didn’t realise that she had to declare it!

The deception came to light as part of a police investigation into an allegation that she had perverted the course of justice by lying for a taxi driver friend who wanted to avoid a conviction for speeding. She was one of three people who gave evidence at an appeal before Judge John Boggis who agreed, based on their testimonies, that the conviction against Paul Drover was unsafe.

As details of that case were being read out, Judge Boggis interjected: “Yes. I remember, I think I was the judge she duped.”

Mucci and her co-defendants had lied about knowing Drover and she was convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Judge Boggis added: “It is unfortunate that she has finished up in front of me isn’t it?” He jailed her for 26 weeks.

Criminals and benefit fraud in Sweden

Taxpayers' money bleeds away in welfare benefits in Sweden too. Professional criminals benefit, they are asked to return money they have stolen, the police are asked to investigate but do not report back any findings.

The Local reports that a campaign by Sweden’s social insurance agency to root out benefits cheats has found that about 100 seasoned criminals have received millions in unwarranted payments.

In one year, says the paper, the agency has uncovered nearly 30m kronor ($4.1m) in fraud perpetrated by 96 individuals. In addition, around 30 well-known criminals have been denied benefits worth roughly 6m kronor after their applications were found to have faulty information.

Altogether, the social insurance agency has demanded the return of 312m kronor in benefits payments from 5,223 Swedes.

Ninety-six serious criminals accounted for about 26.9m kronor in fraudulent payments, roughly 8% of the total fraud uncovered by the agency.

One case involves a blackmailer who has now been asked to return 1,167,501 kronor in wrongly awarded sick pay and housing allowances. He ran several black market businesses at the same time he was claiming sick benefits.

In another case, a bank robber has been asked to give back 349,028 kronor in sickness and parental leave benefits. He had received the money based on income earned from a fictitious employer.

In 81 cases, the social insurance agency’s anti-fraud unit has filed reports with the police about benefits crimes, offences which can result in sentences of up to four years in prison.

But the agency doesn’t know what has happened as a result of their complaints, because the police have failed to provide any follow-up reporting on the cases.

What would the figures be for the UK, with its larger population?

Benefit thief betrayed by his own stupidity

Mohammed Ali had admitted seven instances of claiming housing benefit, and council tax fraud amounting to £10,000, at a time when thousands of pounds were rolling in from other sources.

When he appeared at Norwich Magistrates' Court, he claimed to suffer from Kikuchi's disease, a rare illness seen mainly in Japan. Ali was told to do 200 hours of unpaid work and to pay £250 costs.

The Norwich Evening News had reported earlier this month that Ali caused his own downfall by applying to buy his council house despite claiming he had no income!

More

No jail for £42k benefit fraud

Carol Hewitt, from Wakefield, fraudulently claimed £42,770 income support and housing benefits for almost six years.

Along with her husband she had run up £15,000 worth of debts on credit cards, a high street bank account and catalogues.

She failed to tell the DWP or Wakefield District Council that her husband was working as a cleaner earning £11,000 a year.

She was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years; electronically tagged and given a three-month curfew to stay a home between 8pm until 7am each day.

Judge Robert Bartfield said: "The only thing that saves you from imprisonment today is your state of health." Hewitt suffers chronic pulmonary disease, severe arthritis and high blood pressure.

William Danaher, for Hewitt, said she had started paying back the public purse at a rate of £86 per month – a rate that Judge Bartfield said would never repay the full amount.

• So she's got away with it, hasn't she. People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

No jail for £20k benefit fraud

A benefit cheat who continued to claim despite having thousands of pounds in the bank has been spared jail.

Christopher Wilson was overpaid more than £20,020 in various benefits by failing to declare he had any savings. But at one point he had as much as £25,000 in just one of his bank accounts.

Judge Brian Forster sentenced him to 26 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with a curfew.

• People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Slap on the wrist for £10k tax credit fraud

Former Stanwick parish councillor Leisa Griffiths has been given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a 12-month supervision order for making false tax credit claims totalling £10,652.

She was prosecuted after an investigation by HMRC found she had failed to declare her husband of nine years, Kevin Griffiths, was living with her and their four children at their home address.

She had claimed that between January 2003 and January 2007 her husband had lived and worked abroad for the majority of that period or lived with friends when back in the UK.

Judge Thomas Corrie told Griffiths: "You were financially reckless and the state has lost benefit because of this. You were subsidising your lifestyle at the benefit of the state, you have committed a serious offence."

Jennie Kendall from HMRC said: "We are pleased the courts have recognised the seriousness of this case (eh? a piffling suspended sentence and a supervision order?)".

• People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose £2bn+ a year to benefit fraud.

Benefit fraud pap

This is the sort of piece that passes for reporting on benefit fraud. The authorities want to give the impression that they're catching benefit thieves - well, they are, a few. But they don't want to tell us the denominator, that is how much they're paying out in total, so that voters can see how successful they are - and how likely benefit fraudsters are to get caught.

More than 250 benefit cheats in Suffolk have been convicted for frauds totalling in excess of £1m over a two-and-a-half-year period.

Local authorities in the county prosecuted 261 benefit cheats between January 1 and May this year. The total value of the housing and council tax benefit frauds came to £1,132,784.

The second highest figure was for Waveney District Council, which prosecuted 56 people for a total of £255,601 - about £20,000 behind Ipswich Borough Council, which had the highest total for claims.

People falsely claiming benefits in the Suffolk Coastal district also broke through the £200,000 barrier, with 27 people being convicted for more than £217,200 in false claims.

In Forest Heath, claims totalling more than £64,000 were recorded and more than £92,000 was over-claimed through St Edmundsbury District Council.

Sue Allen, Waveney District Council's portfolio holder for housing, said: “Waveney District Council works hard to ensure that benefit payments are only made to those actually entitled to receive them. Benefit fraud is dishonest and is theft of tax payers' money.

We take measures to prevent and deter fraud and our dedicated Fraud Investigations Team will actively investigate and prosecute cases. We treat benefit fraud seriously and will investigate any case where fraud has been suspected. We work very closely with government departments and agencies, with whom we routinely exchange data and information.

“Waveney District Council successfully prosecuted a resident receiving benefit as a single parent when in fact she was living with her husband who was working. She received £24,292 in housing and council tax benefit, which she was not entitled to.”

Inadequate sanctions for blue badge frauds

Motorists who were illegally parking in disabled bays were caught during targeted police patrols last Friday in Tally Ho corner, North Finchley, and in Finchley Road, Temple Fortune which included 20 officers from the Met's special constabulary and community support officers.

They were looking for people wrongly displaying or using stolen blue badges in vehicles.

Police fined 14 people a total of £840 for using a disabled badge. The badges were seized by police and each motorist was given a £60 penalty charge.

Another three people were arrested on warrants issued by the courts for previous driving offences.

Inspector Jane Lee, of Barnet police, ran the operation which included 20 officers from the Met's special constabulary and community support officers.

• These sanctions are woeful. A piffling £60 is nothing to people who live round there, and they didn't even get any publicity. Sure, they lost the fraudulent badges, but they are easily replaced.
  
  This easy crime seems quite common. Enforcement is going through the motions, and deterrence is nowhere to be seen.

Dartford magistrates give up on benefit fraud

Stephen Meen, from Northfleet, admitted failing to notify Gravesham Council of a change of circumstances and making a false statement to the council. He continued claiming housing and council tax benefit despite his wife and son moving into his home. He claimed £4,606 he was not entitled to.

He was ordered to pay £200 costs and given an 18 month conditional discharge.

Localist welfare aspirations need more work

Toby Baxendale wants to go even further than Douglas Carswell and Michael Portillo in taking control of welfare benefits to a local level. Toby focuses on incapacity benefit.

How many of the 2.7m are genuine in their illness? Would it be 100,000, or 200,000, but certainly not 2.7m. Even if it was a cool 1 million people, we would still have 1.7m people who are work shy and scamming the system.

His interesting proposal for voluntary local ward councils might work in nice middle class districts, but what about the sink estates and areas where claiming for incapacity benefit is rife?

Will locals want to take the risk of being done over? - especially since the proposal to "devolve it entirely down to the local ward to levy a tax on its citizens to pay for the incapacity of its people" clearly won't work - it would disproportionately increase the tax burden on deprived areas, which wouldn't be politically acceptable.

Less romantic was the CPS localist paper on welfare reform. This envisaged welfare benefits at county council level - but all welfare benefits, not just incapacity benefit. An interesting concept but I have never seen a migration plan or costing for a council to take over the present mishmash of some fifty different benefits.

The aspiration feels sound ... but what of the practicalities?

Benefit fraud roundup

The Telegraph reports on Keith Duncan from Harrow, who claimed £50,000 in incapacity benefit - and a further £30,000 in housing and council tax benefits - over more than a decade, while working as a caretaker for the NUT. He was only caught after he put 'martial arts' as a hobby on a council application form.

But the investigation by Harrow Council and the DWP still took two years. Sentencing was postponed.

The Edinburgh Evening News has a feature about local benefit fraud here and here.