Southwark Council saves £500,000 by exposing fraud students

The borough has a significant student population with approximately 2,400 properties occupied by students who do not pay any Council Tax.

As a bona fide full-time college or university student, individuals can expect full exemption from paying Council Tax.

The £500,000 worth of savings were made following a data matching sharing investigation, which compared information and details about students’ records, courses and learning establishments, commenced last year in partnership with the National Fraud Authority as part of a pilot initiative and its chosen partner Fujitsu.

The exercise identified 750 possible high risk matches where the status quo of individual claimants was unclear. Follow-up work resulted in council tax discount awards being removed in 423 cases, equivalent to 56.4 per cent.

Cllr Richard Livingstone, cabinet member for community safety, finance and resources, said the savings represented significant additional income for the Council. “Former students who fail to notify Southwark Council that they are no longer students and therefore, no longer eligible for the council tax student discount are committing fraud. Not only is this illegal and unacceptable, but as part of our anti-fraud campaign we have escalated our efforts in tackling fraudsters and recovering monies. Genuine students have nothing to worry about. This work complements our review on single person discounts. Committing fraud against the Council is stealing from your friends, family and the community.”

Stephen Harrison, chief executive officer, National Fraud Authority, said: “Our research indicates that student council tax is one of the main areas where councils are exposed to fraud. As part of the development of our local government strategy ‘Fighting Fraud Locally’ we have worked closely with Councils, including Southwark, to pilot a scheme to root out council tax evaders.

“Fraud is not a victimless crime and as a result of this pilot Southwark Council have identified additional income. Other councils could learn a lot from this pilot.”