Introduction

The Audit Commission publishes an annual Protecting the Public Purse report. From our research we found that between 4 and 6 per cent of claims for council tax Single Person Discounts (SPD) could be cancelled because of fraud. If 4 per cent of council tax SPD were cancelled councils in England could achieve additional revenue of over £90m a year.

If the ordinary resident wrongly claims SPD it results in higher payments for other council tax payers. The anti-fraud activities of some councils have had a positive impact, but other councils can do more. This tool illustrates the potential scope for tackling SPD fraud for each single tier and district council in the country. Councils and members of the public can use this tool to look in more detail at the level of SPD claims for their council.

The tool does not contain information about county councils because district councils collect council tax on their behalf. County councils do receive more money if the districts in the county take action to prevent and detect SPD fraud.