Harrow's success in countering fraud

Over the last 4 years, Harrow has sanctioned in excess of 300 individuals for committing benefit fraud against the authority including 90 successful prosecutions involving overpayments in the region of 1.7 million. All overpayments created are targeted for collection in full or by arrangement from ongoing benefit entitlement.

We have also been instrumental in securing evidence to repossess a number of Council tenancies meaning that they can then be re-let to people in genuine need and more focussed work on housing fraud is currently ongoing with a concerted campaign to target addresses suspected of being sublet.

The team has also been proactive in identifying disabled blue parking badge misuse over a number of joint operations with the police Safer Neighbourhood Teams and have issued a number of cautions and achieved successful prosecutions.

We seek to publicise all of our prosecution work through local and sometimes through the national media and the team has featured on a number of television programmes on benefit fraud and blue badge fraud more recently.